New Product - Zenith carburetor - late model (rebuilt)

[Don Moyer]

Zenith carburetor - late model (rebuilt) (carburetor flange gasket included)

This four-bolt late model carburetor has been rebuilt and upgraded to current Zenith specifications. It has been fitted with a simple bracket to insure that the front of the upper and lower housings remain securely pressed together, as in the case of five-bolt carburetors. The carburetor has been rigorously vacuum-tested for leakage prior to shipment.

Note: Installation on an early model engine requires our carburetor flange kit (FCAR_13.2_166), scavenge tube (FCAR_13_60.0) and flame arrestor adapter (FCAR_08_59). These items must be ordered separately.

Price quoted includes a $25.00 core charge which is refunded when we receive your carburetor. Please note that core credit can only be issued for late model carburetors.

Click here to order.

[tenders]

Are there different models of Zenith carbs? This one looks oriented oppositely to mine and to the new one that you sell. On those, the intake is to the left, the screw adjustment is to the right. I don't think the photo has been reversed--the Zenith logo isn't backward.

[Don Moyer]

Except for the very latest Zenith carburetors which added a fifth screw to assist in clamping the front of the upper and lower housings together, all late model carburetors used on the Atomic 4 are identical with respect to orientation of the intake throat. Throughout most of the 1970's, after Zenith bought Bendix, they continued to show Bendix on one side of their carburetors and Zenith on the other. By the time the fifth screw was added in the late seventies, the name Bendix was no longer appearing on the
carburetor.

Since many of our rebuilt carburetors will be of the four-bolt vintage, we decided to show that particular model so as not to mislead anyone. It now appears that we may have shot ourselves in the foot, but we went on to choose this view because the name "Bendix" appears on the other side and we didn't want to mislead anyone into thinking that we were rebuilding carburetors other than the familiar Zenith late model (PN 13355).

As an aside, all our rebuilt carburetors (four-bolt and five-bolt) are pressure tested after assembly to meet or exceed OEM standards.

Don

[tenders]

Ah! So the view we're seeing here is the side of the carb that normally faces the engine. Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

[sgblume]

RE: Late Model Rebuilt Zenith Carb

Don, should I expect to be able to reuse the spark arrestor from my old Zenith, or do you expect that to be returned with the core. Also are any of the other options a necessity?
Thanks,
Scott

[Administrator]

Scott,

Keep your flame arrestor. All we need is the carburetor itself as your core. If you're replacing a late model (aluminum) carburetor, you will not need to order anything but the carburetor. If you're replacing an early model carburetor with a late model, you'll need the parts indicated in our online catalog.

Don

[Raymond]

Gaskets leaking

I have discovered that it appears both my bowl gasket and flange gasket are leaking:



The A4 is the original in my 1975 Catalina. I have never done anything with the carb; the engine is running good. Should I just replace the gaskets? Or should I consider rebuilding/replacing.

Thanks for any input.

Raymond

[roadnsky]

I have discovered that it appears both my bowl gasket and flange gasket are leaking:
The A4 is the original in my 1975 Catalina. I have never done anything with the carb; the engine is running good. Should I just replace the gaskets? Or should I consider rebuilding/replacing.

Raymond-
As long as you've got it off to replace the gaskets you should clean and rebuild it.
That's an awful long time without maintenance on a critical element!
Just because it's running ok, doesn't mean it will continue without some attention. (As evidenced by the leaking )
AND most issues will happen when it puts you in the worst situations:
Strong winds and/or currents. Heavy traffic. Docking, anchoring, etc...

[sastanley]

Raymond...remove it and if you have the facilities, take it home disassemble, clean and re-assemble.

I have a 1977 C-30 and the A-4 was 'near death' according to the P.O. when I bought it - A little TLC, lots of MMO, & cleaned fuel system (I dumped more water than fuel out of the fuel pump bowl..& added a Racor water separating filter) and she runs as well as she did 30 years ago. I attribute the primary resurrection coming from cleaning the carb and getting good, clean, fresh fuel to the unit.

[keelcooler]

After the next run, place a paper towel under the carb to check for leaks. No leak, no need to fix. You should consider a polishing filter set up to net any crap from fuel pump to carb.

[Administrator]

Water in fuel

Mostly for Shawn:

I shared your pain...

We have a small runabout with an historically reliable Honda outboard. Last year, it really began to act up. Really act up!

This spring, Don suggested we take a look at what was in the bottom of the fuel tank (80 gallon capacity). He gerry-rigged up a siphon can, using one of those vacuum systems meant to extract used oil, and we went at it. By the time we were done, we had pulled 8 gallons of water out of the tank. Since the water had made its way past the Racor separator into the engine, some work had to be done on the engine itself as well.

Among the several things we learned:

• Water in copious quantities can overwhelm the Racor. We didn't see a phase separation line in the transparent lower portion of the Racor because it was totally full of water. After pumping out 2-3 gallons, we still didn't see a phase separation line in a sample we poured from the siphon can. "It must be 100% gasoline by now!", we said. We deliberately added a bit of water to the sample, expecting now to see a phase line. Nada! It was still 100% water. Yikes!
  
• Gasoline engines prefer gasoline to water. Boats with no Racor are just begging for trouble.
  
• Fuel from sleepy little marinas is not to be trusted, as a matter of principle. Now, I get my fuel from a busy Royal Farms station that I know moves a lot of fuel, and I never keep more than a quarter to a half-tank of fuel in the boat at a time.
  
• Next spring, we'll likely repeat the process and see what we find.
  

FWIW.

Bill

[Raymond]

Thanks for all the input

Thanks all,

keelcooler, could you explain "polishing filter set up"?

Raymond

[rigspelt]

could you explain "polishing filter set up"?

The 7 micron filter between fuel pump and carb. (The Racor fuel/water separator filter at the fuel tank is 10 micron -- the tighter secondary filter "polishes" the fuel by filter down to 7 microns). See a picture of on in this kit image: http://www.moyermarine.com/cgi-bin/s...key=FPMP_10_52

[sastanley]

Bill,
How do you "store the tank" in winter? I installed a new poly tank this spring, and I currently have about 12 gallons in my 18 gallon tank..I am just about to put the boat to sleep for winter...I've been getting fuel from high volume pumps, but it has 10% ethanol!!!!!! - I have added the "new" ethanol formula Sta-bil and MMO. I am trying to decide if I should add 5 more gallons to reduce condensation or try to spend some weekends burning out all the fuel.

Here's the million dollar question that I wrestle with:

Which is worse -
a) 18 gallons of 10% ethanol fuel that phase separates?
b) just a few gallons of 10% ethanol fuel in an 18 gallon poly tank with lots of tank condensation?

[Mark S]

Go with (a)

How do you "store the tank" in winter? . . .

Here's the million dollar question that I wrestle with:

Which is worse -
a) 18 gallons of 10% ethanol fuel that phase separates?
b) just a few gallons of 10% ethanol fuel in an 18 gallon poly tank with lots of tank condensation?

Shawn,

Trust the Sta-bil and go with (a). Last fall, I filled our 30 gallon tank with E10 gasoline, the recommended dose of MMO, and somewhat more than the recommended dose of Sta-bil ethanol formula treatment. That tank lasted me through the summer until August when I filled it again to head downeast. If there was any phase separation, I didn't notice it, and I had no condensation in the tank in the spring. I did it again last month.

Mark