Ironman54

"..the great floods.." Waddya got planned if its 'fire' ?? :-)

Thats "I guess if the tips aren't BENT, corroded or pitted..." Have no idea how that changed to 'meant' (??)

It took a little doing but I finally got it unstuck. It was like tar coated 1/2 the pin. I bought a rebuild kit from NAPA and I'm not sure I have the correct needles - the tips are shaped different than the originals. I tried cleaning up the original ones with a brush, a little light sand paper, carb cleaner and gas. They look ok but not perfect. Now that I just thought of it, I'm gonna try some naval jelly on them. The threads groves have some light rust but no serious pitting that I can see. Of course if the naval jelly exposes any pitting then its back to the kit. I'm guessing that not all discoloration is rust. If the original needles are brass I don't think they do rust (???). Maybe crud and discoloration. I've looked for hints as to when to swap them out (new for old) but haven't seen anything on the subject. I guess if the tips aren't meant, corroded or pitted, they should be ok. The Tecumseh manual just says to change them if theres any problems with them but thats not telling me what to look for. I figure the originals are the best/best quality but then again, I'm just guessing .... I just replaced the Welch plug a few minutes ago and coated with clear finger nail polish. No ladies in the house at this time ... anyone experience the 'fun' of going to the local pharmacy and having to ask: "Ummm, excuse me ... but can you tell me where I can find clear finger nail polish ?' LOL !! There were shelves upon shelves of polish of every color, make etc you can imagine - for some reason I couldn't spot the 'clear' stuff ... and I sure as h*ll didn't wanna ask, but, after 15 minutes went by, I knew I had no choice - I had left my car runnnin' out in the parking lot ... LOL. Thank you everyone for your help !

After carb cleaner, wd40, pen fluid failed to help it even budge - it would not even spin with needle nose - I grabbed a punch and rubber mallet. Odd thing is that, now that I have the pin out, I tried re inserting one end of it (the pin) and it gets stuck immediately but the other end of the pin passes through no problem. I'm gonna polish the pin with a Dremel - hopefully this will take care of it. Strange though ... To anyone who may be thinking 'Duh' - I've learned through trial and error over the years, before trying something you are not sure about, if you have the option to ask a pro first, do it. Sometimes there are not so obvious neg consequences you might not be aware of.

Will try this, thank you. For the record, its never been worked on by anyone - I'm the original owner and have never had it apart.