cbjroms Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 I purchased a refurbished Stromberg 150CD for my Herald 13/60 a couple of years ago which ran beautifully. Having left it sat in the garage for a couple of years unused I now find that the needle valve has seized solid. I have removed the fuel bowl and replaced the needle valve with a Grose Jet in the hope that it will be more durable. To do the job (I thought) correctly I measured the height of the float having fitted the jet and adjusted the stop on the float to give me the 16mm between highest part of the float and the sealing surface of the carburettor housing. Fitted a new gasket to the float bowl, reassembled everything and the engine started first time. Tweaked the accelerator and the engine would not pick-up and so I thought it needed some choke. Gave it some choke and petrol started pouring out of the fuel bowl overflow pipe. So the Grose Jet is not stopping the fuel bowl overfilling even though I set the float height correctly. Am I missing something here? I have a feeling that the float height on the refurnished carb was much greater than 16mm but maybe I have got this wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPearce Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Well you meddled, didn't you? The original Stromberg needle valves work well if used regularly. Leaving it for two years gave it a chance to gum up and stick. You should have just fitted a new standard valve, not tried something experimental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbjroms Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 That's a fair assessment! The Grose Jet that I fitted is designed for the 150CD so I thought it would be an easy replacement. Perhaps I should have ignored the specified 16mm and left the float as it was. Certainly one option would be to remove the Grose Jet and refit a standard needle valve. But worried that the bowl will still overflow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Did you use a new gasket. if it was wrong one you get flooding due to the float st catching on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Strombergs sometimes just randomly do this for no obvious reason but are also sensitive to dirt and rubber slivers created when refitting the feed pipe. Original or grose jet seem equally afflicted. Is it he same fuel pump as before? Some modern replacements produce too much pressure causing the problem to be worse. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Strombergs sometimes just randomly do this for no obvious reason but are also sensitive to dirt and rubber slivers created when refitting the feed pipe. Original or grose jet seem equally afflicted. Is it he same fuel pump as before? Some modern replacements produce too much pressure causing the problem to be worse. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Strombergs sometimes just randomly do this for no obvious reason but are also sensitive to dirt and rubber slivers created when refitting the feed pipe. Original or grose jet seem equally afflicted. Is it he same fuel pump as before? Some modern replacements produce too much pressure causing the problem to be worse. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Strombergs sometimes just randomly do this for no obvious reason but are also sensitive to dirt and rubber slivers created when refitting the feed pipe. Original or grose jet seem equally afflicted. Is it he same fuel pump as before? Some modern replacements produce too much pressure causing the problem to be worse. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 i see Nicks having multiple post due to the wait where's it gone time out delay we seem to be getting grose jets used to be good but having trie a few in SU came to the conclusion they are not what they use to be, none works well. also if you have a stromberg with a twin float arm levers you can fit the float upside down good place for pictorials and excellent write ups is http://www.buckeyetriumphs.org/technical/technical.htm never mind its TR based or even 175 the basics are all the same Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Only clicked post once. It took more than a minute to take effect. Didn't spot the extras or would have deleted....... Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbjroms Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 An update on this. Frustration got the better of me and I sent the carb away for assessment and repair. It turns out that the leak was caused by the fibre washer supplied with the Grose Jet being inadequate. However, having left old fuel to stew in the tank for a couple of years it seems to have become extremely acidic and attacked the inside of the carb. I have been advised to clean out the tank, fuel lines and perhaps replace the fuel pump before plumbing-in the repaired carb. Are the copper and rubber fuel lines likely to have been attacked by the acidic fuel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 ive seen old fuel go gooey, and it does loose its umph! ive not heard of acid attack and being old its unlikely to be ethanol problems my car was laid up for 20 yrs and its had not a hint of any fuel issues over the past 3 years , not even the hoses , so ....pass on that one do we have a metallurgical / fuel chemist out there ??? and hoses best replaced with some Gates R9 ethanol proof, dont go for wildly specified fleabay copies reports of many supposed high spec hoses failing in months eg http://www.early911sregistry.