Leaking float bowls, engine will not stay running

gwoloshyn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 27, 2010
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184
I have a 1992 Johnson 150 tracker V6 (tj15oglenc) with the plastic float bowl carbs and 2 of them look to be leaking fuel from either a bad seal or a warped carburetor. My engine will turn over and run for a few seconds, then shut off. Is this because of leaking float bowls? Why would it cause my engine not to run if it's just a little gas leaking out?
 

gwoloshyn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 27, 2010
Messages
184
Re: Leaking float bowls, engine will not stay running

Pumping fuel bulb has no effect and it stays hard, and when I push in key to prime motor picks up rpm.
 

boobie

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 5, 2009
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Re: Leaking float bowls, engine will not stay running

Sounds like the high speed jets are clogged in the carbs.
 

gwoloshyn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 27, 2010
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184
Re: Leaking float bowls, engine will not stay running

I've re-checked the high speed jets and they are clear. Could my idle just be set too low? I've tried messing with the knurled knob on the control cable but not no good results.
 

boobie

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 5, 2009
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Re: Leaking float bowls, engine will not stay running

How did you check the jets. Did you take the plugs out of the float bowls ??
 

Toddboat

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Jun 13, 2013
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Re: Leaking float bowls, engine will not stay running

Where are they leaking fuel to? If it is leaking into the carb throat, then it all adds up. Your motor is flooding. Once the gas clears, it starts again, runs for a bit, then floods again. If instead it is leaking out the side of the carbs and not into the carb throat, then there could be something that requires a little physics and other voodoo magic to figure out, such as this...
possibly the leaking carbs allow air into the bowls which allows the motor to freely suck more fuel from the carb than it should.
Whether it's as simple as the carb bowl leaking fuel into the carb throat, or something more complex like a pressure differential sucking fuel into the carb throat, I think either way that it is related to their being excess fuel reaching the plugs and flooding the motor.
When it doesn't start, troubleshoot flooding by doing the following...
Method One: let the motor sit for a while (sometimes an hour, sometimes a day) then restart. If it starts after sitting, it's because the gas has evaporated away.
Method Two: Start the motor with the throttle open (in neutral of course). This allows excess air to offset the excess fuel.
By the way, if you have a very rich mixture, as I expect, priming it is not helping the situation.
 

multimech

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 26, 2012
Messages
386
Re: Leaking float bowls, engine will not stay running

If your float bowls are leaking, don't run the darn thing! That is a fire hazard. Most likely the bowls are warped and need to be replaced.

Yes too much fuel will kill your engine just as quickly as too little.

Fix the leaks first.
 
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