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.

Well here is where I'm at with this project. I've replaced the fuel filter, fuel line, primer bulb (it was missing) and feed line, drained and cleaned the fuel tank, new spark plug, cleaned the carb several times and replaced the float bowl gasket. The engine will run for a few seconds and then die, afterwhich I cannot get it started again. I continue to find debris in the float bowl when it's removed for inspection after each failure to start. I replaced the float bowl gasket after finding that it was stretched out enough to not seal the bowl - thought I had my fix after finding this but it still won't stay running.

I'm thinking that if I just keep at it and maybe add some fuel in the spark plug hole, that it will eventually flush out whatever debris is causing the problem. I'm also thinking that trouts and borat are correct in suggesting that I drop the carb and give it a thorough cleaning and a dip in some Berryman's - maybe even replace it if neccessary. I'm only into this for about $ 60.00 at this point so I'm far away from the point of no return. The teaspoon of fuel in the spark plug hole has produced that best results in terms of run time - up to about a minute before it died. 

Do you think I should keep trying to get it running via the teaspoon of fuel method and possibly flush out the problem (pun intended) or drop the carb and clean with wires and a Berryman's dip? Where are the holes/jets located that I should clean with a wire? I did remove and clean the jet located inside the main jet orifice, dropped the float and needle, cleaned both and reassembled and have spayed the entire carb inside and out with copius amounts of carb cleaner.

Where could the dirt and debris be coming from if you cleaned the fuel tank and replaced line and filter?  Can't get my head around that.  You have to determine where the dirt is coming from.

If the engine runs with fuel dumped into the cylinder, it appears that the engine is experiencing fuel starvation.

Pull the carb off.  Get a very thin piece of wire about the size of a stripped trash bag tie wrap.

Look into the big hole of the carb throat (venturi).  Look very closely on the bottom for a very tiny hole(s) just a bit bigger than the diameter of the wire feed the wire into it to clear it.  Remove the main and pilot jets.  The pilot should be a small brass insert with a slot in it somewhere beside the main jet location.  Try to feed the wire in there and flush with WD-40.  If you have compressed air, use a rubber tipped adapter on the air nozzle to make a seal.  With the jets removed, blow air into the main and pilot jet holes.  Flush with WD-40 and blow some more.  Look for air/oil to come through that tiny hole in the venturi.   Make sure to carefully remove the float assembly before doing any of the above.  Once the carb is properly cleaned, it should run like a top.

Frank >>>I continue to find debris in the float bowl. Often there is crud in the tank and it's screen defective or the line no good and particles breaking off the line. Pull the line at the carb and run water through the tank or gas to a container and run that through several times. Once there were some sort of grubs in the line or tank that died. The carb would be cleaned and the bowl would later get crapped up. This happened a couple of times. The gas would soften them and they would break up into small particles which got into the bowl.

OK I know I'm just repeating what's been said already, but you had to have (OK, 98% chance) missed something ... "I've replaced the fuel filter, fuel line, primer bulb (it was missing) and feed line, drained and cleaned the fuel tank, new spark plug, cleaned the carb several times and replaced the float bowl gasket." Did you remove the fuel tank and clean it good? Inspect inside with a good flashlight? Check the cap, make sure the pieces inside are not disintegrating. Is there a screen in the outlet? (I'd rip it out and toss it, just have a good fuel filter) Also, look inside your gas can! Any possibility you have good gas but maybe some dirt in the can? (and if so, why didn't the filter catch it?) You're not getting fuel into the cylinders. Usually this is a carb problem. There's a (very very) tiny chance you have a valve problem but I'd look at the fuel system again first. You are getting dirt in the carb. Where is that dirt coming from? Pieces of the old primer bulb? If you're positive the line, filter, tank and anything else that gets near the fuel before it reaches the bowl are 100% clean, then I'd pull the carb for a thorough cleaning. And I don't mean to insult you, but we've all made silly mistakes ... you didn't accidentally reverse the fuel filter, did you? It's just that so often the really nasty head-scratchers have very simple answers.

I'm going to go through everything again to be sure I covered all my bases. I did drain and remove the fuel tank and sprayed the inside with carb cleaner and let it drain into a clear container - it was pretty clean. I will also reverse the fuel filter as I put the new one on in the same configuration as the old one but that's not say the old one was installed correctly. Those little fuel filters don't have a direction arrow on them and I had considered reversing it just to be sure - it's a plausible reason for fuel starvation (thanks Bill_H). If all else fails, I'm going to remove the carb and give it a thorough cleaning as suggested earlier by borat and trouts.

I believe it's definitely being starved of fuel because if I add a teaspoon or so of fuel directly into the cylinder, it will start up for a bit and then die. I can't restart it again unless I add more fuel to the cylinder. The good thing is it turns over and starts so I think if I can work through this problem and get her going, I will have myself a decent CCR3000 for short $$$. Many thanks again to all who have offered advice.

l would perform a pressure check on the crankcase and make sure there no leaks. u will need a pressure tester to do this, add about 7psi and let sit for 5-10 min and see if there a drop in pressure if so use soap and water and check all gaskets for the leak. if u have a leak u may need to pull off the flywheel to get at the crankseals but check everthing else first....make sure the piston is at BDC push it down with a screwdriver till its at the bottom. heres a video of guy showing how to pressue test the crankcase..searchthis name "areomyst" on u tube.

Personally, I doubt it a seal issue.  Seems like a straight forward, fuel starvation problem.   Carb isn't properly cleaned. 

If he were getting fuel, the engine will probably run just fine.   If the engine gets fuel and has a leaking crank seal, it will probably run away on him.  Seen it happen....... more than once. 

I have not had any time lately to do a good thorough carb cleaning but it has run for up to a about a minute. I'll post an update once I can find some time to play with it a bit.

trouts: Thank you for the link re: carb cleaning on my other thread.

Here's where I'm at with this: Cleaned and removed the carb as much as possible using carb cleaner, removed the main jet orifice and cleaned with wire and carb cleaner, dropped the float and needle and thoroughly cleaned in and around that, replaced the fuel lines, removed and cleaned the fuel tank, replaced the fuel filter. It seemed to help a bit but it will not run for more than a few seconds. Seems like once the fuel I've added to the cylinder or carb is used that's it - it dies! I really want to get this running but am getting very frustrated. Any help, suggestions, etc... are very much appreciated. borat - here's a few pic's of the carb still mounted to the engine. I can remove it again if need be, just let me know.

Did you clean the float needle and float needle seat?  Did you blow air through fuel inlet with the float needle removed? 

Sounds like fuel may not be getting into the float bowl.  It's important to follow the fuel from the tank to the float bowl.  That little screw on the bottom of float bowl is to drain the bowl.  When you remove it, does gasoline drain out?   If so, let it drain a bit into a container and confirm that it's clean fuel.  Put the screw back in.  It should start if the rest of the carb is clean. 

When you pull the jets, it's best to blow compressed air through the holes they fit in.  That will help clear the passages into the venturi.  The venturi is the throat of the carb.  Inside the venturi there may be two very small holes or possibly just one real tiny hole for the pilot jet and then a larger hole for the main jet.  It's imperative to ensure the holes and passages are clean.  If all passages, jets, orifices are clean and fuel is getting into the float bowl, the machine should run.

I just pulled the carb off of a 1965 Lawn Boy mower, cleaned it, put it back on the mower (that wasn't running) put some fuel into the tank, primed the carb  fired it up.   That's a 46 year old carb and it works great with just a thorough cleaning.  That Mikuni carb should run flawlessly if it's clean and getting fuel.