TOPIC: flooding carb on my Merc 1400

I have just bought a 72' Tahiti with a Merc 1400. The carbs were rebuilt by a marine mechanic right before I got the boat. The first time I started it, it was fine. the last two times I have had major gas dripping from the upper carb. A couple of taps on the body seemed to remedy what I thought was a stuck float, but the yesterday at the lake it was not a solution and there is so much gas the boat will not start, just a stutter and much gas dripping out.
I am looking for suggestions before I start digging in, and I am a bit PO'd about having new carbs that leak.
Any and all advice would be appreciated.

These carbs have a tendency to dribble a little if the prime bulb is squeezed too hard, but the dribbling should stop while the Merc is running - idle to wide open - no dripping.
IF he replaced the needles and seats he may not have set them correctly as per the manual - or - if he didn't replace the floats the old ones might be a bit 'water-logged' and not able to float well enough to shut off the needle assembly.
Either way - I would simply go back and explain what is going on and see if he'll make it right.
If not - just post and wwe'll explain how you can do it yourself.
Do you have a manual??
Thom
I attached pictures of my old Tahiti and 1400. Great combination!!!

You either have a piece of trash in the needle & seat,bad needle & seat or the float itself is filled with fuel.

Earlier in the season I had cleaned the carbs and replaced the needle & seats on our 115 tower. After foolishly trying to save a few bucks on old fuel that came with the boat,about 24 gals,on my 1st trip out we had problems. Luckily we had taken 2 6 gal tanks of fresh fuel. I decided I should remove the float bowel covers and clean them out along with the air/fuel mixture circuit. I found all 3 floats had fuel in them. Was it the new fuel?

Melanie

Thanks for this. I would love to go back to the guy, but the boat is now 1200 miles from him, so it looks like it is up to me.
I will try it in the am with no bulb squeeze and see what happens.

Great pics, just like my boat, I would love to know more about the tahitis.

BTW, new fuel.

In response to: "I will try it in the am with no bulb squeeze and see what happens.",...
You still need to squeeze the prime bulb until the carbs are full of gas or the beast probably won't start for you.
Just bear in mind that once the fuel starts coming out of a carb you aren't going to gain anything by continuing to squeeze the bulb more.
If fuel mix continues to flood out or drip significantly after the beast starts up you really need to shut her down and correct the problem both for safety and the environment.
Thom

Thanks to all, we simply gave the bulb a single squeeze, cranked her over and she started fine with no dribbles or additional fuel.
ran the motor for 20 minutes with no issues.
I have another post about my Merc 1000 about to go up.

I'm reading these old problems ,and now I'm pretty sure of my new problem . with my old 78, 70 hp Merc.. After months and months of finding and fixing the electrical problems .. today I tried to fire her up . Only noticed it ran for a couple of seconds.. I had some throttle body cleaner spray . I sprayed it into the carbs .. it would run for 2 seconds and stop then I noticed gas coming out of the carbs!! It has to be stuck floats , as you say !!! .. ..Now I'll pull the carbs off and clean everything !! P.S. In the old days we always disconnected the fuel line and ran the gas out of the carb, til the engine stopped, we did this cause we always tilted the engine when we were down using the boat, cause gas would dribble out and into the boat. This engine hasnt been used for at least 14-16 years . So there is probably something gummed up ??

Mine did the same thing when I first bought it a set of new floats, properly adjusted, took care of it. It's a pretty simple job with basic hand tools.