Well, at least my snowblower starts!

[Ralphie ★]

Still working on the generator.  The carburetor looks squeaky clean, but it runs for a second or two after a squirt of carb cleaner.  I guess I need to disassemble it Further. You tube has some pretty good videos on it.

[smudge ★]

HoSmudge's riding lawn mower needs repair. The ring gear on the flywheel is plastic and lost a lot of teeth.

We won't worry about the snow throwers until we get a big snow storm. So probably a few weeks. 😆

[Longjohn ★]

30 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

Still working on the generator.  The carburetor looks squeaky clean, but it runs for a second or two after a squirt of carb cleaner.  I guess I need to disassemble it Further. You tube has some pretty good videos on it.

Was there gas in the float bowl when you took it apart? If not the float valve is clogged. It there was gas in the bowl the jets are clogged, run a paper lip through them to unclog them.

[Ralphie ★]

25 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Was there gas in the float bowl when you took it apart? If not the float valve is clogged. It there was gas in the bowl the jets are clogged, run a paper lip through them to unclog them.

I ran a wire through the main jet, but still no dice.  Plenty of gas in the bowl. The wire won't go all the way through though, seems to hit something solid.  Found a pretty good video on it.

 

[Tizeye]

1) I hope you are using ethanol free gas in those small engines. That is the only thing that touches my 4 cycle lawnmower and pressure washer engines. 2-cyl stuff gets the 50:1 premix. While I could get a gallon of ethanol free fuel and mix oil for 50:1, I don't use that much so the pre-mix is more convenient despite the higher cost. When I used regular ethanol blend fuel in the 4 cyl and 2 cyl engines, it totally destroyed the carburetor and fuel system, requiring replacing lawnmower and edger/trimmer.

2) For the 4 cyl engines, as I shake out the air filter before each use, I spray a shot of starting fluid (ether) directly into the carb air intake then replace the filter. Starts first time every time.

[Bikeguy]

2 hours ago, Philander Seabury said:

I ran a wire through the main jet, but still no dice.  Plenty of gas in the bowl.

So did you open the valve to allow gas to flow from the tank to the carb?  (I'll bet you did... or not?)

Are your fuel filter, fuel lines, and tank clean?   I totally f'd up my generator tank and fuel lines once, when I forgot about the gas in the tank for 2 years.  

46 minutes ago, Tizeye said:

When I used regular ethanol blend fuel in the 4 cyl and 2 cyl engines, it totally destroyed the carburetor and fuel system, requiring replacing lawnmower and edger/trimmer.

I always drain the tanks and run the motors dry for my edge/trimmer, chainsaw, gas hedge trimmer, tiller, etc..  My generator, I close the fuel valve to the carb, run the engine out of gas, and then drain the tank.   My JD tractor get Seafoam when it won't be used for a while.

[Ralphie ★]

10 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

So did you open the valve to allow gas to flow from the tank to the carb?  (I'll bet you did... or not?)

Are your fuel filter, fuel lines, and tank clean?   I totally f'd up my generator tank and fuel lines once, when I forgot about the gas in the tank for 2 years.  

I always drain the tanks and run the motors dry for my edge/trimmer, chainsaw, gas hedge trimmer, tiller, etc..  My generator, I close the fuel valve to the carb, run the engine out of gas, and then drain the tank.   My JD tractor get Seafoam when it won't be used for a while.

Yup, the fuel valve is open.  It is interesting that the snowblower and generator have very similar conditions of being stored forever with little to no use, but the snowblower has given me no trouble.  The fuel filter seems fine since the bowl easily refilled after being emptied.

[Bikeguy]

14 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

The fuel filter seems fine since the bowl easily refilled after being emptied.

That leaves the carb,  since you say it runs for a little while.  

I had a lawn mower that sat for too long with gas in the tank.  The tank and fuel line to the carb were OK, but it still would not start.

I took the bowl off of the carb and drained the carb.  Everything looked clean.  Put it back together , and it would not start.

I drained the gas from the carb again, put it back together, I did not connect the fuel line.  Then I used my air compression, and blew thru the fuel line into the carb.   The needle valve would be open, and I figured the air would blow thru all of the gas passages in places I didn't want to open up.  A lot more gas blew out of the carb, from venturi, back to me, than I expected.  I used LOTS of Seafoam in the gas to hopefully clean things out.  I put it back together and it started and it still runs just fine.  Something was plugged up inside the carb,  the compressed air did blow the junk out. 

If that didn't work... I was going to pay to get it started.  I didn't want to do that.

