[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Help! Snow Blower Carb Issues (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 12/19/2009 12:37:54 PM EDT
|
OK first snow of the season and I did not have the foresight to check out the snow blower
I have a Craftsman 6 Hp Briggs engiine. Starts on Choke...runs about 5 seconds and dies. Starts right back up...does the same thing over and over. Do a little reading on trhe net, maybe the carb is gummed up. I take it off, clean everything up...make sure the jets are clean...carb cleaner the whole thing. took off the float, needle valve...only thing i didnt remove was the seat...but i sprayed the carb cleaner everywhere. It has an auto throttle I assume is tied to the governor...when it is running it accelerates and lets off...accelerates and lets off...you know vroom vroom vroom dies... Any suggestions??? It looks like I am shoveling a foot of snow if I don't get this going. |
|
Quoted:
It does not have a fuel filter. After it would not start I drained the gas and put fresh gas in... Did you blow through the fuel line to make sure that it is clear? Also, if the fuel has turned to varnish, it can take some scrubbing and a surprising amount of a whole can of carb cleaner to get the varnish off. And until it is off, the carb won't work. You might try disassembling again, inside, where it's warm, and cleaning the whole carb again. Do you smell raw gas when you fire it up? Does it run with starting fluid? ETA: Never mind about the starting fluid. And you answered the line question. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
New gas? Clear fuel line? I drained the tank and the fuel flowed through the hose OK. I would pull apart the whole carb again and clean it inside, where you can clearly see the varnish. Is the choke a wire in a sleeve that might be stuck, or can you see the whole range of motion? Air cleaner clean? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
New gas? Clear fuel line? I drained the tank and the fuel flowed through the hose OK. I would pull apart the whole carb again and clean it inside, where you can clearly see the varnish. Is the choke a wire in a sleeve that might be stuck, or can you see the whole range of motion? Air cleaner clean? Looks like I am taking it off one more time...The choke is manual so I know it is moving. The air cleaner is clean. |
|
Had that issue on my 18HP tractor. Issue was crud in the fuel line...
The quick and dirty fix was to pull the fuel line off at the filter (tank side) and crack open the fuel filler cap. Take an air nozzle and put some shop air through the line and move the crud. Bubbles and splashing in the tank, etc, but that always gets me running for the day. If you leave the cap on the tank, you will pressurize the tank and when you stop flowing air, the air in the tank will force out the fuel with much force ! And yah, I ran about 2 years like that before swapping out the line. GFL |
|
Variations in RPM are usually caused by a lack of enough fuel. I'd spring for a new needle and seat, make sure the float is set correctly and clean out the jets and passages. I'd bet one of the passages is gunked up with varnish.
FWIW, I've found dental drills work excellent to clean out varnish as long as one doesn't get carried away. I use 1/2 oz of sea foam per tank of gas. While it also cleans, it's a pretty good fuel stabilizer too. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
New gas? Clear fuel line? I drained the tank and the fuel flowed through the hose OK. I would pull apart the whole carb again and clean it inside, where you can clearly see the varnish. Is the choke a wire in a sleeve that might be stuck, or can you see the whole range of motion? Air cleaner clean? Looks like I am taking it off one more time...The choke is manual so I know it is moving. The air cleaner is clean. OK. Take your time, do it inside, under a bright light, and be generous with the carb cleaner. It may surprise you how much varnish is left. After Ike came through Houston, the place where I was working purchased a bunch of generators for the employees, which was nice. What was not nice is that the VP I was working directly for, in a typically clever move, decided to buy the cheapest Coleman gensets that he could instead of the smaller, better Hondas. Well, the Colemans all had B&S engines from China that had obviously been run once on gasoline, not natural gas, and then shipped damp, so the carbs were caked with hard, red varnish. It was amazingly hard to get off and we had to take all of them apart in the parking lot, clean every last one of them, and put them back together again before they would run. One of the rather distressing things that they would do (which I saw as a huge safety hazard) was that the gensets would refuse to run, but the carb would be stuck open due to the varnish, so if you left them unattended with the tank valve open (and it was physically higher than the carb) as you walked off in frustration cursing the cheap VP, the carb would loosen up with the new gasoline in a few hours just enough to start the flow of