Gas shooting out 2 sides of carb

[MountainMan57]

I took off the whole set of 3 carbs, cleaned them up, all appeared in good shape, put everything back in place. When I was pumping the squeeze bulb, I heard something squish which wasn't air coming out of the carb...it was gas. I heard it again and didn't get a great firm bulb. I didn't see gas so I started the motor. It took a bit, but finally got it up and going and while it was running (weak, a little rough) I looked behind the air handler and gas is pumping out both sides of the carb. I have taken pics of each side and circled the hole gas was coming from. I am NOT anything close to a mechanic. What the heck? I did have a can of air there, so I shot a little shot in the top side forward hole and gas shot out of the low side hole closer to the choke 2 feet! So what is going on. It might be I have finally narrowed down where my bigger problem has been with this engine but I don't know what I narrowed it down to!

 

[Jiggz]

On the first pic is the carb overflow/vent hole. If gas starts to come out of this hole, it means the inlet needle valve is not closing the fuel inlet thus overflowing the bowl. This can be caused by improperly set float, leaking float, worn out needle seat, etc.

 

[ferdly1]

What is that red stuff on caburetor bowl. I hope you didnt use any kind of sealant. If you did no biggie just remove it. New gasket should be all you need.

 

[MountainMan57]

What about the hole in pic 2? When I stuck the air in the higher one it shot out the lower one...so similar?

 

[Jiggz]

The hole in the 2nd pic is most likely the air bleed hole for the idle jet. On some carbs this is usually located inside the carb just before the butterflies. On others it is located outside. And yes if you blow air into this hole some air will push back through the main jet to the bowl hence spitting more fuel out of the bowl vent hole.

 

[MountainMan57]

Ok, tearing down the carbs again today. See what I see. Thanks for your help. On my other engine (this has 2, another 85hp, '89 model) the low pressure exhaust hose blew out when it backfired. I just received a replacement - it was letting a lot of water and smoke into the space. Any ideas there?

 

[Jiggz]

Are you referring to the exhaust relief boot located on the motor leg? If the motor backfires, it means the exhaust are coming back out of the carbs. if the exhaust went out the exhaust snout or exhaust relief boot that is not a backfire, instead it is referred to as a cough or sneeze. Meaning one cylinder fired but not the other cylinders. If you can post a pic it will be very helpful.

 

[MountainMan57]

No Title

This is the low pressure exhaust I replaced. Now the flow is 3 times what I had before it even split! May have been something clogging it? Both sets of carbs removed again and cleaned again, now both engines start, run, need of fine tune but both start and run! That is a big win for me!

 

[Jiggz]

Yes, that is the exhaust relief boot. Reinstalling this boot is a little tricky. Note there are four pieces to this kit, the boot itself, a clamp, a spring and the nylon insert. The tricky part is the spring and the insert. The spring is the only part that keeps the boot pressed firmly against the motor leg cover thus sealing water and exhaust from leaking out. In your picture the spring is protruding out. This is not correct as this means the boot will not press firmly against the insert in the motor leg cover to seal. As for the clamp, sometimes the clamp is so hold and does not have spring tension anymore. You can always use quality zip ties instead.