Carb leaking and water too

[steplift20]

I ha ve a 1984 50 hp Mercury o.b my top carb is pissing out fuel from the port side of the front bowl I know it has to be rebuilt but I noticed that water drips very slowly ffrom my top spark plug where it seats to the block, when I race the motor the gas does not leak only at slow speeds and the water I don't know the engine seems to run great when the idle is high I don't like the water drips from the top plug any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by steplift20

I ha ve a 1984 50 hp Mercury o.b my top carb is pissing out fuel from the port side of the front bowl I know it has to be rebuilt but I noticed that water drips very slowly ffrom my top spark plug where it seats to the block, when I race the motor the gas does not leak only at slow speeds and the water I don't know the engine seems to run great when the idle is high I don't like the water drips from the top plug any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks

Can't help on the water issue but the carb sounds like the float isn't sealing the needle valve all the way and the carb bowl is overfilling. So may be an issue with the float or the tip of the needle valve.

[steplift20]

Destroyer, do you think that if I take the bowl down I could loosen the float? I never took a bowl down before and I fear that things will start falling out

[jvitiel]

Doubt it. The float should hang from the underside of the carb body..

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by steplift20

Destroyer, do you think that if I take the bowl down I could loosen the float? I never took a bowl down before and I fear that things will start falling out

The float is connected to the main body of the carb by a pin. It's securely anchored so nothing will fall out. With the bowl off the float should hang down at an angle and if you gently push up on it it should move to a more even position with the body of the carb. If you look carefully at where the float connects to the carb body you should see the bottom of the needle valve. When you push up on the float that valve should freely move up and down with the float. If it does then it's time for further checks. Take a pair of needle nose pliers and gently pull out the pin connecting the float to the carb. The float and the needle valve should both come down and rest in your hand. Look carefully at how the needle valve is connected to the float so that you can reconnect it later. Then remove the needle valve and fill a pan with water. Put the float in it and see if it floats. (You only need to check this if the float is made of copper. If it's cork or some synthetic material then disregard this step). Look that the tip of the needle valve carefully. If you can see any worn marks at the tip it should be replaced. If you verify that the tip is ok, the valve moves freely in the little hole and the float moves freely then you should be ok and just reassemble the float in the reverse order from how you disassembled it.