OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines I'm done with Victa float needles

Good job NormK.
I can't say a I've ever had a problem with a needle unless the tip has rounded instead of being pointy.
I've only dealt with original Victa primer caps though AFAIK.

Ok so I kept those carbies with the fuel turned on for 24 hours and they all held fine. Now I have 2 on test that were in my reject needle container, 2 new primer caps and gave the seats a polish with the Autosol. One leaked fairly quickly so I polished it again and now it is holding so I will leave them on test for the next 24 hours. Hopefully they will pass the test. Seems the only way I can sort these out

Norm

What about the other problem of the needle sticking in the seat making the mower impossible to start
How can you check for that
Both my Carbymaster primer caps and needles work perfectly but both stuck shut when new

2 yrs done the track and all is good.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,
What I have noticed after polishing the seat is that when I test the needle with the float the needles all drop out of the seat instantly, before polishing them it was a 50/50 as to it sticking or not. I had always just assumed the weight of the fuel would push it down but as you know sometimes they would stick. I'm fairly confidant after polishing that the needles won't stick and everyone I have polished holds fuel, fingers crossed this is the answer I have been chasing for years

Norm, Repco have 1kg tub of autosol for $45 next week; interested in a lifetime supply?

I will be going down to get a tube sometime as the valve lapping paste is still a little too coarse

Thanks Tyler but I think that the amount of Autosol I use on each seat, this tube will last me another 300 years. And my wife bought me a big box of cutton buds so the fact they are banning them from tomorrow in SA and Vic in 2 years, I have a lifetime supply tucked away

I thought you were having a lend Norm, but sure enough; cant believe they are banning cotton buds. Don't even know if you can still get the wood ones anymore

To solve one thing doesn't solve everything.
An improvement is a one step of innovation.
It does it because there is reason.
Now, frustration comes along our way.
But still, we persevere because there's a solution.

CM

I'm hearing you Mr Miyagi, wax on wax off

Hi all, been following as I'm having issues myself, but I just thought I'd ask the question- has anyone ever tried fitting an entirely different carby? Walbro / Zama etc?

Do i and report..
speedy

There is nothing wrong with the carbies, they are a brilliant design and will operate under the most awful conditions unlike most other carbies. The one and only real issue with them (apart from a couple of Victa design blunders) is the float needle. The Viton tipped are a big improvement so it seems the seat is the major fault now. Polishing the seat with a cotton bud and metal polish in a battery drill does help but no guarantee it solve the problem. So annoying that all other carby manufacturers can make needle and seats that work perfectly and still we continue to fight these. The Carbymaster has come up with a number of improvements but they continue to be problematic

My dad bought a Waltons store brand mid arch Celestial 160 in the late 1970s V177 code and it had the G4 carb with no prImer. He took it to a mower shop a few years later because it wouldn't start.
It came back with a white primer cap fitted as per the 1978 bulletin instructing such fitment to mowers brought in for any attention to the carburettor.
That mower was what I considered a reliable mower like you consider a vehicle reliable. You knew it would start by the second or third pull (it would never start first pull) and get the grass done. It sadly didn't get much use in it's first half of life as my dad was a bit yearly mower if that!! Only when I became old enough to operate it, did it come out od the shed far far more often!

Hi Normk,

We are almost there to put this float needle issue to an end. Most of the carburetor needle seat have lever as we knew. They all experienced the same thing and luck if not without the level in place. Lever has its single purpose is to pull the needle to allow fuel to flow and to shut off the valve when full. This is what trying to implement on this Victa. With my prototype it always open and shut off the needle valve as intended regardless. How much more for the final manufactured needle float lever? This is what everyone is waiting for. Once I successfully tested a sample, I can give them a go to mass produce the product and would be available for everyone. The reason why the metal needle has a crown during the design and not following the original design is because of this purpose, "the lever" the grab on an angle. It was planned and took me years to implement and to convince the manufacturer to make the tooling and to mass produce. I expect it would be cheaper than the viton tip needle.

Cheers,
CM

Hi CM,
I just hope you can recoup the tooling costs on this venture it seems the volume of PT's kicking around now seems to have drastically reduced and as Max says he can't be bothered trying to sell PT's because people don't want them

Hi Normk,

Selling the product is only secondary to me or just a bunos. It is the achievement and challenge to come up with this solution that works and benefits everyone Victa enthusiast, professional and home small engine mechanics working on PT. It is the self satisfaction to be part of it. I don't expect to cover the cost of tooling. I do this for everyone.

