Today I am going to talk about Holley carb floats.
First I will post up the normal "Stuck" Float, "Hung" Float, "Gas spewing out of carb" posts you find on the internet.
Then I will talk a bit about Holley Carb Float WEAR which all of the carb suggestions seem to ignore. If a Supply houise wants to sell you a new float why would they tell you have to fix a worn float so that you do not need to buy a new float?
So here is the normal stuff first:
The float on a Holley carburetor manages the amount of fuel present in the body of the carburetor at any point, allowing the metering blocks and power valve to serve atomized fuel to the intake plenum. When the float sticks, the regulation of fuel is disabled, incapacitating the car with a flooding or lean condition, the latter being potentially damaging to the engine if operated for an extended period of time. A stuck float may be caused by fuel residue within the float valve, a poor valve seat or debris lodged in the fuel bowl area.
Remove the fuel bowl bolts with a 5/16-inch wrench and pull the bowl off the metering block.
Examine the movement of the float with your finger. If the fuel bowl is stuck in position, REMOVE ANY DEBRIS that may be present and spray the bowl with carburetor cleaner spray. Test the movement again to see if this fixes the problem.
Remove the adjustment screw and nut from the exterior of the bowl with a screwdriver and open-end wrench. Pull the valve from the valve seat and INSPECT IT FOR FLAWS. Spray it clean with carb cleaner spray and REPLACE IT if the tip of the valve (where the valve seats) is damaged or worn. Insert the valve in the seat and reinstall the adjustment screw and nut. (A float level adjustment will be needed once the bowl is reattached to the carburetor).
Nothing about the wear point on the float where the float CONTACTS the Needle and seat
See link to Video attached. You do not need to actually open the video, I just want you to see the contact point on the float arm where the needle contacts the float.
All Holley Floats have a "Hill" (Raised Area) on the float arm that contacts the needle.
THIS HILL ACTUALLY DOES WEAR OVER TIME BECAUSE THE HILL IS BRASS or soft steel attached to the brass float AND THE NEEDLE IS HARD STEEL. So when you have wear you can have a ledge/divit formed on the "Hill" being the weaker material.
The Divit now gives the needle a place to hang up vs move smoothly thru its arc.
When this occurs you can trap foreign material in the divit or you can get a rough spot on the float arm where the arm sticks.
So the fix is to inspect the "Hill" on each float and make sure that it is smooth and the float travels easily over the "Hill" and controls the fuel coming into the bowl properly.
That being said the Supply houses still want to sell you a new float because it is "filled with fuel", etc when it reality the float just needs a bit of polishing.
Floats are not cheap from the supply houses.
$12.00 or more for 1 float that may just need a bit of polish on the "Hill"
Here is the link to the video but just look at the video screen, no need to open the video.
http://www.jegs.com/p/Holley/Holley-...43657/10002/-1
Tom V.