Holley Carb 2300 2BBL Fuel Bowl slowly draining internally!?

[katmachine62]

Hi, Long story short, I took apart my float bowl on a new Holley 2300 mdl, 500cfm 2BBL Street Avenger series Carb and finally reset the float to desired level (I think it should be half way up the glass view window according to the manual?) , but now I cant get the locking screw to stop weeping gas (fuel in Oz!) out from it's gasket that I had to make... I've tried making a few different thickness gaskets, tried wrenching down a little harder etc., but to no avail... Before I go to the speed shop tomorrow to start throwing a parts cannon at it, can anyone shed any light on what I've done wrong? All was perfect, until I took it apart, and entirely messed with the adjustments incorrectly, before taking the time to learn how to properly adjust it! The float now seems to be holding steadily at the desired level, and I can adjust it as desired etc, and it's not leaking gas from anywhere ekse (this is after I destroyed the original Holley Fuel Bowl gasket, and replaced it with a Fuel Miser brand (that seems much better quality - for the record)... thanks in advance!

 

[RemCharger]

Take the screw out and see if the N+S is sticking up too high.

 

[493 Mike]

You are using 2 different gaskets, correct? Both sides of the adjusting nut?
Mike

 

[AR67GTX]

I’ve never had a problem with Holley gaskets sealing those assemblies. Need both gaskets though. I hope you are holding the nut in position while snugging down the slotted screw and not the other way around.

 

[katmachine62]

I’ve never had a problem with Holley gaskets sealing those assemblies. Need both gaskets though. I hope you are holding the nut in position while snugging down the slotted screw and not the other way around.

Update... I made another gasket out of .6mm gasket paper, it initially weeped slightly, but after leaving it for a few hours it has dried up!... So now I'm leaving it overnight and will re- test in the morning to see what happens when I fire it up again, as it seemed as though my float level was slowly dropping (it's steady now at around 30% full), as per pic, so I may need to readjust again to sit around halfway up the glass (I fear this may disturb my nice dry gasket tho

 

[AR67GTX]

Older Holleys with the brass bowl sight screw were supposed to be set with fuel at the bottom of the opening. But I guess some of the Holley knock off carbs with the glass bowl site require it to be in the middle. I guess you’ve checked this out for you’re particular carb?

 

[katmachine62]

Older Holleys with the brass bowl sight screw were supposed to be set with fuel at the bottom of the opening. But I guess some of the Holley knock off carbs with the glass bowl site require it to be in the middle. I guess you’ve checked this out for you’re particular carb?

Yes... Mine is a new genuine Holley 2300/4412 2 BBL, 500cfm Street Avenger series with black Nitrophyl type float and glass site

 

[WileERobby]

You may have stripped a thread.

 

[Sinitro]

Some of the previous Holley carburators used a clear plastic window to view the float level...
This was a great idea except some carburators used a cheap ABS material that easily cracked under severe heat conditions.
I almost had a serious engine fire due to this issue...
I did contact Holley tech support and suggested why not make the window out of lexan that can take more heat..
I never got a response and went back to the traditional metal level plugs...

Just my $0.02...

 

[1 Wild R/T]

There is an O ring on the adjuster that might have gotten damaged...

 

[katmachine62]

There is an O ring on the adjuster that might have gotten damaged...

View attachment 1630088

I fear I may have done that as it felt quite hard to push back in place, so I ended up smearing a very light coat of Vaseline petroleum jelly on the O ring to ease it in...

 

[RJRENTON]

There is an O ring on the adjuster that might have gotten damaged...

View attachment 1630088

Excellent example.....the O-ring provides the seal to the bowl; large washer fits under the hex nut; the small washer fits under the lock nut. I run my Holley float levels at the BOTTOM of the sight hole to relieve a hot soak percolation issue. Just my opinion of course......
BOB RENTON

 

[katmachine62]

Excellent example.....the O-ring provides the seal to the bowl; large washer fits under the hex nut; the small washer fits under the lock nut. I run my Holley float levels at the BOTTOM of the sight hole to relieve a hot soak percolation issue. Just my opinion of course......
BOB RENTON

Do you ever have starvation/stumbling issues?

