[Amoosbenz]

I went to start my my 71 250 today and it wouldn't start, my neighbor said "it looks like you have a leak in the front of your car" I opened the hood and thier is gas coming out of the back carb

here are some picks, needless to say the car doesn't start:crybaby2:

 

[Eirik 400 SE]

Seems like a stuck floater or something.. BIG fire-hazard in there now..
Remove the carb, get it opened and se if it's a blocked outlet, or what..

 

[Amoosbenz]

Trust me I know I freaked out!

 

[Eirik 400 SE]

Just make sure not to "adjust" any links or screws while the carb is out..

 

[mbbuff]

That looks like the carb. on my 250S. There's two of them, right? I had the same problem years ago. It turned out to be a bad (filling with gas) float. When I took it apart I thought it (the float) looked very familiar. Turns out it was the same as the VW single throat carb. on my kid's VW bug. MB wanted $45 for one, but I bought two used ones at the VW parts place for $5. It's been in there for at least 10 years now and still doing great. You can take the carb. apart without removing the whole thing from the engine, which is a real pain. Just pull the top, and it is easy to replace. Hope this helps.

 

[Check Codes]

Leaky float or a needle/seat that is stuck or damaged.

Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg

 

[Amoosbenz]

I am thinking of rebuilding the carbs if that is the correct term for buying a carb kit and replacing gaskets, accelerator pumps, etc. My brother on the other hand thinks because the car is a dual carburetor its a crazy idea and it would be to difficult to do? Any suggestions Ideas.. feedback?

As always thanks!

 

[Check Codes]

If you buy the kits and tear the carbs apart and clean them in carb cleaner and reassemble with the new parts, that's a carb rebuild. However, if your problem is a float, that's not part of the kit, so you'd still want to check that first.

If you haven't rebuilt a carburetor before that's not the easiest one to start with. However, if you do one and get stuck, you have another one you can refer to...with the caveat that you might get stuck on it as well.

With multiple carb setups the additional difficulty is synchronizing them, which essentially means adjusting them so that they do the same thing at the same time. For example you don't want one at 5% open and one at 10%, it creates a really ugly imbalance.

If the car is running fine otherwise I think I'd just fix the problem. They don't look very dirty, particularly down inside the throat.

Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg

 

[mbbuff]

Greg's right. You'll need a "Unison" airflow gauge or something similar to adjust them correctly. It's been a long time since I messed with mine, but as I recall the inside of the carbs. looked pretty good and there were no leaks, so I didn't mess with them....just changed the floats and accelerator pumps. Also, take a close look and you'll see that they would be a pain to get off and then reinstall. Also, if I recall correctly, some of the MB carbs. do not have a "kit" per se', just order the parts/gaskets that you need. You may want to check with the dealer or MB parts house on availability. I was able to get a complete kit for the 4 bbl. on my 280C, but again as Greg said, the float is not in the kit and I had to order in separate. I'd for sure check the float and needle and seat first. Both my MB's (250S and 280C) have needed floats now, that's why I say check there first. When you have the lid(s) off, see if the inside is clean an there are no external leaks other than what you describe. IMO, if all is OK I wouldn't remove them.