gasoline through the carb, flooding it, flooding the air cleaner housing, and emptying 5 gallons of gasoline onto the garage floor. I am surprised that the VPs cheapness didn't kill several of the employees because this happened at night, in the garage, by the gas hot water heater. In any event, in the course of cleaning the carbs out on all of those damned pieces of junk, it took two rednecks who were pretty good at this (myself and another fellow) about 15 minutes a carb. And these were small carbs and we had pretty good carb cleaners, room to work, and we were moving fast. They were that badly gummed up. Sometimes it works that way –– sometimes the varnish actually hardens up so much that it is really hard to dissolve. I would suggest that you put the bad gas in your car and dillute it with a fresh tank, and in the future use PRI-G in the gasoline to keep it from gumming up horribly. That still may not be the issue here, but it will make sure that that isn't an issue in the future. If you are in an area where you are forced to use gasoline with ethanol, you should probably learn how to drain and fog your system every year, as much of a pain that this is. |
|
Quoted:
Variations in RPM are usually caused by a lack of enough fuel. I'd spring for a new needle and seat, make sure the float is set correctly and clean out the jets and passages. I'd bet one of the passages is gunked up with varnish. FWIW, I've found dental drills work excellent to clean out varnish as long as one doesn't get carried away. I use 1/2 oz of sea foam per tank of gas. While it also cleans, it's a pretty good fuel stabilizer too. How does the seat come out? |
|
Quoted:
Is the fuel bowl filling with gas? Is the fuel line plugged? Air filter clean? Sno blower should not have a air cleaner if you have one remove it  Check your gas cap it should have a vented rubber cone shaped seal or a aluminum cone that vents the gas tank.
|
|
How does the seat come out?
90 psi of air through the inlet. Make sure it's pointed in a safe direction. I would bet money that this is not the issue though. That gum gets into all the passages, and sometimes cannot be cleaned good enough. I'm assuming that you changed the o-rings on the main nozzle. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Variations in RPM are usually caused by a lack of enough fuel. I'd spring for a new needle and seat, make sure the float is set correctly and clean out the jets and passages. I'd bet one of the passages is gunked up with varnish. FWIW, I've found dental drills work excellent to clean out varnish as long as one doesn't get carried away. I use 1/2 oz of sea foam per tank of gas. While it also cleans, it's a pretty good fuel stabilizer too. How does the seat come out? Should unscrew with a flat tip screwdriver. [Unless Briggs has gotten REALLY cheap] Make sure you fit the blade to the slot, to large and you bugger the threads, to small and you screw up the seat. |
|
Quoted:
How does the seat come out?
90 psi of air through the inlet. Make sure it's pointed in a safe direction. I would bet money that this is not the issue though. That gum gets into all the passages, and sometimes cannot be cleaned good enough. I'm assuming that you changed the o-rings on the main nozzle. A new carb is $54 on the Sears Site...this may be the best fix....and some preventive maintenance in the future. I just had it all apart...sprayed the shit out of it and there are some passages I don't have a narrow enough tool to clean them out. Now I don't even see any gas when I prime |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Variations in RPM are usually caused by a lack of enough fuel. I'd spring for a new needle and seat, make sure the float is set correctly and clean out the jets and passages. I'd bet one of the passages is gunked up with varnish. FWIW, I've found dental drills work excellent to clean out varnish as long as one doesn't get carried away. I use 1/2 oz of sea foam per tank of gas. While it also cleans, it's a pretty good fuel stabilizer too. How does the seat come out? Should unscrew with a flat tip screwdriver. [Unless Briggs has gotten REALLY cheap] Make sure you fit the blade to the slot, to large and you bugger the threads, to small and you screw up the seat. no slots in this seat.. |
|
Seems like a bunch of bad info here. IF you are getting fuel to the carb, you have a blockage in the main jet of the carb. I'm not sure just what engine you have, would need model, type and code, but taking the main jet off (usually what holds the bowl on) and running a piece of tag wire or metal brush bristle through the hole in the top and sides of the jet will clear it. Most carb sprays are useless today, might actually have better luck using Simple Green or the like.
I'd suggest NOT removing the seat as it is probably a Viton material, and should be replaced if removed. A darning needle or blowing it out are common methods for removal. When doing the reinstall, the grooved side faces "up" (goes in the hole first) |
|
I had the same problem. Tried to clean it myself, no luck. Finally just took it in to a shop.