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-125074.html Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Quoted from cbjroms- An update on this. Frustration got the better of me and I sent the carb away for assessment and repair. It turns out that the leak was caused by the fibre washer supplied with the Grose Jet being inadequate. However, having left old fuel to stew in the tank for a couple of years it seems to have become extremely acidic and attacked the inside of the carb. I have been advised to clean out the tank, fuel lines and perhaps replace the fuel pump before plumbing-in the repaired carb. Are the copper and rubber fuel lines likely to have been attacked by the acidic fuel? I have never heard of fuel becoming acidic and can find nothing online either so, at best think this company is confused with some other corrosion process or, at worst pulling a fast one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistanbroke Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 I just read up on this issue in relation to aluminium fuel tanks. It seems that although ethanol itself is fairly harmless, it does absorb water, ie condensation, short term its not a problem but left long term the amount of water it absorbs causes it to separate out of the fuel and become corrosive. The car left for twenty years would likely not have had any ethanol in the fuel, whereas the one that was used only 2 years ago definitely would have had ethanol. The effects of ethanol on alloys such as those used in carburettors are well known. Currently most super unleaded has only 5% ethanol as against 10% for normal unleaded and the HVCC recommend sticking to super in old cars for that reason. I found this info in relation to the pluses and minuses of fitting an ally fuel tank, and it seems its been a big problem in the US with folk leaving their boats over winter in what is obviously a damp environment, ie; moored up in marinas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Cook Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 General point re Stromberg float height setting. Needs to be done with the carbs upside down so float closes valve under its own weight (or as good as dammit). Not ideal to do this with the carbs still fitted as you have to lift the float with your finger and if they are as fat as mine then its asking for trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 and if the float has two needle arms you can fit the float upside down and that causes chaos to the fueling heights Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HONESTWELSH Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 On 24/07/2018 at 20:07, Don Cook said: General point re Stromberg float height setting. Needs to be done with the carbs upside down so float closes valve under its own weight (or as good as dammit). Not ideal to do this with the carbs still fitted as you have to lift the float with your finger and if they are as fat as mine then its asking for trouble. 100percent to all comments, can I put another unmentioned suggestion forward please, the floats are one of two kinds, metal, or plastic, I’ve had fuel on twin 150 Cd gushing out of the intakes, to find when I dismantled them, that the seam on the floats where the two halves are joined had a split, and was holding fuel in the float, consequently holding the needle valve down and flooding the carbs, not a solution perhaps but another constructive idea, Colin HONESTWELSH. S. Wales UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THM345F Posted Wednesday at 18:42 Share Posted Wednesday at 18:42 Currently experiencing flooding on one of the CD150s on my Mk1 2ltr Vitesse (front carb). Followed all the advice here (and on other forums) to no avail. The float chamber itself has been tampered with and one of the fixing holes damaged so I've ordered a (second hand) replacement. Having a break this evening before having another go at fixing it. The plan for tomorrow is:- Tap replacement needle valve with hammer to seat valve Flush needle valve again with hot water and dry Fit needle valve with PTFE tape on thread Blowing through the feed pipe, I think, showed bubbles appearing around the needle valve seat. Bend float arm to sit on valve at 90deg angle increase 18mm gap to 19-20mm? Clean off all the Blue Hylomar i used to fit the replacement gasket Re-fit the original float chamber gasket - this was not damaged and I've read that there are many variations The one supplied as a replacement is a bit 'weedy' should I refit with Blue Hylomar sealant? Carefully check clearance of float arms to gasket when refitting Flush fuel feed pipe again with hot water and dry Clean fuel pipe ends and smear with Vaseline ....... pray ........ The timing of the issue couldn't be worse. I'm booked to take part in the Wye Classic Car Run on Saturday!! Have I missed anything?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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