carb inlet control lever arm

[Barrie2777]

I have never wanted to tamper with the lever arm which contacts the diaphram but my JLO wasn't running right. Upon dismantling the carb, I found the lever arm to be below the level of the carb body whereby the Tillotson manual says it should be level. I bent it up by "eye" and tried the engine....the gas would not draw up the line. I bent it a little the other way...the gas would not draw up the line. I removed a lever arm from a carb I knew worked and compared.....not the same angle!!! By holding the long arm against a flat surface, I determined the short arm to be .045" above the long arm. (This was done with a spark plug gaping tool) I bent the malperforming arm to the same deflection, installed the carb and voila!! .it sucked the gas right away and started. I was now able to adjust the idle down to the puttt, puttt, puttt of a HUS-SKI. I would like to hear from anyone else who has adjusted the inlet control lever of their carb. Was I just lucky ?

[Go Go Diablo]

Barrie,

I'm not sure about adjusting the arm, but I've become a believer that adjusting the spring tension under the arm with a Pop Off Gauge is critical. See the web site under the Fuel System tab.

Bruce

[Barrie2777]

I just checked the "pop off tester" in the fuel section. The angle between the two arms of the control lever directly affect the pressure the spring exerts on the lever arm.

[Go Go Diablo]

I've found that with the new carb kits I've been buying (several makes all with the same results), the springs are not close to being the correctly calibrated. Also, the new needle and seats in the inexpensive kits are fickle at best as they tend to stick shut. In my limited experiences when not right, three symptoms occur:

One - the engine won't start as the diaphragm won't pump fuel or the needle and seat are stuck shut
Two - the engine won't rev up or have power under high RPM
Three - the engine won't idle down even with the throttle plate almost completely shut. In this case, when backing off the idle adjustment screw, the plate gets so close to being completely closed, the engine suddenly just quits.

All frustrating problems. My advise - buy good carb kits and pay the extra $15 to $20, adjust the control level arm level with the throttle body and set them with the pop-off tester.

Happy Sleddin - Bruce