gas shut off?

L

Louis

Well-known member
when i shut down my 31 at the end of the day i always turn off the fuel shut off valve and let it run out of gas, some one here said not to do that as it makes your float go to far down and could cause a problem. Is it best to just turn off the ign. sw. and turn off the shut off, or just leave the fuel on? any advice from those with exp. Thanks.
 
Louis , I will not call my self a expert , but I do the same for over 40 years the way you discribed. Never any problem.
 
Many pros and cons on this I guess. I have been turning off the gas and letting it run out of gas for the past 20 plus years now and have had no problem...knock on wood!

Then I lift the fuse off of the fuse holder and there she sits till next time!

Pluck
 
if you have a properly functioning carburetor there is no need to run it out of gas. if the carb leaks after shutdown, then that also means it running on the rich side cause the float valve does not shut off properly.
 
If you drive your car only occasionally or you are going to lay it up for the winter it is important to run the carb out so that crummy 10% ethanol gas doesn't start breaking down and gum it up. It's not a big deal if you are running it regularly.
 
Steve ...................
That's a good idea for a modern car too, or your motorcycles, lawn mowers, jet skies ...........
MIKE :)
 
When I would pull my '29 phaeton into the garage. I would always shut the gas valve off and run the gas out of the carb. Afterwards I would check the carb and find it wet and dripping a little gas!?!? For some reason I decided to open up both hood half's once after parking the car.
Lo and behold when I checked the carb later, no gas wetness or drips.
The heat within the engine compartment with the hood closed must have
caused the gas to be drawn from the tank into the carb and caused the leakage I guess. The carb float was set right as best as I could figure
and the gas shut-off valve was in good shape too. :confused:

Bob-A :D
 
I've always turned the gas off and run the carburetor dry when parking the sedan. Been doing it for at least 50 years. Sure has not caused any float problems. When the family had 5 or 6 Model A Fords we always turned the gas off on any of these cars and ran the carb dry. Never a problem.

How many times have you walked into a persons garage and you/they found gas all over the floor? You never know when the float valve may not seal properly. Might only happen once in a blue moon, but why take the chance.

JD
 
I used to let mine run for a short time with the valve shut off but didn't let it run dry. Lately the float valve has been sticking shut and I have to tap on the carb. to get it flowing again. I think I'll just shut the motor off then close the valve. I have good shut off valves in all the A's.
 
A couple things I discovered when rebuilding my carb that might cause a sticky float.
There is a spot where the needle valve touches the float. I discovered that it had worn and was a little rough causing things to hang up once in a while. Might check that.
The second thing was a worn or bent pivot rod for the float. Someone had replaced mine years ago and bent it slightly causing my float to hang up. Might check that too. Even saw a nail used as the pivot instead of the brass rod. I guess it worked as a repair but not a fix.
FWIW
Dick
 
Since I installed one of Bratton's new float valves I have no leaks but I still put a plastic paint bucket under the carburetor when it's parked in the garage. No gas smell in my garage.
 
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