[Ralphie ★]

10 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

That leaves the carb,  since you say it runs for a little while.  

I had a lawn mower that sat for too long with gas in the tank.  The tank and fuel line to the carb were OK, but it still would not start.

I took the bowl off of the carb and drained the carb.  Everything looked clean.  Put it back together , and it would not start.

I drained the gas from the carb again, put it back together, I did not connect the fuel line.  Then I used my air compression, and blew thru the fuel line into the carb.   The needle valve would be open, and I figured the air would blow thru all of the gas passages in places I didn't want to open up.  A lot more gas blew out of the carb, from venturi, back to me, than I expected.  I used LOTS of Seafoam in the gas to hopefully clean things out.  I put it back together and it started and it still runs just fine.  Something was plugged up inside the carb,  the compressed air did blow the junk out. 

If that didn't work... I was going to pay to get it started.  I didn't want to do that.

Hmm, same symptoms.  My only air compressor is a 12v inflator.  My next try is to follow the video I posted and take it apart and spray it well.  Particularly the part where you spray in the pilot jet hole and it is supposed to come out into the venturi.  When I did that with it mounted it just came right back at me.  I am hoping that I have hit it with enough carb cleaner that it might be soaking in now and go better in the morning.  One thing I don't understand is when I rod oot the main jet and nozzle, is it normal to not get all the way through into the venturi?  The wire hits something and stops an inch or two in.

[team scooter]

10 hours ago, smudge said:

HoSmudge's riding lawn mower needs repair. The ring gear on the flywheel is plastic and lost a lot of teeth.

Briggs motor?

[team scooter]

8 hours ago, Tizeye said:

1) I hope you are using ethanol free gas in those small engines. That is the only thing that touches my 4 cycle lawnmower and pressure washer engines. 2-cyl stuff gets the 50:1 premix. While I could get a gallon of ethanol free fuel and mix oil for 50:1, I don't use that much so the pre-mix is more convenient despite the higher cost. When I used regular ethanol blend fuel in the 4 cyl and 2 cyl engines, it totally destroyed the carburetor and fuel system, requiring replacing lawnmower and edger/trimmer.

This. I've been running non ethanol gas with stabil in all my seasonal carbed small engines for years. As for carbs, I just sold my last two carbed motorbikes and my new one is fuel injected. My snowmobiles have battery-less fuel injection. The first pull on the starter charges the system. The second pull they start and run perfectly.

[Longjohn ★]

9 hours ago, Philander Seabury said:

One thing I don't understand is when I rod oot the main jet and nozzle, is it normal to not get all the way through into the venturi?  The wire hits something and stops an inch or two in.

Did you unscrew the main jet and try it? The wire should go all the way through. On the video he didn’t show the mower it came off of. Was that carb hard to get to? On my stuff anymore you have to remove so much crap to get to the carb that you don’t want to have to do it twice. On older stuff the carb was right out there and you could just remove the float bowl, remove the main jet and hold it up to the light and see if it’s clogged. If it is run a wire through it and reinstall and usually that was the problem. If it still won’t run take the carb off and do the whole routine that he showed you. He even mentioned in the video the one place he had you clean that he had never seen where this was clogged but check it anyway.

[Ralphie ★]

14 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Did you unscrew the main jet and try it? The wire should go all the way through. On the video he didn’t show the mower it came off of. Was that carb hard to get to? On my stuff anymore you have to remove so much crap to get to the carb that you don’t want to have to do it twice. On older stuff the carb was right out there and you could just remove the float bowl, remove the main jet and hold it up to the light and see if it’s clogged. If it is run a wire through it and reinstall and usually that was the problem. If it still won’t run take the carb off and do the whole routine that he showed you. He even mentioned in the video the one place he had you clean that he had never seen where this was clogged but check it anyway.

Nope, I didn't.  All those warnings aboot soft brass sort of make me hesitant, but I guess I have to. I am perplexed why a wire won't go all the way through into the venturi.  It must be too big, it was baling wire.  Maybe a good shot of carb cleaner will do it, and I do have wire twist ties to try.

The carb was easy to get to, but there is no extra clearance so it is easy to mangle the gasket where it connects to the engine.  It is aboot 10 years old, a Subaru engine.  It probably has a Chonda carb like one of the videos said, a Chinese knockoff of a Honda carb which one guy said plug up a lot more often than a genuine Honda one.  Mine looks very similar to the one in the video.  The snowblower has a Tecumsuh engine and it survived similar conditions much better.  Good thing because that carb is under more shrouds and stuff.

