1996 Looper V4, 115 hp, L115GLEDC, fuel drip at carbs

[Ppopps]

After great success replacing my blown voltage regulator on the weekend, I fired the motor up on the muffs to check the charging voltage and tach, all looks good now in that regard, and noticed that I have a fairly steady fuel drip from the right bank of carbs.

Likely (hate to admit) it's done this for a while and as I rarely run it on muffs I never noticed. I'm looking for advice on how to track down the problem as it's awful busy up there at the front and I don't want to dive in too aggressively. Motor runs great otherwise.

If I squeeze the primer until hard then it does drip from right bank of carbs, and the fuel is red telling me it's after the mix with the 2 stroke oil. Do the carb's gaskets just get tired after a while? Looks like a detailed job to dismantle and replace them all? Otherwise, is there an overflow aspect to the float bowls that dumps excess into the cowling to drain out back weeping hole?

Any tips on how to methodically address this problem?

As always, thanks in advance for the fantastic responses.....

 

[HenryB]

Re: 1996 Looper V4, 115 hp, L115GLEDC, fuel drip at carbs

Is the leakage from both carburetors, from the same place?

A bad float will cause such leakage but two at the same time would be rare. Any leakage from both carb's at the same time is rare

Locate the leak point.

 

[boobie]

Re: 1996 Looper V4, 115 hp, L115GLEDC, fuel drip at carbs

Where exactly is the fuel leaking from ?? The float bowl gaskets or out of throats of the carbs ??

 

[Ppopps]

Re: 1996 Looper V4, 115 hp, L115GLEDC, fuel drip at carbs

It looks like it might be from the gaskets on both the side and the bowl (bottom) of the lower carb but it's really tough to tell, basically the whole bottom carb looks wet and drips from the lowest points....rebuild kit and replace all gaskets? The original gaskets are on there and it's a 1996, what's typical life and what's typical symptoms of bad gaskets, air leak and poor performance (?) as the motor runs tip top otherwise...

 

[HenryB]

Re: 1996 Looper V4, 115 hp, L115GLEDC, fuel drip at carbs

I'm reading that the top carb is dry and the leak is at the float housing joint on the bottom carb and nowhere else.

Purchase a rebuild kit and rebuild the lower carb. If that don't fix it then replace the housing (they have a habit of warping after a number of years.)

No performance or air leak problems, fire hazard only.

If you are doing the work on the water it might be best to rebuild both top and bottom carbs. I say this because getting to the nut on the lower carb with the top carb in place is difficult and the chances of losing it when trying to screw it back is like 100%.

 

[Ppopps]

Re: 1996 Looper V4, 115 hp, L115GLEDC, fuel drip at carbs

I'm reading that the top carb is dry and the leak is at the float housing joint on the bottom carb and nowhere else.

Purchase a rebuild kit and rebuild the lower carb. If that don't fix it then replace the housing (they have a habit of warping after a number of years.)

No performance or air leak problems, fire hazard only.

If you are doing the work on the water it might be best to rebuild both top and bottom carbs. I say this because getting to the nut on the lower carb with the top carb in place is difficult and the chances of losing it when trying to screw it back is like 100%.

Me thinks you're right, will start with rebuild kit and do both the carbs on the "easy" side, being the front right. How on earth do you get at the other side, looks like a lot has to come off.....fingers crossed they don't start to leak!

I've ordered the factory service manual at this point too.....

Do I need to order a service kit for each carb, i.e. 4 Sierra kits to do the whole motor?? Just checking....

Thanks all.

 

[HenryB]

Re: 1996 Looper V4, 115 hp, L115GLEDC, fuel drip at carbs

It’s a pretty easy job. Remove the fuel manifold from each of the two carbs. A pair of diagonal cutters to remove the tie wraps if present (a good idea to have replacement small tie wraps handy). Gently remove the inlet tubing from each carb. Unscrew the nuts and bolts and the carbs will come away. Note the spaghetti ring seals (new ones will come with the kits. Use a finger wipe of axel grease to keep the spaghetti seal in place when reassembling). If you are doing the repair on the water buy an extra one or two nuts at the same time as the kits.

I’m not following the “other side”. I’m thinking the problem carb is on the right side bottom and removing the OK top carb for access to the bottom nuts. The fuel manifold has a right and left side and no need to bother with the left side.

Invert the bowl housing when setting the float height and get the float to drop even with the housing surface.

Done properly you should not be able to blow air through the fuel inlet when the housing is inverted.

 

[kjdunne]

Re: 1996 Looper V4, 115 hp, L115GLEDC, fuel drip at carbs

You need 1 kit per carb, 4 for the entire engine.
Maybe the screws holding the float bowl to carb body have loosened causing the leak, if you're lucky.