 

[katmachine62]

Another Update... Today I bought a Holley kit and installed the Holley gaskets on the nut/screw adjuster after gently cleaning the nut a little with some wet and dry to ensure the surfaces were clean/true etc. After reassembly and some driving all appears good again so far! However.... I have another issue whereby my float bowl is slowly draining/emptying, internally (there are no gas leaks externally), and my oil smells of gas, again. I am quite concerned at this point as I have a lot of $$$ invested in my fresh engine (currently sitting at around 350 miles) , and today I drove it (in a spirited fashion) for about 15 miles or so to do a plug test etc. When I returned home, I checked and smelt the oil and it does smell like gas, so I am going to change it again tomorrow as I don't want to drive on it as is... I think I'll remove the Carb tomorrow and take to an expert to assess and repair asap, as I need to attend an event this coming weekend, however thought I'd post here to see if anyone else had recently experienced this issue and was able to determine what it was (keep in mind the carb is brand new, Holley OEM), thanks...

 

[AR67GTX]

Holleys can and will leak internally without much encouragement. I once tried another brand of power valve on my Holley that came with a thick, very square shoulder gasket. I was careless and didn’t get the gasket square in the gasket recess and it pinched and it leaked. Different types of power valves use different gaskets to seal correctly. The metering block or even carb body can be warped and the gasket won’t seal up tight. Holley has had a bad bunch of needle and seat o-rings over the last few years. I’ve read several reports and had run ins with a couple myself. I helped one acquaintance with an old Corvette and it took him 3 new Holley needle and seat units before he got one that The o-ring didn’t leak. The leak overfills the bowl and floods the engine through the bowl vent when it’s running. If it sits a few minutes the bowl drains down to normal and looks OK in the sight port which can fool you. There may be other sources of internal leaking I’m forgetting.

 

[katmachine62]

Holleys can and will leak internally without much encouragement. I once tried another brand of power valve on my Holley that came with a thick, very square shoulder gasket. I was careless and didn’t get the gasket square in the gasket recess and it pinched and it leaked. Different types of power valves use different gaskets to seal correctly. The metering block or even carb body can be warped and the gasket won’t seal up tight. Holley has had a bad bunch of needle and seat o-rings over the last few years. I’ve read several reports and had run ins with a couple myself. I helped one acquaintance with an old Corvette and it took him 3 new Holley needle and seat units before he got one that The o-ring didn’t leak. The leak overfills the bowl and floods the engine through the bowl vent when it’s running. If it sits a few minutes the bowl drains down to normal and looks OK in the sight port which can fool you. There may be other sources of internal leaking I’m forgetting.

Mine is leaking into the engine obviously as the oil is contaminated, could this have had happened from me removing the power valve and main jets from the metering block, and then when I reassembled, the power valve didn't seal properly and is allowing gas (potentially) to leak down into my manifold?

 

[RJRENTON]

Do you ever have starvation/stumbling issues?

NO.....I just enrich the fuel metering slightly......PVCR PLUS MAIN METERING JETS.....plus I ise the
ProMax jet plates on the end carbs....stagger jetted for optimum fuel distribution.....just my opinion....
BOB RENTON

 

[AR67GTX]

Yes, it’s possible. The washer gaskets sits kind of loose on the power valve and if not real careful it will slip down if the block is held in normal position to screw it in. Then it doesn’t seat fully in the recess for it. The seat is actually formed on the PV - I stated incorrectly above that it was in the block. I finally started holding the block horizontally and screwing the power valve in from underneath so it stayed centered on the PV and seated properly. The real Holley gaskets that are fairly thin haven’t normally caused me a fat-fingered problem. I think it was a pair of quick fuel PVs that gave me trouble as they had these thick, red rubber gaskets like a water hose gasket.

 

[Daves69]

Mine is leaking into the engine obviously as the oil is contaminated, could this have had happened from me removing the power valve and main jets from the metering block, and then when I reassembled, the power valve didn't seal properly and is allowing gas (potentially) to leak down into my manifold?

 

[Bird 426]

Did you have a backfire? Possibly blowing the power valve? Doesn't take much.