Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

It's in decent condition, new rubber impeller, scraper bar and overall good shape. The guy I bought it from said it had been professionally serviced 2 years ago but had seen little use since then as he decided to hire a plow guy to do his average residential driveway. I could not get it to start after adding some fresh fuel that I brought with me so I offered him $ 40.00 and said OK. - he had it listed for $ 75.00 on CL. I'm pretty sure he left some old, unstabilized fuel in there and it turned into varnish.

I removed the top and back covers and dropped the fuel bowl. It looked like a bad batch of applesauce in there so I cleaned it out and shot the carb with carb cleaner and reinstalled the bowl. It fired up for a few seconds and then died. A good carb cleaning appears to be in order and I'm wondering if I can do this with the carb installed or is it easier/better to remove it from the engine (Suzuki 47P)? I've never removed a carb before but am mechanically inclined and would like to get this operational for next winter.

I remember Borat discussing a cleaning of the jets using wires to remove any build up inside that could cause fuel starvation. I have never done this so any suggestions or tips will be very much appreciated.

Not really up on 2-strokes. Is there a fuel shut off,that is partially closed? Primer bulb installed correctly?
Using that so called e-85 fuel? Canot think of anything else. Hope you get it running!

T.J.

I'm going to try and get this going once and for all! I'm pretty sure the problem lies with the float and needle not allowing any fuel into the carb. I'm going to disassemble the float and needle and give it another good cleaning. When I went in there again yesterday, I found a milky looking residue coating the main jet venturi and in and around the float itself. I gave it another good spray down with carb cleaner and reassembled everything but it still will not stay running. I'm also going to recheck the fuel line from the tank to the carb and replace the fuel filter once again.

Are there any particular areas I should focus on in terms of obstructions or debris that could be restricting the flow of fuel? The machine really is in good condition and will be a nice working unit once I can get this problem resolved. Plenty of pic's to follow once I can get it operational and put back together again.

Frank,

   It could be a needle sticking problem.  I woud do what Borat sugged several times i.e. draining the bowl and letting it refill a number of times to check for the needle sticking i.e. wait long enough for refill so the needle seats.  You should get a good flow of gas everytime you open the drain. 

   As a confidence builder you can start then prime after starting and continue to prime.  If gas is making it to the bowl you should be about to force gas to the throat and keep running.

   Another thing is to put gas in a small squirt bottle,  start and feed gas in the throat which should keep it running just as a check. 

   Sometimes the fload adjust is very fussy and when I'm lost I'll adjust the tab more or less but I think on yours it may be plastic and not adjustable.    

   You've probably done this, pull the gas line from the carb and insure you get a good flow from the tank.

    Check the flow from the bowl drain.

    Run by priming.  If you can't then it's probably a float needle issue.

trouts: I have tried to use the primer to keep her running to no avail. It seems as though the primer bulb is not working to bring fuel to the carb (it's brand new as the original was missing). Any thoughts on what this may indicate or where I should focus my attention? I'm going down there now to play around with it again and will do as you and borat have suggested.

Disconnect the primer line from the carb and give the button a few punches with your finger lightly over the end of the primer line.  You should feel slight puffs of air.  If the puff is there then you have a clog in the port or insifficient gas in the bowl.   Some bulbs need a sharp push.

Is the butterfly free?  Move the lever on the top of the carb a few times.  Is the choke butterfly closing when you flip to choke?   Are you starting with choke on?

The primer should be be able to keep it going if the gas is there.  Make it run by squirting gas through the throat.

 

OK- here's some fresh photo's. If I remove the fuel line from the carb, I get a free flow of fuel. If I remove the needle from the carb, I get fuel trickling out through the hole where the needle sits. If I reinstall the float and needle, no fuel will flow out of the hole that the needle is in. See if there's anything in these photo's that might help. Does the needle look like it is in the right configuration?

Hope these help to determine what may be the problem.

trouts: I did as you suggested with the primer bulb and got that working better - I think the tube the hose slips on to was clogged. I used a spray bottle of fuel and sprayed directly into the throat and kept it running as long as I kept spraying fuel in there. I think the float and needle are the problem as fuel will flow nicely once I remove the needle. When it's installed,  I cannot seem to get any fuel to flow out of it - the needle is stopping the flow of fuel from filling the bowl. Can you tell from the pictures if the needle is installed properly? It does not seem to fit together properly unless the neck of the needle is positioned between the slot of the float - does this sound correct? What next???

   Your carb is filthy, very bad.  I'd poke all the holes with a thin wire, dip it, spray all ports with carb cleaner and air wash it. 

   The float and needle look fine.

   If I remember right, there is a screw in jet at the bottom of the center post by the plastic collar.  Unscrew it and clean it.  Run a wire up into the center tube.  Z-bend a wire and run it up in there back and forth.  Spray in there and look to see if it comes out in the throat.  It coule be your primer is not able to push gas into the throat because one of those areas is plugged. 

   "Trickle" is subjective.  The flow should be enough to replenish the bowl when you are running full speed under load. 

    I'd pull the carb and clean it, but just to get it going for now I'd clean that bottom jet and run a wire up into the emulsion tube and see if can then run.  I'd also try the squirt bottle in the carb as a confidence builder that it's not some other problem like a weird electrical problem once you get it to run.  That happened to me i.e. all the symptoms you had but it turned out that the coil wire would ground after starting.  Remote but making it run with a squirt bottle will let you know you only have a gas problem.

I don't know if the float needle is supposed to be jammed in the slot.   I've never seen that arrangement before.  I'm wondering if It should probably just rest on top of if.  Being jammed in there like that might not allow the float to drop to allow fuel into the bowl.   Generally speaking the float needle just rides on top of the float lever and some carbs have a very tiny spring clip to hold the needle on the lever so that the needle follows the float lever rather than just depending on gravity to make it drop.  Try resting the float needle between the float lever and float needle seat.  See what that does and get back to us.

Have you found a diagram for that carb?

Upon closer inspection of the pictures, it appears that the float needle arrangement might be right.  Does the needle and float move freely up and down?  If so, it's probably correct.  If it's tight and the float doesn't move at the slightest bit of pressure it might not be.  The best way to tell is to turn the carb upside down to see if the float drops with no resistance.  Turn it over to the normal position to see if it drops effortlessly.  If it doe, all is well. 

The carb is still filthy though.  You have varnish all over the place and I'd be willing to bet that the float needle seat needs to be cleaned with a wire, compressed air and a Q-tip dipped in WD-40 followed by a blast of WD-40 and more air.   Find all the tiny holes and feed a wire through them, followed by compressed air.   If the carb doesn't work, it's still dirty.

   There are some carbs where the needle just rests on the top of a float tank (not clipped to it). 

   On his carb the slot is for the needle to fit into, >>loosely<<.  The needle tang is smaller than the width of the slot.  There is a bulb end on the tang bigger than the slot to pull the needle off the seat when the gas is low.   The tang goes on the bottom side of the slot.  His looks right.