Hey everyone, I recently bought a 1970 maverick as a first car, and to learn about working on car internals a bit. I'm having some issues with my carb overflowing with gasoline, and pouring out onto the engine. The engine in my car is from a 1977 ford granada. The issue seems to be with the float. I got a carb rebuild kit and set the float to the correct measurements, but I still am having issues with the gas overflowing. Does anyone know what other things might be causing it besides the float? Thanks in advance.
the float is the only thing in the carb that controls fuel flow. try setting the flow down a little more, just a little more than the manual calls for. imo, that's about the only thing that it can be
do you have an eletric fuel pump or the mechanical one? too much fuel pressure will do this, a bad float, improper float adjustment, or bad needle and seat.
I assume the best way to tell if its an electric pump is to see if there are any electrical wires running to it? Also, is there an easy way to check for too much fuel pressure? I'll be leaving to go do some work on the car in about an hour, and could use all the advice available. As far as a bad float, it looks fine, and doesn't bubble under water (It's what I was told to check for). I will try looking at the needle and seat, which I assume is what the float presses up against. Thank you for the suggestions so far.
if you have a mechanical fuel pump it will be mounted on the drivers side of the front of the motor. you can follow the fuel line from the carb to the fuel pump if it has a mechanical pump. there will be no wires to that. if its eletric the pump will be back under the car by the fuel tank. to test fuel pressure you need a fuel press gage. they sell fuel pressure test kits at the auto parts stores but you should not need one yet. i suspect the needle and seat are the culprit here. there is probly some thing stuck in them keeping them from being able to seal. pull the top of the carb off and take off the float and look carefully at the needle and seat for any thing that would keep it from sealing when closed. if somebody had used teflon tape on the fuel line fitings alot of the time a pice of it will get caught in the needle and seat.
If it floods while the engine is running then the carb is at fault - as previously mentioned but if it doesn't flood until a few moments after it is shut off then manifold heat might be boiling the fuel in the float bowl. An insulating spacer (phenolic) will help prevent the boiling fuel.
Thanks everyone for the help. I put in a new needle, and adjusted the float a bit more and managed to drive it home about 5 miles without issue. I'll still need to get it checked out by someone who knows a bit more than myself, but the advice here helped me get home
Theres some experience talking. Thats another old issue I had forgotten about. Its like I'm getting re-trained on these old things. My buddies 65 Comet 289 was terrible for that with the Aluminum intake. Shield and spacer fixed her up. Took us a bit to pinpoint that one. Man its like going back in time.
