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Johnson Carburetor, 1913 patent date, blowing gas out!


mrcvs

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If you see my other thread, it is about installing a K D Carburetor, which is the original carburetor for the car.  But, it is not a simple swap-out of the existing Johnson carburetor.  Problem with the Johnson carburetor is that it frequently blows out gas and needs cleaning regularly.  This time, I cleaned it out, and turn on the gas, and gas comes POURING out the back side of the carburetor onto the engine block...STILL after all this!  I assume that it is the cork float that is the problem, and I am in touch with a fallow who can replicate this float...but it ain't cheap!  Or, does ANYTHING else come to mind as to why it is pouring out gas now, and is always problematic?

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Guest Rp1967

Remember years ago seeing my father dry out a cork float on top of a light bulb and recoating it.

I don't know what he used and unfortunately he has passed on.

Also remember him using lapping compound on needle and seat when both were metal.

After giving it some thought it may have been Bill Hirsch gas tank sealer that he brushed on those old cork floats.

You would want the alcohol resistant type today of course.

Edited by Rp1967 (see edit history)
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You can make your own cork float with three wine corks. 

 

Just use a belt sander or grinding wheel to flatten the sides and Crazy Glue to glue them together for a large enough piece. 

 

Then grind it into shape and coat it with gas tank sealer, airplane dope, or Crazy Glue to resist modern gas.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Is there something I should try to use to replicate the cork float, or is there ANYWHERE one can buy a float, brass or otherwise, that will simply replace this one?  The car would turn over and fire, and idle a little bit before flooding as the float gets saturated.

 

Does anyone know if the problem is simply because the float is old OR is it because of the junk ethanol we have now (e.g. the inability to get REAL gas)?

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Post a pic of the float along with dimensions.......I have some ideas....... :)

Wow!  Much thanks!  I will pull it apart tomorrow (hopefully) and take pictures.

 

It is circular with brass fittings and a pin, with a crevice cut out on the inner circular part to accommodate a central cylinder which otherwise would catch on it if the crevice were not cut out.

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Nothing you can do will turn the Johnson into a reliable carburetor ;)

 

However, if you are convinced a better float would help, try whittling one out of a chunk of balsa wood (from a model airplane shop or a flower shop). Reuse your old float arm, and seal both the float and arm. Model airplane fabric dope, or POR-15 is resistant to gasoline.

 

Jon.

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Nothing you can do will turn the Johnson into a reliable carburetor ;)

 

However, if you are convinced a better float would help, try whittling one out of a chunk of balsa wood (from a model airplane shop or a flower shop). Reuse your old float arm, and seal both the float and arm. Model airplane fabric dope, or POR-15 is resistant to gasoline.

 

Jon.

Well, that's what I wanted to know.  Not sure if the Johnson carburetor is unreliable, or if it is the float being old, ethanol in the gas, etc.  Not quite sure if the K-D carburetor was reliable in its day or not.  This Maxwell is 90% original, so nothing was replaced unless it HAD to be.

 

I WAS going to photograph the float in the Johnson carburetor today, but let sleeping dogs lie--For now!

 

It was so flooded yesterday, I couldn't get it started, after rebuilding it.  Today, started right up, didn't leak, drove the car a few miles.  Turned it off by turning off the fuel, went to start it again, and some gas poured out of the carburetor, but once running, no gas coming out.  Okay, not ideal, but best in a long time. 

 

BTW, a small piece of debris was cleaned out of the carburetor float adjust, so that was the problem before.

 

As it is now is typical functioning status.

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Maxwell used lots of different carbs. Some they made themselves; others from (chronologic order) Holley, Kingston, Zephyr, K & D, Johnson, Eagle, and finally beginning in 1922, they started using Zenith for export and Stewart for domestic.

 

If I owned a Maxwell that I wanted to drive, it would be a "1922 or later" regardless of the actual year of manufacture.

 

(Opinion) of the top three carburetor brands prior to 1932, Zenith and Stewart were two of them (Stromberg the third).

 

Just a comment on Johnson: as most of you know, many carburetors of the day used some form of device, generally a water jacket or exhaust jacket, to heat the air/fuel mixture for better atomization. One of Johnson's methods was to install a "heating plate" in the bowl above the gas, and ran an electric current to the heating plate.

 

Jon.

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  • 3 months later...

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