You don't want a higher pressure pump. A high pressure pump could blow open the float needle valve and flood the engine.

Check to see that your pump is actually pumping fuel first. If so, move on to see if there's fuel entering the float bowl of the carburetor (did you set the float height? When the carburetor is upside down with the bowl off the float should be level and resting on the float needle.). Hold the carb right side up and let the float drop on it's hinge pin. The needle should open (drop) too. If the float needle is stuck closed it won't let any fuel into the carb. If the needle sticks open or doesn't seat properly the carb/engine will flood out.

The purpose of the float is to keep a constant fuel level inside the carburetor. When the fuel level goes down, the float should drop and open the needle valve to let more fuel in. When the fuel level is right, the float should close the valve and not let any more fuel in until it needs to. Also, check to see that your float actually Does FLOAT on gasoline (or water). Sometimes they can leak and get full of gas and sink to the bottom of the bowl, thus letting the engine/carburetor flood.

Once you get past that part of the carburetor move on to all those little jet's and passages. Try blowing carburetor cleaner through them (be careful NOT to get any in your eyes. Take my advice, DON"T let that happen, you'll REEEEAAALLY regret it). A fine wire will help clean out those passages.

Take your time, look things over closely and you'll get it going eventually!

i already did everything you said other than checking to see if the float sinks or floats... but if it floats it should be just adding fuel... my problem is not enough fuel... the pump works with out the pump there is free flow fine i even blew air through the gas line... also when i spray starting fluid in the intake i can keep it running... without it it dies... 3 or 4 seconds later it starts up with gas then runs for 2 seconds then dies-it goes in a circle... but with the starting fluid i can just keep it running then take it away and nothing... i am lost:(

You definitely have a fuel flow problem. I would try bypassing the pump. Find a small fuel tank from a garden tractor or something and temporarily mount it so that it's higher than the carburetor and run a hose from it to the carb (like an IV bottle in a hospital). That should at least get you enough fuel so you can run the engine. Once you get it running you can see just how much fuel is moving through the pump. How are your fuel lines hooked up? I remember you had a question the other day about where they go. For now I'd keep it simple and just run the line from the tank through the pump to the carburetor. I'm not too familiar with Twenty Two's but if the tank is higher than the carb you should be able to run it without the pump, direct from the tank. If you have all the lines plumed through a fuel selector valve that could also be giving you trouble. Some of the early Tractors ran on Kerosene and had a small gasoline (starting tank) tank just for starting and warming them up. Once the engine was up to operating temperature you'd turn the valve over to kerosene (back in the day kerosene was much cheaper than gasoline). If you have all the extra lines for the selector valve hooked up that most likely is your problem.

What pump did you buy? Is it an Electric pump or mechanical? Was it specifically for a Cat 22, or just a standard "fitsall"? If it's a mechanical "fitsall" pump it could be that your pump has the wrong shape lever on it and it's just not making contact with the cam lobe, or too long or too short of a lever.

i got a 12v 4.5-9psi today and it is running from under the tank through a fuel filter to the pump that has another fuel pump in it and out the other side i have plenty of flow...

does anybody know where i can get a carb rebuild kit? i have the original zenith carb

Hi Team,
good advice from ZTJG on running gravity feed to the carb to eliminate other possible system problems.
Just looked at my parts book and I see that the fuel pump is activated by a pushrod running direct on the cam lobe.
A problem with the old side valve Ford V8's (that used a similar set up) was that the push rod end in them wore at the cam rubbing end and so reduced the effective pump stroke.
The fix (apart from a new rod) was to weld up the end of the rod to restore its length to regain the needed stroke to activate the pump. The last "sidey" I did some work on I made an adjustable length pushrod to also take account of the lost motion in the old pump rocker arm etc.

I would suggest you disconnect the outlet pipe from the pump and see if you are pumping fuel. If no fuel then you will have to do some measuring to see if you are getting enough stroke to activate the pump and rectify as needed, being carefull to not make the rod too long and damage your pump !!!
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

If you can get the model number off the carb most any good auto parts store (NAPA) should be able to get you a carb kit, or go to your local Caterpillar dealer ($$$$). There should be a small round disc riveted to the top side of the carb body with those numbers on it.

Sounds like something is not right with your float needle and it's just letting the fuel trickle in. I'd take that apart for a closer look. Some Zenith float needles have a rubber/neoprene tip and modern fuels with Alcohol can make that tip swell up and plug the valve (had that problem my Allis U).


I know just how you feel. My second tractor was a 1937 John Deere B. Once I got it running it would run great until you'd put it in gear, then it would go 50 to 100' and quit. Once you got off the seat and went over to the flywheel to crank it, it would start right back up again and run for an hour, or until you put it in gear and moved it. Then, another 50 to 100' before it would quit. That thing damn near drove me nuts trying to figure out what the problem was. Turned out to be a LEAF inside the gas tank that was almost the same color as the inside of the tank and very hard to see. When the tractor moved the leaf would slosh over the fuel outlet and cover the hole, stopping the fuel until the tractor starved and quit. Once the tractor stopped moving the leaf would slosh out of the way and the carburetor filled back up. I spent about a week trying to figure that one out, and felt really stupid once I finally found the problem.

You'll figure it out eventually, and just think of the LEARNING EXPERIENCE you're getting out of all this.

Non-existant user wrote:

i got a 12v 4.5-9psi today and it is running from under the tank through a fuel filter to the pump that has another fuel pump in it and out the other side i have plenty of flow...

You're running through Two pumps? Why? Is the second pump plugged?

Try putting a rubber hose on the fuel fitting on the carburetor and blowing in it by mouth (Advice: use a good CLEAN new hose). You should be able to blow a little air into the carb. If not, there is your problem.

i ment fuel filter not fuel pump...