Mike Volpp
Member
Several months ago I disassembled/cleaned the 540's carburetor (Zenith 68J8) due to persistent gas seep from drain in the bottom of intake tube, found a visible speck of dirt in one of the small jets, reassembled and started/ran normally. The leak persisted however and, thinking the float valve with its rubber tipped needle might be at fault thanks to ethanol in the fuel, I purchased a kit and rebuilt the carb, after which the tractor started/ran normally. But the leak persisted, so I recleaned the carb and rechecked the float setting, checked/confirmed the fuel shut off valve at the sediment bowl slowly leaked, and replaced it with new sediment bowl assembly. The tractor started/ran normally, so I changed shut down routine to include running the carb dry. Several weeks later, the tractor didn't start due to flooding. After shutting the fuel off, I elected not to drain the carburetor bowl and have been rewarded with the fuel seep from the intake drain again. Other than thinking the new rubber tipped needle is at fault, I'm at a loss to wonder what's going on. Is there a source these days for the old style all metal needle that might be impervious to the effects of ethanol?