| 477 Curing a sticking carburettor float Richard Withington sought help on the V8 Bulletin Board as the float on the nearside HIF6 carburettor of his MGBGTV8 had suddenly stuck with fuel overflowing. He wanted to know whether it is possible to address this without removing the carburettors from the car and losing the balance. He ended up finding an SU refurbishment specialist in Lincolnshire. (Jul 14) Whether it is a sticking float or a problem with the needle valve, Bob Owen suggested a knock on the top of the float chamber with a downward motion of the wooden handle of a hammer may clear it - the same motion as securing the head of the hammer. Richard responded saying he had "turned the ignition on and then applied shock as suggested. After a few blows the fuel pump stopped and it appeared to have solved the problem. Will check again in a few days but it looks successful." One possible cause of problem could be the damaging effects of ethanol in motor fuel on the inside surfaces of the original rubber fuel hose fitted to the V8 model. Tony Lake has researched alternative fuel hose and identified Gates Barricade | ethanol
resistant fuel hose as good replacement. He has passed the information on
Barricade hose and the UK distributors and we understand Clive Wheatley is planning
to stock it. Richard mentioned he had obtained a 14" length of ethanol resistant braided fuel hose from Burlen to replace the short length of fuel hose linking the twin HIF6 carburettors. That hose is in a hot environment and a leak can send a pee-like jet of fuel over the hot engine which is a very unwelcome failure. The cost from Burlen was £3.95 plus VAT and post and packing. Tony Lake noted he would replace all the rubber hose that is exposed to ethanol fuel. He added that take care to use T bolt or screw type clamps because Jubilee clips are unsatisfactory because they tend to go out of round at small diameters; leading to non-uniform load on the hose and the potential for a petrol smell if not an actual leak. Later Richard reported that although the application of shock cured the float sticking problem temporarily, a few days later it recurred so he removed the carburettor assembly and found a local specialist, Andrew Turner, who repaired them for him. Andrew has established a small business, similar to the |  Distributor Doctor down in Somerset, specialising in servicing SU carburettors. He can carry out full carburettor refurbishments as he buys job lots of surplus equipment. Richard suggested we might like to add him to our listing of spares and services specialists, the V8LIFELINE. Andrew Turner is located near Grantham in Lincolnshire and he can be contacted on 01476 860555 or via his website at www.su-carbs.co.uk |
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