Cheers,
CM

Hi CM,
that is very noble of you to go to all the trouble of trying to solve this needle problem but you should't do it unless you can at least recover your costs, not make any money but you should recover your costs. I have probably 60/70 tested/running motors here but that won't help much with your costs

The sad thing is it's a very worthwhile endeavour that may be the sorely needed long overdue breakthrough to making these near 100% reliable, but the public out there have no idea about it and the more machines are crushed by the garbage contractor truck, the greater their attrition as they're no longer made.

It seems at least some words are spreading. I came across a random YouTuber who's using them.

The rear discharge power torque just doesn't sell well in my area, sometimes I just want to get rid of a couple serviced mowers
quickly and put a couple for sale with alloy bases + catchers and they are advertised at $50. for the lot of 2 serviced mowers .

Then after a week or 2 of them still not selling ,I just put one for sale at $50. and eventually it will sell.

No problems selling 4 strokes at $100.


Cheers
Max.

Here is another idea I might try Max, convert a rear discharge PT into a sidethrow because the sidethrows always sell

I guess you would need to have a mulch plug in the back of the mower Norm or make up a rear blade cowl
so you don't loose air flow to throw the grass out ,then the base would need to be reinforced on the
side where you cut the side discharge position out . The air flow is wrong with a rear discharge to
be used as a side discharge as the rear discharge opens up mostly at the back where the side
discharge opens up mostly at the side discharge port.

The rear side discharge sheet metal cover didn't seem to take off. I think people like the look of the Utility.

Pity we can't get 100 Utility bases stamped out at a cheap price.

Cheers
Max.

I had forgotten about the rear discharge cover, nobody ever inquired about it, maybe the whole idea is dumb but the little sidethrow utilities are a cracking machine to use on long grass. I used one a few days ago and it just blitzes it. Pity they are in limited numbers

I was lucky enough to find a discarded PT ute chassis at a mower shop skip bin a year ago, complete with good wheels and the high capacity tank.
I had found a domestic PT with worn out (but a still useable) surface rust coated rear catcher deck which turned out to have a good motor after a quick clean of the carb and moved it over to the ute which I now use as the household mower!
Funny thing is the other mower had a chute attached to the back.

There is not one word I am allowed to use on this forum to describe how I feel about these float needles/primer caps. The words I can use do not describe how I feel about them

Hi Norm,

I'd try pushing the old seat out of an old cap and pull the new seat out and push the old seat into the new cap as I use new
needles in old caps and none have had a problem.


I think the new caps you could cut the seat to get a bigger seat but it's so small it's very difficult to see how much you are cutting the seat


Cheers
Max.

Hi Max,
I don't think there is any taper cut into the seats, It is very hard to see but I think they are cut flat and stuff the end user. When I use the cotton bud to polish the seat the end of the cotton bud ends up completely square with no sign of taper at all. Typical of Chinese manufacturing junk

Hi Norm,

Yes I've seen some like that with very minimum taper ,I might try putting an old brass seat into a new cap and see how that
works with the Viton needle.

I've had a few new manufactured items from China that don't work from day one but usually you can use parts from the
second hand item to get them working.


Cheers
Max.

I have been trying to work out how I can cut a bit of a seat into them. I thought I had solved the problem cleaning the burr off the inside but that is only partially fixing the problem lately.
Ok so now I have tried to cut a miniscule seat using a pointed Dremel HSS tip by hand with a couple of turns. I have pushed up on the float with a lot more pressure that the fuel could ever do and the float still drops. Some of the needles I have had to grind a fraction off the end to allow the float to drop enough to allow the fuel to flow. I will see if the seats now stop the fuel or I have to throw the caps out

Today, partial success , but still patchy. I reamed the seats and got the needles to drop without issues. Problem is some times fuel pours out the primer bulb. Put another needle in and it can work fine, motor starts straight up and works fine. Using this method I ended up getting 4 mowers starting and running fine. This method appears to be working but it is time consuming getting a needle and seat to work together but it appears now that once I get them working in this manner, they seem to keep starting and working fine. I will see how they shape up tomorrow, but this seems about the most success I have ever had with these caps and needles. Time will tell

Hi Norm,

I was going to grind up a small stone to the right shape to grind the taper and see if that works.

It does sound like the needles you have aren't very good if some work and others don't.

Sounds like you are getting somewhere with them now.

Cheers
max.