Older small engines....

-
inkjunkie

inkjunkie

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
17,413
Reaction score
3,082
Location
......
Borrowed/given a log splitter by a neighbor. He does not burn wood and with me "in charge" of trimming the sides of our road he figured I would make use of it. I keep damn near everything but the branches of the trees and give it to a Disabled Vet friend or a woman in the 'hood, Joyce is single, lives alone and is working for Hospice. Anyhow, splitter has an old Briggs on it. At least I think it is. There is a tapered screw going thru the the float and into the body, guessing it is like a main jet. Put gas in it to start it for the first time since spring and was greeted by a stream out the carb. Took the float off, needed a screw driver to scrape the gunk off the inside of the bowl. Put it back together....forgot to count the turns. The recoil contraption is fubared....in order to keep it from screaming the shaft on the motor needs to be greased....and then the grease works it way into the area where the balls are causing them to stick out of the way....pull on the rope and it just freewheels. Need to keep a can of brake cleaner handy, lift the dust seal and give it a squirt and the rope will engage about half the time. Was up at the Joyce's house, she is the woman I mentioned....she had 2 cords of un-split wood dumped off. Splitter started on the third pull when I got there...and I left it running until I came home to get a coffee. Got back, if I had a firearm with me I would have put that sumofabeech out of my misery. Took a good 15 minutes to get it running. Between the rope not engaging and that old decrepit grease-ball of a karbanatur.....was out of breath by the time it puttered to life.....perhaps I should spend some time and fix it.....Thing leaks a good deal of hydraulic fluid as well. By the time I was done with it both of the inside of the one tire was dripping....and there was a small puddle under it....
 
No wonder he gave it away.
 
inkjunkie said:
Thing is when it is cold it starts on 1 or 2 pulls....got a PM from a member with some advice on the karbanator....and perhaps some parts.....
Click to expand...

sounds like the coil is a little to close to the flywheel i use the carboard from a cig pack for clearence .
 
inkjunkie said:
Will check this....need to find someone that smokes first. Thank You Sir....
Click to expand...

Matchbook is the same thickness, or a 12 pack box, or cereal box.
I's not critical anyway and could easily be set by eye, but the cardboard makes it easier because you don't have to keep the gap where you want it while tightening.
Just stick the paper between them, seat the coil on the paper and tighten it down then pull the paper out.

That big tapered screw is indeed the mainjet adjustment, but you probably already found that out.
 
Make SURE if you decide to try to fix it that you get a carb kit that's ethanol friendly and fuel hoses that are ethanol friendly. Or any work you do on it will be for nothing.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Make SURE if you decide to try to fix it that you get a carb kit that's ethanol friendly and fuel hoses that are ethanol friendly. Or any work you do on it will be for nothing.
Click to expand...

I am going to screw around with it a bit. Doubt Jim will ever ask for it back......
 
Once you get that carb cleaned and rebuilt, if it wont idle, dont tear your hair out looking for why,cause Ill tell you a secret;there is/may be, at the end of that brass tube that pokes down through the float, a very tiny orifice that serves as the idle jet. If it is plugged and you didnt know that it was there you might never see it.Dont ask me how I know. If you buy a kit that tube is usually included. If not you will have to hunt for it(the hole).You may need a magnifying glass. The hole is less than maybe .020 inch. Not all Briggs have that orifice, just the bigger(like auger motors) ones. Try not to enlarge it. I use number drills.......But if it idles the passage/orifice is working.Best of luck to you.
 
It might be time to just clank down $99 and convert it to a Harbor Freight Predator 212cc. I did that to my old Toro 421 Snowblower and I couldn't be happier. Excellent power and not finicky at all. It started at 5 degrees last winter on one pull.

20140119_104004_zpsfec01f07.jpg
 
inkjunkie said:
Borrowed/given a log splitter by a neighbor. He does not burn wood and with me "in charge" of trimming the sides of our road he figured I would make use of it. I keep damn near everything but the branches of the trees and give it to a Disabled Vet friend or a woman in the 'hood, Joyce is single, lives alone and is working for Hospice. Anyhow, splitter has an old Briggs on it. At least I think it is. There is a tapered screw going thru the the float and into the body, guessing it is like a main jet. Put gas in it to start it for the first time since spring and was greeted by a stream out the carb. Took the float off, needed a screw driver to scrape the gunk off the inside of the bowl. Put it back together....forgot to count the turns. The recoil contraption is fubared....in order to keep it from screaming the shaft on the motor needs to be greased....and then the grease works it way into the area where the balls are causing them to stick out of the way....pull on the rope and it just freewheels. Need to keep a can of brake cleaner handy, lift the dust seal and give it a squirt and the rope will engage about half the time. Was up at the Joyce's house, she is the woman I mentioned....she had 2 cords of un-split wood dumped off. Splitter started on the third pull when I got there...and I left it running until I came home to get a coffee. Got back, if I had a firearm with me I would have put that sumofabeech out of my misery. Took a good 15 minutes to get it running. Between the rope not engaging and that old decrepit grease-ball of a karbanatur.....was out of breath by the time it puttered to life.....perhaps I should spend some time and fix it.....Thing leaks a good deal of hydraulic fluid as well. By the time I was done with it both of the inside of the one tire was dripping....and there was a small puddle under it....
Click to expand...
Man did ya get vid???
 
