Word for boiling gas in carb?

[Michael Jones]

Can someone tell a feeble-minded oldster what the term or phrase is that describes the condition where fuel boils in the gas lines or carburetor usually exascerbated by summer heat. It's akin to '"vapor lock" but it's another term. I can't remember it for the life of me!

Thanks

Michael

[Jim T.]

Re: Word for boiling gas in carb?

Would it be perculate?

[Ed Jennings]

Re: Word for boiling gas in carb?

That's what I've always called it.

[Joe L.]

Re: Word for boiling gas in carb?

Jim-----

That's close. It's "percOlate" or "percolation". This term is really a misnomer, although it's use in the vernacular in this context is pretty widespread.

[Michael Jones]

Percolation! Thanks guys! *NM*

[Clem Z.]

Re: Percolation! Thanks guys!

i knew you old guys would know the correct word,remember the old coffee pots that had a hollow stem with a basket on the top to hold the coffee grounds and as the water boiled up thru the hollow stem the hot water ran down over the grounds,these were called percolators. they even had a glass button on the top so you could see the coffee boiling up thru the hollow stem. i am too young to remember but the older boys told me about them.

[Joe L.]

Re: Percolation! Thanks guys!

clem-----

Yes, and the "percolation" refers to the passage of the condensed coffee liquid back down through the coffee grinds. Percolation refers to the passage of a liquid through a solid media, be it coffee grinds, filters, or, even, earth. That's why the use of the term "percolation" for the condition that occurs in a carburetor under high heat conditions is a misnomer. There is no media for the liquid (gasoline) to "percolate" through, so, in a scientific sense, there is no percolation taking place. But, as I say, the term is one that, in the vernacular, has come to mean the condition in the fuel system described.