My screw's screwed...

[D87 SMW]

My LHD 1.3 Maestro arrived with the blue cover still over the mixture screw, as it had never been touched since leaving the factory in Varna...

I foolishly allowed my dad to tune the car up before it hit the road a few months ago...

But today, having got tired of it using too much fuel and idling too high, I decided to get the screwdrivers out whilst leaving the car to purr on my driveway...

You could imagine my displeasure (read: rage) when I took the idle speed up, then found the screwdriver wouldn't touch the mixture screw. It doesn't appear to have much of a groove left on it at all (to the point where I don't know if it's a cross or flat blade...)

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Banning my dad from touching the car has already been done, so please don't suggest this...

[D87 SMW]

This might give you a better idea:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/F170/DSCF3424.jpg


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[MAESTRO_MONTEGO]

i had these carbs befor in the pasted,i used a small flat screw and cut a v shape in the middle and that did the job.

[Wetfish]

It should be a cross head not a flat and I think they are made of brass, a soft metal and easily damaged. But you now know that.;)
Somebody should have a s/h carb lying around, ask them to dig (sic) out the mixture screw or get a new one from Burlen Services plus gaskets etc. or take the whole carb off their hands in anticipation of future incursions with a blunt instrument
As for getting that out, it’s not going to be that tight but I’d drill a small hole on the screw head and try an easyout or similar. Don’t advise using heat (!) unless you want to provoke a small terrorist incident in your neck of the woods but I’ll check the news in the next few weeks just in case.
Ohh, Almost our anniversary Sport. Happy Days.

Pasted, what the hell does that mean???

[G Force]

Hi Steve the screw does indeed have as cross shaped groove but you don't use a Philips or a Posi Drive (cross head type) screwdriver to turn it.

It looks like your Dad has tried to use a cross head screwdriver to turn it and that is why it has got all knarled up.

You should use a flat blade screwdriver wide enough to span the diameter of the screw but not too tapered so that it would foul the carb screw bore.

A second hand duff carb to rob a screw from should be easy to source. You may have to take the carb off to fit the screw as it has a rubber sealing ring near the top and it does not unscrew far enough to get your fingers on it to pull it out.

[D87 SMW]

Cheers, G. Will have a go at raiding my spare carb soon then. :thumbup:


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[Chris Y]

I've taken the liberty of removing some posts in this thread which were off-topic, bad tempered, and ill-mannered.

Please keep it civil - ALL of you.

[G51 NAV]

Something else you could do I suppose is use a blob of Chemical Metal to secure a smallish bolt to the adjustment screw, which you could then rotate with a spanner.

[e692wtt]

A friend of mine (who supplied the Apple2000 VIN numbers) had an Apple 2000. I would allege the carburretor on that car was not new when fitted to the car (being diplomatic) - it emptied its dashpot in a few miles of driving (I've never known that on another SU carb) and had the general appearance of a carb that had covered a lot more than the 30,000 miles on that car at the time I had a look at it...