M38A1 Carb Problem

[Bob_C]

Hey all,

Tried to take my jeep for a spin yesterday. Started up fine, ran for maybe 10 seconds, and died.

Tried to get it started again, and it just wouldnt do it. I smelled gas pretty good, so I opened up the hood and long and behold gas was coming out of my carb. Found it all over the top of my valve cover and around the carb. So I started to pull it apart - and found out the gas had travelled down the hose that connects to the oil dipstick. It was also on that elbow, right by the choke butterfly valve.

Obviously something went wrong. I looked at the seals and they all look good. Is this a stuck float problem? Was thinking that perhaps the float got stuck and gas just kept pumping.

Is there anyway to prevent this from happening? I dont want this to happen after the jeep has been running for a while. The idea of gas leaking and perhaps dripping on my exhaust manifold while its hot doesnt rub me too well.

[petesilfven]

It's probably a piece of dirt in the float needle assembly. Give it a couple of raps with a plastic mallet where the fuel line connects and try again. If that doesn't work, you'll have to pull the top off of the carb and clean it out.

The real cure is to install a modern filter in the tank in place of the original one. I just removed the original filter cartridge and cut the tube shorter so I could use a metal aftermarket inline unit, and connected it up with fuel hose and clamps, making sure the bottom hose was almost to the bottom of the tank.

[Bob_C]

Hi Pete,

I pulled off the top and the float assembly moves free. Will soak the needle in solvent and check for blockage. Thanks for the tip, makes sense what you said - but I didnt think of it.

Working on it right now, will post if success / failure.

[Bob_C]

Pete,

You were correct. A piece of dirt was in there. Kinda strange, cause not only do I have the filter in the tank, but I got an inline one as well. Hrmph. perhaps it was in an elbow or something and stuck there for a while.