OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines G4 Float Needles

I'm sick of the rubbish float needles that are available for these carbs, the replacement ones are just junk, so I fitted a viton tipped needle from a Briggs to one and it solved the problem. I had to file the sides a bit to make it fit but that was very simple. Problem is I can't remember which motor the carb came from but I think it was a from a Talon. I have ordered a needle and viton seat for a Briggs but I'm not sure if I have enough meat in the Victa end cap to drill the needle hole out to take the Briggs seat. Does anybody know the diameter of this Briggs seat?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/142217083030?

Give me a little time to check, Norm - I think I have one of those sets out in the mancave.

Gadge, I'm also looking at a bag off 100 needles in the States, just need to confirm that I can machine them down to fit. If so this is the fix for these G4/LM float problems

Righto Norm,
I had a look, and must have discarded the old needle/seat [usual practice], when I put a kit through my daily mower's carby.

But I did find the fitting instructions, in the OEM Briggs parts kit box that contains the leftover bits.

That says to use a 3/16" pin punch as a seat installation tool, and as I recall, that was not a great deal smaller in diameter than the seal- say 1/64" or so. So that's the ballpark you're looking at.

To drill out the Victa end cap, a straight flute drill, or slotting drill/end mill with the sharp corner stoned off the cutting edges, would be the go I'd think. That's if you end up making this a standard ops procedure, of course.

Thanks Gadge, I think I will go with the viton tipped ones from the States, problem is I have to buy 100 of them and hope I can successfully machine them to fit. Bit of a gamble but not a lot of options, the aftermarket ones are useless.

G'day Norm,

It'll be a fiddly job for sure, but after all there's only one really critical dimension on a carby needle.
And you'll be leaving that one alone.

Might not be too hard to design a small grinding jig for that job, anyway. I'll have a think about that one.

Hi Gadge, the needles I'm looking at are 16mm long so I should be able to hold them in my lathe, if not I can put a small drill chuck in it to hold them, then I can just cut it off to the 11mm I need. The needle leg is triangular so I can hold it easily in the 3 jaw or drill chuck hopefully, turn one end round, then turn it around and do the end with the tip. Doesn't need much off them. Have to fit a screen somehow under the chuck so if I drop one it won't vanish into the never never.

Ah OK, for some reason I was thinking about reducing the needle body diameter.

Still, for a semi-production setup, a grinding jig might still be the way to go.

Hi Gadge, I have to reduce the body diameter, but I don't see it as a big problem as the body is a triangle and I will only have to take less than 1mm off it and then I can shorten it. I'm lucky they are long enough for me to hold them to take the diameter down. Bit tedious but seems like there is no other option. The ebay needles cost about $6 for 5 but out of that 5 you often get maybe 1 or none that work plus spend buckets of hours trying to get the mower to work or keep it working

Ok I got a few minutes today to do another needle and seat ( because I needed a mower in a hurry) and it seems to be working perfectly, I will mow a lawn tomorrow with it and see how it performs. If it works as I expect it to, I have a fix for every problematic component with these carbs. This needle I turned down to 4mm diameter and I have the lathe set up so I will turn down 10 or 20 tomorrow depending on time

So far I am stoked with these needles, I made a mess of one in the lathe but am doing them in a different way now and it is such a good feeling to put in a needle and know it is going to work. Now I can throw all the Victa needle I have here straight in the bin because they are just rubbish.

I might get a few of you. You have to change the bore as well don't you?
How many did you import from Uncle Sam? Are you going to buy some more?

I didn't get the ones from Uncle Sam because the postage was stupid and the seller was not interested in being helpful so his bad is he still has 1000 needles he will probably never sell.I ended up going with the Briggs needle and seat which is a bit of a pain in the fact you have to remove the original seat in the primer cap and then drill down with a 3/16 drill and then push the seat in, all quite simple if you know how and how far to push the seat in. After that drop in the needle and smile all the way. I only bought 20 so far, I figured that was another 20 mowers I had to fix

As long as you have perfected the method of adapting them, and it results in trouble free motoring, then it is well worth the fiddling around.

Lets hope you have succeeded in taking the gamble out of replacing those float needles once and for all.

Such a good feeling after all the angst they have caused, and we can't be the only people having these problems, I guess most other people just have to dump them because there is no other way of fixing them, trust me I have spent countless hours fighting them, I can now rest easy at night. I just ordered another 10 sets. I think the biggest issue is I probably have to set them up which means I would need people to post me their primer cap so I can fit them, then post them back and we all know how costly and sometimes slow Aus Post is

Yes I could count the Victa mowers on one hand in a 45km radius. The people who like to walk use Chonda's and the ones that want to ride use John Deere ride ons.

Maybe you could send a modified cap to the buyer and have an exchange surcharge that you refund if you receive a cap in good condition.

I prefer to use Express post plus signature on delivery for customers and eBay sales as I can track it and know that it's been signed for. (500 gram Express Post + signature on delivery is currently $13.80)

Maybe a primer cap would fit in a small padded satchel? That should be $2-3.

All too hard and probably not worth the effort, I'm just happy for me to have an fix for any of the mowers I work on. I used to get so annoyed every time I knew I had a needle that wouldn't work and there was not a thing I could do about it I could spend hours trying to find one that would work taking the cap off other carbys, fitting new ones was a waste of time and then there was the issue of how long it might work for. Needle stick in the seat and it was all over. At least the brass ones are heavy enough to always drop down with the float. Hopefully I will never have to think about this problem ever again

Yes I experienced that a couple of years ago with our old Powertorque Utility. The old cap was cracking and had the typical build up of dirt, so I thought I should replace it with a shiny new cap. The problem was the needle kept sticking closed so the old one is back on and it starts in 1 or 2 pulls!

I should order a couple of caps and your modified cams at some stage to have on hand.

Problem is it is not just a case of dropping in the modified cam, there is the washers under the cam, the idle adjuster screw fitted in the diaphragm cap and now I am also removing the kill switch and fitting a 6mm stud in there to prevent the lifter from going off the top of the cam into the original start position. This always causes cable problems. I then fit an external push button kill switch. This then removes all potential problems these carbs can throw at you. I think the most simple way of doing it is to send a complete modified carb, but you still have to pull it apart to fit the cable. I also would have to test run it on a motor to ensure everything including the float needle works properly. Quite a messy operation, but gives a lot of satisfaction when they work as they should have in the first place.

Yes and it would have saved an awful lot of Victa's from scrap too!

I'm pretty sure this sums up most people's thoughts on mowers!
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