Hello,

New to the forum but I've been a reader for quite a while.

I have an issue with my carb on my 97 Xplorer 400. It drips gas very slowly from the carb overflow tube. I know from reading other posts in the forum that the common solution for the overflow dripping is a new needle and seat. I did a carb clean and rebuild yesterday with a Moose carb kit. New needle and seat. Verified that they were clean and looked good before use. Still dripping. Does anyone have any additional thoughts?

Also, while apart I cleaned and inspected the carb and any of the remaining parts that I put back in. The float and float arm seemed to be in good shape and I reused them since new ones don't come in a carb kit... The float arm was showing a little wear but nothing that looked too bad for a 15 year old float arm.

Not overly concerned with it since it is such a slow leak but it is aggravating. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum! Could be the float arm and float pin are part of the problem as most people don't replace them since they don't come in the kits and are a dealer item only! These parts are high wear items on the vibrating 2 strokes that can stick, allowing too much fuel even with a new needle and seat. This plus if you don't have the float arm parallel with the carb body can cause too much fuel in the bowl and out the over flow tube. OPT

 

Wow, appreciate the quick response OPT!

I'd like to tackle this in order of easy to expensive. Verifying that the float arm is parallel with the carb body is free. I'm still dealing with sticker shock and can't get over how much the floats cost. ATV-Parts-Center.com for $20.74 each!

Verifying float arm: To do that I pull the carb again and remove the bowl. My understanding is that holding the carb upside down with the needle not compressed but closed by gravity. The float arm should be parallel to the carb body. Is this correct? If so, I can do that this evening.

Replacing floats and float arm: Can you describe what a worn out float would look like? The floats look perfectly fine but at the end of the day if they are worn out they are worn out. I can easily see how 15 years of vibration should damage a moving part. I just hate to spend $50 replacing something that is perfectly fine.

Thanks for your help!

 

Replacing the floats themselves aren't necessary,just the brass float arm and float arm pin! You you are correct on how to adjust the float arm.(Although some do hold the carb at an angle to where the float arm is barely touching the needle and checking that float arm is parallel with the carb body,PLUS some go by the manuals recommended inch or mm measurement on float arm height,I just always did it with carb upside down,full pressure on the float needle) You can bend the small float tab to adjust if necessary. Float arm(3130018) is $8.93 and float arm pin (3130361) is $3.95 at Cycle Parts Warehouse. OPT

 

Ordered the parts (float arm and pin) today. Figured go ahead and replace them while I have it apart. I'll post the result.

Thanks for the assistance!

 

Well, it certainly took a long time but I finally got the parts in the mail last week. Changed the float arm and pin out last evening. I have the arm parallel with the carb body when the spring loaded pin in the needle is fully depressed. So when I take pressure off of the arm it is in a slight raised position above perfectly parallel. Rode it to get it warm. Still leaking.... not sure what to do next.

I think I'm going to pull the bowl, fill it with gas and visually inspect the floats actually floating. However, I doubt that the floats are actually the problem. I visually inspected them multiple times and they are not holding gas like I would expect if they were damaged.

I'm also wondering if I need to add some more hose onto the overflow and snake it up and down through the frame before having it drop down below the skid plate. Maybe it is creating a siphon that is stronger than the floats ability to shut off the needle / seat???

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Might also be as simple as the drain screw on bowl not tight enough or the brass overflow tube inside the bowl could have a small split allowing fuel to leak before it gets to the top of the tube. Have had that happen on older carbs before. Plus you can set the float arm height just a tad higher by bending the tang down a little and see if it helps. It's always best to have the drain line through the bash plate to keep fuel drips from any heat. OPT

 

Thanks for the quick response! I really appreciate your thoughts on this!!!

I've tightened the large nut/screw on the bottom of the bowl right next to the overflow tube already. I have a new gasket I could put on it as well. Not sure how that screw not being tight would cause gas to be coming out of the overflow tube? Anyway, I'll go ahead and install the new gasket on it.

Next time I take it apart I will fill the bowl with gas short of the top of the overflow tube and examine the floats and the tube itself. Right now if I turn off the gas the dripping stops pretty much immediately. If the tube was cracked I would think it would continue to drip even after the gas was turned off, at least for a little while? But I will take a close look at that one. Never would of thought of that myself...

When you say set the set the float arm height a tad higher... You mean bend the tab a little so it shuts off the gas from the bowl a little earlier, which equals a less gas maintained in the bowl. Did I understand that correctly?

My overflow tube currently barely makes it to the skid plate. I have to zip tie it to the frame to keep just everyday riding from pulling it back on top of the skid plate. Without the zip tie it ends up making a mess on top of the plate when I park it instead of dripping below the bike. So that said, the overflow tube is pretty much straight down from the carb right now, maybe even a little taunt.

Thanks for the tips!

kg

 

Yes,by bending the tang down a bit it lowers the gas level in the bowl slightly. The screw tip at the bottom of the bowl also uncovers a small hole in the overflow tube seating area . This is why when you open the screw it drains out the overflow tube line. OPT

 

Hmmmmm... So, there is a screw head in the bottom of the bowl? I'll need to take a closer look at the bowl. I don't believe I've ever noticed that particular screw. That could be it! Thanks! I'll let you know...

kg