carb

[Roby L. Baisden]

Does anyone have any dealings with the Zenith carburetor? It is somewhat cheaper than the MS.

 

[souNdguy]

i'd take a ms on these old fords any day vs a zenith.

ont he 65+ gassers.. yuo are pretty much limited to the finicky and particular , but fuel efficient holley or a gas hungry and expensive, but working, zenith..

 

[Steve (Tx)]

I have had two Zeniths, both to replace the 312954 for my 641 and 2000 4 cylinder.

Both Zeniths seemed to have float problems within one year of purchasing. TISCO replaced the Zeniths with the MS aftermarket model and things have been fine.

 

[old]

M/S or a zenith hands down no questions asked it is a M/S or nothing

 

[Bill Radford]

Just curious:
Why have you given up on the original carburator?
Unless a M/S is totally trashed, it can be rebuilt very easily.
There is a world of information here on this site and some very smart people that can help you.The search feature will give you a whole bunch of posts and pictures on this subject.

If your part of the country is like mine, I'm sure there is someone, probably an older guy that can do this for you if you dont want to tackle the rebuild yourself... Take my advice: get your rebuild kit from this site or your local New-Holland dealer, not from your local TS store. These are spotty quality, to say the least.
If you spend a lot of dough for a Zenith when you can use your M/S, you are in my opinion buying a whole new set of issues.
Hope this works out well for you, keep working and enjoy your tractor.

 

[Roby L. Baisden]

I haven't given up on the M/S. Just curious how the zenith performed. I have heard enough that I will keep my M/S. Thanks for the info.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Brad, did adjusting the main jet lean down your engine? My Jubilee came with a horizontal exhaust and I didn't like the smell, so I converted to a vertical exhaust. Is yours vertical?
George.

 

[Roby L. Baisden]

I backed the main jet out till I could feel it struggle somewhat then I run the small adjustment in and it seemed to smooth out a little. I had my post hole digger on(8"auger) preparing to install a swimming pool and it never seem to bog down but the fumes.wow! No my exhaust is horizontal but I've been thinking about going vertical.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Mine has the muffler horizontally under the gas tank. I bought the verticle exhaust pipe from Yesterday tractor. Some of the newer fords were changed over to vertical. Guess people didn't like being that close to the exhaust pipe either. I then went to town and bought a 90 to put on the top to divert the exhaust sideways. This keeps from blowing the exhaust up in to the rafters of garage, knocking everything loose, and having it come down in my face.

Pull the main jet out as far as you can and not have it stall out. In the summer, I can crank it way out. In the winter, it needs to go in just a tick, or it will stall out under load.

Keep tabs on the plugs and adjust for the best possible mix.
George

 

[Roby L. Baisden]

If you run your exhaust vertical would you need some kind of raincap for it? The more you talk about vertical the more I want to change mine. Does it increase the performance of the tractor by going vertical? If I run my main jet out will I have to make an adjustment somewhere else?

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Just run the main jet as far as you can and not cause the engine to stall under a sudden load.

As for the vertical exhaust, no change in engine hp. As for rain, I think it's a SIN to leave any of my toys out in the rain. Every tractor, mower, tool, car, truck, anything I care for, is parked in a garage or barn. The only time my tractor may get wet is if I'm using it and it starts to rain. Then I had for the barn as fast as I can. When I bought my tractor, the tranny was full of rain.

If you do go vertical, there is a flapper you can install on the end of the exhaust or do like we did 50 years ago, put a can over the exhaust. If you start it and forget to remove the can, it will come back down.
George

 

[NoNewParts]

another vote for the M/S over the zenith
I have a lot of both, and both preform well,
but the zeniths always seem to have a float/needle
issue...stuck closed, or gas dripping out
head scratcher for sure, both have floats and needles,
but the M/S's, I never seem to have to touch, and the zeniths
are always having to be messed with,
.....or whacked
The plastic 5g buckets from the endless pails of oil we buy
make nice exhaust covers.(even with a flapper)
soup/coffee cans work too, but rust out Very quickly.
seems every stuck tractor I buy, had a metal can over the exhaust
with a rusted out bottom and an engine full of water

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Roby,
Our local Napa rebuilds carb. I think they may send them in or have someone of staff do the job. I think they charge $40-50 labor plus parts. So if you give up Check Napa for a rebuild.
George

 

[Roby L. Baisden]

You know there's nothing to a M/S carb as far as rebuilding goes. When you have a carb rebuilt is all the adjustments made on it before it comes back to me?

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Roby,
They can set the float to specs, No one can adjust a carb on a bench. They may set it at a recommended starting point, you have to fine tune it.

About 40 years ago, I owned an exhaust gas analyzer, it would tell you the fuel to air mix. Which in an ideal world would be 14:1. You could never get to ideal, but come close.

What I learned decades ago with carbs, are the sympthoms of a carb being too rich and too lean and from there make adjustments. I had an old TR6 motorcycle. It was always running too rich. I soldered shut the main jet and them drilled it to a smaller diameter. Lots of trial and error to get it right.

Engines love too much gas to build horsepower. Not good for a long life engine, black plugs, washes oil off cylinders, lots of ring wear, oil doesn't last long either, not to mention the rich gas smell in exhaust.

Too lean, engine stumbles, especially under load when the governor opens fast. However, a lean engine should stumble a little when cold, requiring a little choke.

Listen to what your engine is telling you to make adjustments. Make adjustments on the small jet when engine is at an idle. Adjust it in until the engine starts to die, stumble. Crank it out a little. Not to mention you have an idle stop adjustment too. Adjust the idle mix first after engine is warmed up. Then crank the larger jet out as far as you can when the engine is around 1200-1500. Slow it down and adjust the smaller jet in for a smooth idle. If you are running rich, inwards will lean it. When you have it close, going from an idle to max RPM's should happen without stumbling. If it does, you need more gas, crank large adjustment inward a twick.

Experiment and learn what the engine it telling you. Carbs aren't rocket science. You may need to find an old auto mechanic. Carbs are Carbs, not that complicated.

Even when you get them at their best, your plugs should be gray, but they still stink. Vertical exhaust will fit that problem. So will wearing a resperator.

Gas smell in the exhaust can be caused by a spark plug not firing, bad plug wires, distrubutor, bad compression causing pour combustion, so all the carb adjustments in the world will still cause gas smell in exhaust. Have you done a compression test? how old is your ignition system?

George