Lately, I can't get more than about 6-8 hours of running time out of a carburetor cleaning. I switched to ethanol-free gas (87 octane) and keep my air filter clean.
When the idle jet gets clogged, it "hunts" and won't run right. I have had to take the carb off to clean it as taking the idle air adjustment screw out and spraying it and down in the carb hasn't seemed to work.
Any suggestions? What am I missing? This is a new gremlin that just seems to keep coming back.
Matt
You might have crud further 'upstream' on your mill.
Have you checked the tank and lines ?
Fuel filter ok?
That gunk has to be coming from somewhere . . .
Also, up here in Manitoba, our gas is 87 , 89 and 91 octane.
The 91 is the only one without the ethanol.
The older engines weren't made to be ethanol friendly.
My Onan had similar problems until I swore off any fuel with alcohol in it.
Sent it to "AA". :D :D
Fuel filter is new. It's a see-though and looks good. I've ran about 3 gallons of ethanol-free through it so far. The only ethanol-free I can get here locally is 87 octane. I would pay for higher if it was available.
I didn't think about cleaning the tank but it should be good (and looks clean) after that much pure gas going through it.
Does your air cleaner seem to keep the sawdust out well?
Iv got an onan on my miller 225 bobcat and at an idel 1 day, it just died on me. I could start it with a spray bottle of gas and spraying a mist into the throat of the carb. I put an inline squeeze buld to see what if happening, thinking maybe my pickup tube was broken. Not the case, i could squeeze fuel through and up to the carb. Once cooled down, it would start back up. Talked to the local welding supply store and he said it sounded like the mechanical fuel pump. I by-passed the mech pump, squeezed fuel to carb and it worked as advertised. The mech of the welding store said it run that way till the carb wore out, but recommended a new pump. I put an inline pump and wired it to the run switch.
May try looking into the mech pump.
On a little Briggs the fuel line between the filter and carb was disintegrating sending chunks of rubber into the carb,, gave me fits until I found it. Steve
I would agree with the electric fuel pump and ditch the mechanical. Chet recommended this to me when I picked up the 224 from Jeff. I just ordered a Mr. Gasket 42s for mine from Advance Auto.
I've had this problem too many times before. It will run high speed fine and cuts fine (except it hunts under no load) so it's not the fuel pump. I'm pretty sure the idle jet is clogged again.
I've tried the hand job, lots of carb cleaner and took the idle air adjustment screw out and sprayed it. I'll probably have to take the carb off again. I'm just wondering how to prevent it.
What blend of fuel are you running?
Was it a fresh tank of fuel when this happened before?
Just wondering if a the tank/s prior to acting up contained enough water to gunk up your carb after shutting it down after last use.
To eliminate the ethanol contamination problem, just add the recommended dose of "Seafoam" additive to your ethanol-free fuel for each tank full. Regards, Clark
Quote from: charles mann on September 14, 2018, 12:55:41 AM
What blend of fuel are you running?
Was it a fresh tank of fuel when this happened before?
Just wondering if a the tank/s prior to acting up contained enough water to gunk up your carb after shutting it down after last use.
Could be.
I cleaned the carb and changed the fuel filter then switched to ethanol-free and ran about 8-10 hours after the switch.
I've always wondered if I'm getting sawdust sucked through the air filter but I don't think that would clog the idle jet.
I think Steve is correct on replacing the fuel lines . it is just one more simple thing you can do to resolve your problem.
You said your tank looked clean so that may not be the problem. i have a honda on my wood splitter that gave me similar problems. crud in the tank . we have a product here called etch prep that will stop rust. it is made by clean strip. This stuff works. I have used it on rusty metal and 2 years later without painting it is still rust free.