AJ/FormS said:
Once you get that carb cleaned and rebuilt, if it wont idle, dont tear your hair out looking for why,cause Ill tell you a secret;there is/may be, at the end of that brass tube that pokes down through the float, a very tiny orifice that serves as the idle jet. If it is plugged and you didnt know that it was there you might never see it.Dont ask me how I know. If you buy a kit that tube is usually included. If not you will have to hunt for it(the hole).You may need a magnifying glass. The hole is less than maybe .020 inch. Not all Briggs have that orifice, just the bigger(like auger motors) ones. Try not to enlarge it. I use number drills.......But if it idles the passage/orifice is working.Best of luck to you.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this bit of info. I looked at the coil, one side was just about touching, the other side was way of it. It is sitting out there with the cover off of it waiting for me to get back out there....Before I go to fire it up next time I may take a look at the karbanator again...just to check the idle jet. Thanks again Sir...

goldduster318 said:
It might be time to just clank down $99 and convert it to a Harbor Freight Predator 212cc. I did that to my old Toro 421 Snowblower and I couldn't be happier. Excellent power and not finicky at all. It started at 5 degrees last winter on one pull.

20140119_104004_zpsfec01f07.jpg
Click to expand...
Have thought about this. May go ask Jim if he is ever going to want it back before I go this route, be my like the day after I put a new motor on it he will want it back :banghead:
Ever since I borrowed it have not been real thrilled about it runs. Does not really idle, more like a high idle. Messed around with it and discovered the shaft on the karbanator is beyond loose. So needless to say it stutters and stumbles a bit.

66 Dartman said:
Man did ya get vid???
Click to expand...
Sadly I did not, Sorry. :wack:
 
RustyRatRod said:
Make SURE if you decide to try to fix it that you get a carb kit that's ethanol friendly and fuel hoses that are ethanol friendly. Or any work you do on it will be for nothing.
Click to expand...

I have a weed eater that's not to old. When I went to start it couple of weeks ago, it would start and barely run, any throttle and bleh, quit. When I let it sit and primed it again, the bulb would not come back up. Well, I found out the fuel line had dissolved from the alcohol, and o=plugged the return to the fuel tank, more like a pressurized line, and the fuel line itself was crap. Cleaned it and the new line, thing runs like brand new.Like to take a trip out west of here to get the good gas with no alcohol in it.
 
I have been able to make 40+ years old equipment run even with those flopping around throttle shafts. Those motors are set up way rich enough. Sounds like someone cranked up the idle speed screw to compensate for a problem in the idle fuel circuit.
- If its also hard to start you might want to check the Compression. However on rope-start engines, that doesnt always tell the whole story as they will start on as little as 30psi. I would also do a cylinder Leakage test to be sure the valves were sealing.
-I have learned over the years that, that is where to start. Its almost impossible to tune a small engine if it has mechanical problems. When a customer complains of; it wont idle, or down on power, etc, and doesnt want to pay for these tests, I refuse the job. Better he complains to his friends about a refusal than that I spent X amount of hours, or that he paid X dollars and it still doesnt run right.Sure it might just be a plugged emulsion tube or slow jet.But what if its not? Then I have to charge him for the carb overhaul and still have to do the tests. More money. I just do the C&L tests first. 15 minutes, no big deal.
-Probably should mention also; that a high idle could also be caused by a governor hanging up.
-Also, some equipment is not engineered to have a low idle, because it is rarely required to operate there.Vis-a-vis; almost any engine with a centrifugal clutch, various motorcycles with motorcross carbs,certain cheap brands of lawnmowers, etc.
-Wishing you a simple solution....AJ
 
....it is another. Had a few minutes so I figured I would split some of the stuff I took down. Started on first pull. Course I did not bother seeing how much fuel it had so it ran out after a couple of minutes. Fueled up....pull pull pull....wtf.....air cleaner off and moped out the karbanator....started on 1 pull. Went to split one of the big pieces and the ram stopped...it is now peeing hydraulic fluid......right onto the belt that runs the pump.....
Going to talk to the old drunk bastard that loaned me the splitter to see if he will give it to me. If he will I am going to pressure wash the slop off of it, fix the leaks and get a HF engine for it...
 
Got major leak slowed to a minor one, but bad enough to not use it. Time to go visit my buddy at NAPA and see if he has a fitting....or if I am going to end up having him make me new hoses....
 
Have ran it thru 3 tanks of fuel with 0 troubles. Was just outside splitting some wood...walked away to pick up some logs and it quit......peeing gas out the karbanator......again.....I m about ready to throw the towel in and go get a HF motor for it....
 
HF does not have but one vertical shaft motor....and it wont fit....
 
Ended up being a sunk float. After replacing the float it started to leak from the area where the bolt passes thru the float bowl.....might have been helpful if I put the gasket under the bolt....duhhh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top