[TWG1572]

For once in my life, I was the first guy responding to a good deal Craigslist ad. The guy was cleaning out his mom's storage garage and just wanted stuff gone. There were no pictures on Craigslist, so I was really excited when he wheeled it out. Pretty good condition for an old snowblower. I got a little less excited when he started hunting around and said "I know the carb is around here somewhere". He found a bag and handed it to me. It was full of disassembled carb parts and a couple paper towels that mice had shredded. Oh well, the price was right....

Yesterday, I decided to put it all back together. Amazingly, all the parts were in the bag. And with any good assembly job, I had one part left over from the carb rebuild kit. I don't see anywhere on the parts diagram where it would go, and there wasn't an old one on the carb.

I've attached a pic - the extra piece I have is the one with the red arrow going to it. What is it? Do I need it? And, where would it go? The hole in it is pretty tiny. Just small enough to slip the tip of one of the needles through, for example. It's not wide enough for the whole needle though.

The engine is running fine without the part, but I'd like to make sure it's put together properly since I'll be selling the snowblower. The engine is a 5hp SnowKing. The top of the shroud is too rusted to get any identifying numbers off it.

 

[Tractor-Holic]

Looks like the seat for the needle valve,that gets pressed down into the carb's fuel inlet hole,for the needle valve to seal against..
There appears to be two seats in the picture,a white one above the black one you circled--its possible they supply both sizes so the carb kit will service several different models that had different sized seats ..

 

[TWG1572]

Good point. I hadn't thought of that. The hole would be about the proper size for the needle valve. Thanks!

 

[*chris*]

Good point. I hadn't thought of that. The hole would be about the proper size for the needle valve. Thanks!

I always have a ton of extra parts left over from most carb rebuild kits, don't sweat it!

Chris

 

[Tractor-Holic]

I'm thinking the carb kit probably services several different carbs,and those that used a fuel pump used the "black" needle valve seat with the smaller hole and larger outside diameter,while those without a pump would have the white one..it matters which way faces up on those too,I think the side with the grooves faces up..

I have many car carb kits hanging around that had several "extra" gaskets and other dewhickeys--I learned fast if you chose the wrong bowl gasket on a quadrajet GM carb it'd never run quite right,they usually had 3 in the kit to choose from--wrong one leaves a passage open that should be sealed,or seal one off that should be "open",etc-..and if someone else had already been in there and used the wrong gasket,you'd most likely copy their mistake !..it pays when taking anything apart thats "virgin" to pay careful attention of just how things go,and take note of the correct gasket..(something I fail to do more and more as I age,and get distracted too easily!)..

 

[oldsarge]

With a quadrajet I learned to just replace it with a Holley!:sidelaugh

 

[TWG1572]

..it pays when taking anything apart thats "virgin" to pay careful attention of just how things go,and take note of the correct gasket..(something I fail to do more and more as I age,and get distracted too easily!)..

I hear ya man. Unfortunately, this came as a bag of parts so I winged it based on past carb rebuilds. We are going to roll with it and call it a day. It's not leaking, primer and choke work, and it starts on the first pull. It pops a little while running, but nothing too unusual.

 

[Tractor-Holic]

I consider any carb rebuild a success as long as it starts,runs,sounds OK,doesn't flood,or start dripping gas the minute you shut it off--especially on a Tecumseh!..

Oldsarge,I got a lot of free Q-jets back in the day from guys like you..

I dont really care much for "most" Holley carbs,there were some decent ones,but I liked the Carter AFB's and their clones,and the Rochester 4GC the best...
The Q-Jets were fine once you got one dialed in right,and most guys didn't have the patience to fiddle with all the settings ,and just ditched them...few carbs work as well off road,they dont flood out easily,and they are "self limiting" so they will work on many different engines without needing a lot of tuning..
I have run them on everything from straight sixes to 454's..they can be decent on gas too,if you keep your foot out of the secondaries!..

 

[tomw0]

Way OT, but semi-related...

Didja ever work on a Pontica 326 or 389 water pump? Try figuring out what's wrong when the new pump does the same as the old, with overheating at freeway speeds for no reason, but which stops with a 'slowdown' for a few seconds.
Seems that 'somebody' had replaced the pump previously, and threw away the stamped sheet metal plate that forms the volute for the pump impeller, so the pump didn't flow well.
Now I know why there were always TWO exactly the same water pump gaskets in the front cover or master gasket set. The only way I finally knew the cause was to take apart another totally different engine that had the plate intact.
Makes me believe that engineers that do the design actually know, for the most part, what things you can get away with tossing, and they have done all the tossing already.
Some 'helpful mechanic' left me with a problem that took several years to figure out.
tom

 

[craftsmanmowerfreak]

that little gasket is for the fuel drain port in bowl to drain bowl if the bowl has it

 

[maxmetal]

I dont really care much for "most" Holley carbs,there were some decent ones,but I liked the Carter AFB's and their clones,and the Rochester 4GC the best...

Well stated, 10000% agree.