Solex carburetor woes

[Dinty]

My Series 2 Comm/Recon vehicle runs way too rich, I have screwed in the mixture screw and it still runs way too rich I'm at a loss, I can take them apart and rebuild them etc etc, but I cannot tune them due to my eyesight and hearing.
Anyway the Land Rover has the 2.25 litre petrol engine as specified by the Army way back then, this morning I started it up let it run for a few minutes or so, then switched off the ignition and removed the top cover of the Solex, I had read that (and I think I'm correct) the fuel has to be 5/8" +/- 1/8" from the face of the body, see images
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/666.jpg
and with my depth gauge set at 5/8" the fuel level is approx 1/8" below it again
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/667.jpg
o my limited way of thinking the fuel level is too low, but that doesn't explain the clouds of black smoke from the exhaust (like a diesel LOL) the float is OK, the needle n seat works as it should, and the mixture screw doesn't appear to be damaged in any way, the gasket is fine, can somebody point me in the right direction, cheers Dennis :(

[JDNSW]

Are you sure the needle valve is sealing properly? Although, if it were not, you would expect to see the level too high. Float got a leak?

Is there any chance that you have a non-standard fuel pump that is producing excessive pressure? For example an electric pump or a diesel engine mechanical pump?

John

[incisor]

will try and dig out my solex book in the next few hours dennis...

from the workshop manual

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=115003&stc=1&d=1475810485

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=115004&stc=1&d=1475810485

will get to the solex book shortly

[Dinty]

Many thanks for your responses, to answer your questions John, it has a std mechanical Land Rover petrol type fuel pump, the float doesn't appear to faulty as I cannot feel any extra weight/wobble when giving it a shake up next to my ear and I sat it in full sunlight and it was dry all over, you would think if it had fuel inside the float it would have expanded and found it's way out.
The needle n seat appears to be OK as I applied air pressure via my mouth over the inlet pipe and closed off the needle with my finger, on releasing my finger I was able to blow through it and many applications of finger etc it did block off and not allow any air through, cheers Dennis

[JDNSW]

If you immerse the float in hot water, a stream of bubbles will show any leaks.

The Diesel fuel pump looks identical, but provides a higher pressure - and I can't find a reference for this, except the manual says they are not interchangeable.

While looking for this I found and can confirm the 5/8" float level (+- 1/8").

John

[Dinty]

My 5 main bearing diesel engine has a completely different fuel pump to the ones on all of my petrol motors, it does not have a fuel bowl on it, cheers Dennis :)

[Busted Syncro]

G'day Dennis,

Couple of other things to look at.

The accelerator pump diaphragm could be punctured.
With the engine running at idle is there fuel coming out of the injector tube?.

The starter valve may not be fully turned off. Check the operation of the choke assembly. With choke off, the lever should be fully forward towards the radiator and against the stop.

Chris

[incisor]

From the British solex bible

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/659.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/660.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/661.jpghttps://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/662.jpg

[Dinty]

I went through my supply of Solex carburetors
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/613.jpg
selected one of them that I thought was a suitable replacement then went to work on it, stripped down n cleaned out, brake cleaner works a treat if you don't have any carby cleaner, mating surfaces cleaned up on my face plate
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/614.jpg
those stains in the bottom are very hard to shift but it did come clean evetually
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/615.jpg
with some of the tools needed to do the job
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/10/616.jpg
and all back together this morning fitted up n running, still might need a tweak as I had the run screw too slow, the engine stopped while filming LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2JuBw6wlOs&feature=youtu.be
anyway thanks for all the tips, both diaphragms were OK no holes so a road test will soon tell me but that's not going happen anytime soon as it's a lot of work to get a vehicle out of the yard ATM 10 Land Rovers here + everything else that usually resides here, cheers Dennis