Long story short, I replaced the float needle (among other non fuel related things) on one of my carbs in hope it would prevent it from spewing fuel out the front when priming. The motor is a 1988 Mercury 45 hp Pro Fifty model (4 cyl, 2 carbs, 2 stroke). It ran like poo, and then the kind folks at SaF told me about setting float levels. I pulled the carb again and a preliminary look suggests it's not set correctly. When upside down, the hinged side is higher then the floaty side. I read it should be level, if not slightly higher. Manual says it should be 1/4", which is more than it is now. My plan is to soak the thing in carb cleaner, adjust float level and put it back together. Sound good?
Next and my real question:
The needle I bought from Mercury is slightly different then what was in there. The old had a square wire which hung on the float tab (ie. If I removed the float the needle would be hanging from it). The new one has just a spring. My extremely basic understanding of carbs makes me think this is ok but I thought I would run it by you first.
Beautiful Illustration:
Orange is the float tab. Grey square is the metal wire I was talking about. Spring was so well executed in paint you should be tell and the black thing is the needle.
