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My yard machine riding lawn mower with a 17.0 hp engine has sat for about 2yrs. I tried to start it and it would not start. I took the carburator off and cleaned it out and put it back on the mower and it started. As soon as I stop using the choke, it dies. Any suggestions please?
like it was recommended for the op.. rebuild the carb.
My yard machine riding lawn mower with a 17.0 hp engine has sat for about 2yrs. I tried to start it and it would not start. I took the carburator off and cleaned it out and put it back on the mower and it started. As soon as I stop using the choke, it dies. Any suggestions please?
take it off again and try using sea~foam.
I ran into the same problem just last week.
I took the crab off and used some gumout carb cleaner and it didn't even remove the dry crud from the float bowl.
So I wiped it out and put it back on, same thing, only runs with the choke,
So this time I took it back off.(remember to remove the needle (s) jet and the float and fuel seat. clean with some sea~foam and put it back together.
Drain all of the fuel from the tank and make sure it is clean. Refill with some treated (with sea~foam) gas and it should be good to go.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Thx for all the great advice on this thread. Same issue with pressure washer and vintage Motorcycles (Only run with choke on). Off to Carb repair land (again). and yet another reason why I DRIVE diesels. (currently Looking for a Diesel lawn mower)
I just got through (I hope) with a similar situation with a weed-eater carb (Walbro MT) - just had to take it apart, and then clean it thoroughly using carb cleaner, and compressed air. As pointed out, wear safety goggles so you don't spray the carb cleaner back into your eyes. Sometimes it's useful to use a bit of low-test monofiliment fishing line to probe out passages. If the carb has plastic internal parts integral to the carb body, instead of soaking in typical "soak-can" type carb cleaner, you might want to soak it in gasoline, maybe with some Sea-Foam, Techron, or whatever cleaner additive in it. The typical carb cleaner soak is hard on some plastics - which ones? - to that the only answer is "Do you feel lucky?"
Another point is that if you clean it as best you can, then re-assemble and fill the tank with fresh gas or gas-oil mix as appropriate, the detergents in the gas will dissolve some gunk over a period of days. This works well if like me you only have time to fool with such on weekends.
Final comment - many snow blowers come from the factory without an air filter. Me, I would add one, a K&N pod type probably - I have cleaned too much grit out of K&N filters over my lifetime to have any affection for open (unfiltered) air intakes.
I went through this excercise yesterday with a Honda Mower. Pulled the carb off. Used about half a can of carb cleaner. Then sea foam. It runs, albeit not the best. Better than it was though. I think some fresh gas will make difference.
The best repair is prevention is turning off the gas and letting the engine run until the fuel is out of the carb and it dies on its own.
The best repair is prevention is turning off the gas and letting the engine run until the fuel is out of the carb and it dies on its own.
The funny part is, that is what I did this time and ended up with the problem. It looked like the float bowl was not completely empty and the fuel dried up leaving a residue that clogged up the passages..
Usually I just fog them and as I'm fogging turn the choke on and bog it out, turn the fuel off and let it sit.
I do this with most of my small engines.
I have a old snow blower that I just choke out and leave it sit all summer and in the fall it starts on the first or 2nd pull.
I do treat the fuel with sea~foam.
or maybe I'm just lucky?
Will run with only the choke on. Two possibilities, 1 Air leak-carb, head gasket, crankshaft seal. 2. Clogged low speed and idle circuit. Just did two engines that had the same problem. Drop float bowl, with the use of a very, very small drill bit, clean out the pick up metering jet. Be careful not to enlarge metering hole size. There could be varnish, gasket sealer, dirt or any other debris clogging the jet. The drills I have are for carb. use that I got from NaPa. Thanks to the old days of go-karting.
what product is the best to run through the fuel system to clean carbs
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