Glad everything finally worked as it was supposed to. What's even more important is to realize that when a qualified shop "repairs" your component it should be airworthy. Too many times we accept old wives' tales (OWT's) as fact and in this case it could have been bad.
Happy New Year to all! Al DeMarzo Visit the Ercoupe Swap Page Free, Easy and No Membership Required http://www.ercoupeowners.com/swap/swapbook.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Green To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 6:02 PM Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Stromberg Carb Wanted to share a note about carb problems with my newly overhauled engine. Engine was mounted and the overhauled Stromberg gave me serious hesitation problems after 10 hours of engine time. Replaced carb with an exchange from the engine shop and it looked great and had it remounted last Friday. After 2 hours of run time I started getting very rich burn and leakage through carb when engine sat, small drip leak at first and then more of a stream. Local mechanic said Stombergs do leak because of steel needle valves and I should turn off the fuel valve after flying. OK I have heard that before although the carb on my engine before overhaul never leaked. Flew to a good friends airport and my coupe really flooded and was loosing a lot of fuel once on the ground. Turns out second carb had a bad float (fuel filled) and one split gasket. My friends changed out the float and replaced the gasket, all is well finally. Had my plane not flooded on the way to run-up though I may have had a bad time of it in the air as I got off the ground enroute there in the morning but couldn't get out again due to the float/gasket problems. Glad they showed up on the ground and not at some lower throttle setting in flight, if I had got out. BTW, this refurbished Stromberg doesn't leak one drop with the fuselage tank valve open (steel needle). If your Stromberg is leaking through the carb you might want to take a closer look just to head off any potential engine power loss due to flooding. Finally I don't know of any other carb options for Coupes, are there any out there? Best regards, Rich Green, N3881H, 1947 415-CD
