Fuel does not stay in carburator.

[andrew1973series2]

In a 1973 Series 2 I have to prime the carburator with a bit of fuel if the vehicle has been left sitting any more than a day or two. After that she catches and works fine. If left a couple of weeks she might have to be primed with extra fuel or primed twice. Any suggestions on where to start looking first?

[charles1943]

Possibly because today's fuels are super highly evaporative!!!!

[jimrr]

you should have a phonelic (my spelling) heat absorbing block between the manifold and the carb. this prevents the carb from absorbing too much heat. also, do a press test on the fuel pump to ensure fuel is not running back down the line and having fuel vacate the carb. another big thing is if you have a lot of rubber hose in there around the engine, that stuff absorbs heat lots.
many of my machines do this and i have to crank them more than i like so i've developed the habit of pulling the choke on start so it'll run on what's in the float bowl long enough for the pump to catch up.
my series 3 is a '73 .......... you sure you're dealing with a '73?

[biffidum]

Consider an electric fuel pump and your troubles will be over. It has internal check valve which will prevent drain-back and you can prime by just turning the key and waiting a second or two before cranking. On another note, I'm not sure a Series 2 can be from 1973... curious.

[charles1943]

You haven't said what carb you are running but if it's a Chinese Zenith they can be VERY annoying. I may have a NOS ZENITH in stock....plus remanufactured 1s, for which in the last 30 years we've had zero comebacks.

[WAFIORITO]

When replacing the carb, do you need to use a gasket sealant or does the gasket go on dry?

[jimrr]

using sealant on most gaskets is overblown. for most cases a thin film of oil or grease suffices. I just installed a fuel pump but used permatex only on one side ........ it'll be fine. retorque after a couple months but you sure don't want to use a jack hammer to get the old stuff off !

[erik88lr]

My Zenith always seeped fuel. I replaced it with a Chinese Zenith and had other problems (the accelerator pump kept failing). A Weber cured all. An electric fuel pump works great to prime the system if the truck has been sitting for months.