They said they have to basically polish the carb clean. You could do it yourself, but to me it was not worth the time. Next year make sure to not leave a drop of gas in it!!! |
|
Quoted:
Seems like a bunch of bad info here. IF you are getting fuel to the carb, you have a blockage in the main jet of the carb. I'm not sure just what engine you have, would need model, type and code, but taking the main jet off (usually what holds the bowl on) and running a piece of tag wire or metal brush bristle through the hole in the top and sides of the jet will clear it. Most carb sprays are useless today, might actually have better luck using Simple Green or the like. I'd suggest NOT removing the seat as it is probably a Viton material, and should be replaced if removed. A darning needle or blowing it out are common methods for removal. When doing the reinstall, the grooved side faces "up" (goes in the hole first) I cleaned the jets out with a straightened staple...that is all I could fine that would fit. You are right about the seat...it is not metal and looks to be a plastic material. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
OP, you still reading this? I'm here Give me the model, type and code or post the link to the breakdown of the carb. If i can see it, I can probably help you. Engine Model Number - briggs and stratton 12c113-0251-e1 Link to Carburetor at the Sears site -http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect//partsdirect/getSubComp.pd?modelNumber=12C113-0251-E1&productCategoryId=1503500&brandId=1245&brandDescription=BRIGGS%26STRATTON&modelName=ENGINE&diagramPageId=00002&componentDescription=CARBURETOR&documentId=B0501002&blt=06 |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Seems like a bunch of bad info here. IF you are getting fuel to the carb, you have a blockage in the main jet of the carb. I'm not sure just what engine you have, would need model, type and code, but taking the main jet off (usually what holds the bowl on) and running a piece of tag wire or metal brush bristle through the hole in the top and sides of the jet will clear it. Most carb sprays are useless today, might actually have better luck using Simple Green or the like. I'd suggest NOT removing the seat as it is probably a Viton material, and should be replaced if removed. A darning needle or blowing it out are common methods for removal. When doing the reinstall, the grooved side faces "up" (goes in the hole first) I cleaned the jets out with a straightened staple...that is all I could fine that would fit. You are right about the seat...it is not metal and looks to be a plastic material. Is the staple the biggest that would fit or the biggest thing that you had? Most of today's fuels build up is very hard, did you kind of wiggle the staple in the "top" hole? |
|
Quoted:
I wiggled it around....Question...around the hole in the top of the jet...it look like there may may be smaller passages? Shouldn't be. The carb is as I expected, should be able to make it go with not too much trouble. Just how much varnish was in the carb? That passage in the main jet is the only one that really matters other than the tube from it up into the carb itself. IF you are getting fuel into the bowl, we should be able to make it run. Not to make you feel bad, but I did my errands today in shorts and a polo shirt. I'll call and try to walk you through this if you want. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I wiggled it around....Question...around the hole in the top of the jet...it look like there may may be smaller passages? Shouldn't be. The carb is as I expected, should be able to make it go with not too much trouble. Just how much varnish was in the carb? That passage in the main jet is the only one that really matters other than the tube from it up into the carb itself. IF you are getting fuel into the bowl, we should be able to make it run. Not to make you feel bad, but I did my errands today in shorts and a polo shirt. I'll call and try to walk you through this if you want. Scrub, I didnt think there was much build up in the carb. it makes sense that the varnish would form in the bowl because in the end that is where the gas would lay. I am beat from screwing with this all day in my cold garage and will tackle it again tomorrow. I smell like gas and carb cleaner...the wife will be staying away from me tonight... I used it only once last year and the engine was surging then but I didnt think much of it. I guess it was clogging then. I never cleaned that hole from the bowl up to the carb...actually there were 2 of them....I only sprayed it... If I buy a carb will it be plug and play or will I have to attach the choke etc from my old carb? Tomorrow I will pull the bowl re-clean the jet and see what happens. If I need help I'll IM you...I appreciate the offer of a call... I will have a foot of snow on the ground by tomorrow morning...I hate you warm weather guys..I live in Chalfont PA, North of Philly and it is 19 degrees right now.... |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I wiggled it around....Question...around the hole in the top of the jet...it look like there may may be smaller passages? Shouldn't be. The carb is as I expected, should be able to make it go with not too much trouble. Just how much varnish was in the carb? That passage in the main jet is the only one that really matters other than the tube from it up into the carb itself. IF you are getting fuel into the bowl, we should be able to make it run. Not to make you