[sloty]

I just picked this old sled. It is an 83 polaris 440 (I think). The one carburator has gas coming out of the bleed hole. What can be done to stop this. It also stails sometimes when I use the breaks. It sounds like its flood the engine out. The other day the spark plug broke off too. What can cause a spark plug to break? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Spun222400]

a stuck float will cause gas to leak, clean the carbs

 

[BC_Dan]

Like Spun said, it could be a sticky float. It could also be a sticking inlet needle/seat or debris keeping the inlet needle open. Answer is the same, clean the carbs.

 

[tscottp]

Is there anything else that can cause gas to come out of the bleed hole? I have a 77 Polaris 340 that will start and run good for about 30 seconds; then gas will shoot out of the bleed hole and the engine will flood and shut down a few seconds later. I've had the carb apart several times cleaning it pretty thoroughly. I've taken out the inlet needle/seat and cleaned that as well.
With the bowl removed I filled the bowl with gas and the floats came up with no signs of sticking.
The sled only has 1300 miles on it; it sat most of the last 30 years so there was alot of cleaning necessary; but this one carb has always been a problem...comment from the original owner.
Any help is appreciated...if I need to I'll replace all the parts in the carburator if I knew they were the right parts and knew it would solve the problem without the problem being some easy 'adjustment'

 

[BC_Dan]

Bad float, improperly adjusted float, bad needle/seat. That's about it. Fuel comes into the bowl via the needle/seat and is metered by the float height. If either of those parts is not operating properly, the fuel pump overfills the float chamber and fuel goes into the engine and/or out the vent.

If the float doesn't have a hole in it and is adjusted properly, change out the needle/seat. Get the viton-tipped needle, they are more forgiving than the brass ones.

 

[tscottp]

Following up from last year...I replaced the needle/seat in the faulty carb and that solved the problem. My son and I have been running this old sled all winter and having a blast! I think the needle/seat was faulty from the factory because I was told it never ran right even when the sled was new.

 

[BC_Dan]

Thanks for posting the result! I'm glad you got to play a bunch on it this season.