By the way, there was a video where a guy made a plexiglass simple carburetor and took high speed video of it running that was pretty cool!  One thing that surprised me a little was how pulsing it was with a one cylinder engine which makes sense, it all happens on the intake stroke.

 

[Longjohn ★]

I think I raided my wife’s dressing stand and used a straight pin. It’s a little bit stiffer than a bread tie.

I had a screw driver in my toolbox that looks exactly like the one he customized. It must have been made for that kind of work.

[Ralphie ★]

2 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

I think I raided my wife’s dressing stand and used a straight pin. It’s a little bit stiffer than a bread tie.

Sounds good!  Thanks.  I think I am going to dive into replacing the del Sol's front brake pads next.  That desperately needs to be done.

[Longjohn ★]

1 minute ago, Philander Seabury said:

Sounds good!  Thanks.  I think I am going to dive into replacing the del Sol's front brake pads next.  That desperately needs to be done.

That should be pretty easy. Haven’t worked on a del Sol but most Honda brakes are pretty easy. Some of the early disc brakes were a real bitch when auto makers didn’t know how to make them. 

[Ralphie ★]

Just now, Longjohn said:

That should be pretty easy. Haven’t worked on a del Sol but most Honda brakes are pretty easy. Some of the early disc brakes were a real bitch when auto makers didn’t know how to make them. 

I've done it before and it was snot bad.  I am more and more hesitant to do anything mechanical, definitely with good reason.

[Ralphie ★]

The only ethanol-free gas around me is at an airport, 100 octane, or marinas. 95 or 101 octane. All are pretty far away.  The bowl was fairly clean the first time I opened it after like 10 years.  What specifically is the problem that ethanol causes?  I've heard it is bad for the elastomers, but they look great and are sealing well.

[smudge ★]

4 hours ago, team scooter said:

Briggs motor?

Yup. 26 horse

[Longjohn ★]

1 minute ago, Philander Seabury said:

I've done it before and it was snot bad.  I am more and more hesitant to do anything mechanical, definitely with good reason.

I found my brake pads that were missing in the garage. I bought new pads and rotors early last winter when my brakes started grinding. When I took the first set off one pad was missing. It must have come unbonded, the other pad was still 75%. The rotor didn’t appear bad but I had the new one so I changed it. I didn’t bother with the other side of the car because the missing pad was obviously the problem and my hands were freezing. This summer I figured I go ahead and install the new pads on the other side. I got out the box with the new pads and when I pulled the old ones they were still over 50% and they were twice as long as the new ones in the box.  WTH? Hod did that happen? I put everything back together because it really didn’t need brakes yet. This week I was looking at different saddles I have in a cupboard in the garage and found two boxes of the right size brake pads. How those smaller ones got with the rotors is anyone’s guess. And that was even before chemo brain.

[Ralphie ★]

4 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

I found my brake pads that were missing in the garage. I bought new pads and rotors early last winter when my brakes started grinding. When I took the first set off one pad was missing. It must have come unbonded, the other pad was still 75%. The rotor didn’t appear bad but I had the new one so I changed it. I didn’t bother with the other side of the car because the missing pad was obviously the problem and my hands were freezing. This summer I figured I go ahead and install the new pads on the other side. I got out the box with the new pads and when I pulled the old ones they were still over 50% and they were twice as long as the new ones in the box.  WTH? Hod did that happen? I put everything back together because it really didn’t need brakes yet. This week I was looking at different saddles I have in a cupboard in the garage and found two boxes of the right size brake pads. How those smaller ones got with the rotors is anyone’s guess. And that was even before chemo brain.

I bought replacement trimmer spools and those sumbitches vaporized. I hate when shit just disappears. Happens to me a lot!

[Ralphie ★]

Ruh roh!  The inside pad is totally worn down, but the outer still looks new!  I thought these did not last as long as they should have.  Just to hazard a guess, I am going to say this is a bad thing!  Off to the redneck u-tubes!

OK, sounds bad.  Could be an uneven rotor or stuck caliper.  I guess I am (Further) in over my head, so the question is do I put the new ones in or leave the old ones in.  I am not up to replacing the rotors and or calipers.

OK, that's it.  I'm calling it and putting it back together as is and making an appointment for next week.  Back to the generator!  For that one, it costs $50 for a professional to estimate the fix and they apply that to the repair if any.  If I was an hourly mechanic I would be quite poor!  My wife is on me to fix the generator so it can be loaned to one of the people with no power and/or house.