Carter carburetor not pumping fuel

[TylerB46]

Hey folks, it’s been a while since I posted anything on here, but I finally got my freshly rebuilt 230 to fire up. However it’s only if I use starting fluid or manually squirt gas down the carb. The carburetor is a carter bb single barrel like what the truck would’ve had, I took the top off of it and noticed the the accelerator pump isn’t pushing down whenever throttle is given. I played around with the adjustment and still nothing. Also the carb is leaking at the gasket between the float housing and the cast iron part of the carb.

[1949 Wraith]

For the accelerator, is the accelerator linkage under the float bowl attached to your throttle? For the leaking fuel throught the gasket I would check the float cut off level or that the float is not binding or unsealed.

[TylerB46]

5 minutes ago, 1949 Wraith said:

For the accelerator, is the accelerator linkage under the float bowl attached to your throttle? For the leaking fuel throught the gasket I would check the float cut off level or that the float is not binding or unsealed.

The linkage is hooked up, whenever the throttle is engaged the piston pump spring will move down, but the piston doesn’t move at all.

[Merle Coggins]

You may have a plugged pump passage or nozzle. Time to take it back apart and clean out all of the passages. That one in particular can be difficult. 

Gasket surfaces can be cleaned up, and trued, with a sheet of fine sand paper on a flat surface. Rub the gasket surface across the sand paper like a lapping block. A little solvent for lubrication helps too. 

[TylerB46]

22 hours ago, Merle Coggins said:

You may have a plugged pump passage or nozzle. Time to take it back apart and clean out all of the passages. That one in particular can be difficult. 

Gasket surfaces can be cleaned up, and trued, with a sheet of fine sand paper on a flat surface. Rub the gasket surface across the sand paper like a lapping block. A little solvent for lubrication helps too. 

If I push down on the piston pump with my finger, it shoots a healthy mist of fuel down the venturi. Is the pump lifter supposed to grab onto something to push the piston down? There’s just the cup and spring under it, I’m kinda wondering if the spring is just worn to the point it’s too soft to push it down.

[Merle Coggins]

The linkage only lifts the plunger up. The spring pushes it back down to inject fuel. If the spring can’t push the plunger down it’s either too short or too weak. In a pinch I’ve stretched springs a bit to gain more length, which seems to get the job done. Of course a proper fix would be to replace it with a proper spring. But sometimes you gotta do what it takes to get ‘er running. 

 

Also, if you’re idle adjustment screws aren’t set properly it may not run in idle position. Try giving a little throttle when you try to start it. On my first start-up I found that I had to crack the throttle to get it running. Then I could fiddle with the idle screw, and idle mixture screw until it idles nicely. 

[TylerB46]

5 minutes ago, Merle Coggins said:

The linkage only lifts the plunger up. The spring pushes it back down to inject fuel. If the spring can’t push the plunger down it’s either too short or too weak. In a pinch I’ve stretched springs a bit to gain more length, which seems to get the job done. Of course a proper fix would be to replace it with a proper spring. But sometimes you gotta do what it takes to get ‘er running. 

 

Also, if you’re idle adjustment screws aren’t set properly it may not run in idle position. Try giving a little throttle when you try to start it. On my first start-up I found that I had to crack the throttle to get it running. Then I could fiddle with the idle screw, and idle mixture screw until it idles nicely. 

Yeah it’s not idling at all right now, like I mentioned earlier it only runs when I either spray starter fluid down it or squirt gas. I’d like to figure it out quickly, unfortunately I live in a completely different state than where the truck is, so it’s usually a week or two before I can come back to mess with it.

[JBNeal]

this sounds like the problem I battled annually for years...I would clean the carb thoroughly, install a new carb kit and set everything to specs, and the idle would not be good at best..I grew tired of beating my head against the wall so I snagged another used carb off eBay for less than 20 bucks, rebuilt it, engine idled well and accelerated nicely...my guess is that one of the passages that I could not access adequately was gummed up with a spec of varnish after the truck had sat for decades and I couldn't dislodge it, or a passage was eroded just beyond specs and the carb was effectively worn out...I recall vaguely that there is a port at the carb base that draws vacuum during operation that can become fouled, but that might not be the issue for difficult startup...

[TylerB46]

I stretched the spring on the accelerator pump, so now is squirts fuel when I hit the throttle. It’s still not firing up though, it’ll hit while it’s being turned over, but once I let off the starter it quits. I’m sure most if not all of my problem is the carburetor, but I’m wondering if something is going on as well.

[DJ194950]

Check for voltage at the coil and if you are losing it in the run position and   not having voltage only when cranking, you may have a ignition wire in the wrong position on the switch?

 

DJ

Edited November 3, 2019 by DJ194950

[TylerB46]

6 minutes ago, DJ194950 said:

Check for voltage at the coil and if you are losing it in the run position and   not having voltage only when cranking, you may have a ignition wire in the wrong position on the switch?

 

DJ

I’ll check, that’s a good idea.

[TylerB46]

Out of curiosity, if all else fails with the carb, have any of you ever tried one of these universal ones? https://www.carburetor-parts.com/Replacement-Carburetor-for-Rochester-B_p_4411.html

[Tooljunkie]

Mine was like this too,clean out the ports behind the mixture screw. 

[Jocko_51_B3B]

Tyler,

  You might know about this already, but in case you don't, this little booklet goes into detail about every aspect of these carburetors including the accelerator pump system and how to troubleshoot it. http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/010/cover.htm

I've read through the entire booklet and learned quite a lot.

 

  You can also take a look at this old Master Tech presentation on Carter/Ball and Ball carburetors. Even if the video doesn't help your immediate problem it's good stuff to know. I watched the video first, then went back and read the booklet. The booklet has a more detailed explanation of these carburetors, but both were very helpful to me in rebuilding my carb. I ordered my rebuild kits from DCM Classics. Hope that helps.

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Jocko_51_B3B