feel bad, but I did my errands today in shorts and a polo shirt. I'll call and try to walk you through this if you want. Scrub, I didnt think there was much build up in the carb. it makes sense that the varnish would form in the bowl because in the end that is where the gas would lay. I am beat from screwing with this all day in my cold garage and will tackle it again tomorrow. I smell like gas and carb cleaner...the wife will be staying away from me tonight... I used it only once last year and the engine was surging then but I didnt think much of it. I guess it was clogging then. If I buy a carb will it be plug and play or will I have to attach the choke etc from my old carb? Tomorrow I will pull the bowl reclean the jet and see what happens. If I need help I'll IM you...I appreciate the offer of a call... I will have a foot of snow on the ground by tomorrow morning...I hate you warm weather guys..I live in Chalfont PA, North of Philly and it is 19 degrees right now.... Understood on all points. New carb will be pretty much P&P. Unfortunately, we are facing more of this due to our tree hugging friends idea as to what constitutes motor fuel. Best of luck, Keith ETA, it does sound like it was beginning to clog on your last run. No good answers for this due to the previously mentioned fuel issues. |
|
Keith
I sent you an email dont know if you got it so I am posting here. I cleaned the jet a final time with a torch nozzle cleaning tool I had. Put it back together. It ran much better than it did yesterday but continues to die out. With the choke on it runs almost continuously but when I go to choke off, the engine surges and dies after several minutes. It will run with the choke on but dies once under a load. I am sick of taking it apart and cleaning...what do you think about just buying a new carb? |
|
Quoted:
Keith I sent you an email dont know if you got it so I am posting here. I cleaned the jet a final time with a torch nozzle cleaning tool I had. Put it back together. It ran much better than it did yesterday but continues to die out. With the choke on it runs almost continuously but when I go to choke off, the engine surges and dies after several minutes. It will run with the choke on but dies once under a load. I am sick of taking it apart and cleaning...what do you think about just buying a new carb? The main jet is still partially clogged. One thing I have noticed is that B&S engines run lean [thanks emission dorks] from the factory. Open it up JUST A BIT and try it again. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Keith...I never cleaned the hole from the bowl up to the carb...actually there were 2 of them...I sprayed only Usually cleaning the main jet will do the job. HA HA... Snow blower repair from the guy in Florida. 
ScrubJ, if I didn't know you... 
OP - Listen to him, he knows what he speaks of. 
|
|
I've inherited several machines (mowers, blowers, and trimmers) that would barely run - if at all - because they were never cleaned, stabilized, winterized, or anything else. I've had 100% good luck with the following technique:
With about 1/10th tank of gas, add fuel system cleaner AS IF THE TANK WERE FULL. Start the machine. If it dies, keep starting it. Over a couple of minutes of running like that, it will start running better. After three minutes or so, it will probably be able to keep itself idling if nothing else is wrong. Let it idle like that, with the high concentration of cleaner, for about five minutes. Then fill the tank the rest of the way with fuel. Then, EVERY time you fill the tank, add stabilizer and fuel system cleaner. Over the next few uses, the machine will run better and better. After half of a season like that, it will be running QUITE well. |
|
Quoted:
Here's what I have done on several pieces of machinery, with good luck. Start with just a little gas in the tank. Say, 1/10th capacity. Add fuel system cleaner as if the tank were full. Start it up and let it idle. If it dies, keep starting and letting it run as long as it will. Over a few minutes of that, they've all started to run somewhat better. After about 5 minutes of idling like that, go ahead and fill up the tank the rest of the way. After that, I add stabilizer and fuel system cleaner to every can of gas. And over a few uses, the cleaner will continue to work, and the machine will run better and better. I'm lazy. That's much easier than taking apart the carb. That works great –– it's sort of what I suggested with the PRI-G up at the top –– but if his carb is that crusted, he was right to tear it down. If the OP can get a bottle of Techron, it will help, and fast, but after that, he will really need to change his oil. |
|
i have also had fair luck with starting however possible (choke in this case) and nursing it with a shot of carb cleaner into the intakge (cleaner, NOT starting fluid) and keep it limping along for a minute or two. Sometimes that would be enough to get the carb happy enough to run.
Once upon a time my tractor was so crappy I rigged a syringe to a length of tube into the air cleaner housing. Able to feed it an extra 30ccs to get it up and running smooth.... |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Keith...I never cleaned the hole from the bowl up to the carb...actually there were 2 of them...I sprayed only Usually cleaning the main jet will do the job. HA HA... Snow blower repair from the guy in Florida.
ScrubJ, if I didn't know you...
OP - Listen to him, he knows what he speaks of. Too funny! Thanks for the plug 
|