Existential Angst wrote:
Awl --

Always the carburetion, it seems.

Last snow, a month or so ago, ran fine, a Sears "6.0 hp" ditty.
Today, it would run for only 10 sec, and would have to constantly be
re-primed and started. Choke is OK, full gas. Once in a blue moon it would
run for a minute, but not under load.

I could actually sort of see the primed gas spill out of the carb, which
would apparently fuel the engine for a while. Seems that the running engine
couldn't draw it's own gas.

Idears?

Any links for how-to's on small gas engine repair? I won't be rebuilding
innards, but I would at least like to know when/how to fix "the fixable",
and when to just give up.

I gave away a fairly expensive Ariens, with carb problems... the local tool
rental place, that fixes small engines all the time, couldn't get that thing
to run right....

Yet, I saw a guy today, with an Ariens that was so smooth I thought it was
electric, from a distance.


Common problem. If you can prime it and it starts but doesn't rum you
have a clogged main jet.

Take a picture of the governor linkage and the way it is installed. Pull
the carb of and get a rebuild kit for it. Then visit a local NAPA or
better parts store and get a carb cleaner basket with solvent. Pull the
carb apart and soak it in the tank. Write down the number of turns on
each needle unless you want to play for a while. Make SURE you check it
for any plastic/rubber hidden parts first. Some use rubber seals around
the shafts and you don't want those to get in the solvent. Pull the carb
out and use air to blow the passages clean. Make sure you blow OPPOSITE
the fuel flow. IE: on the jets blow from inside the carb out the jet.
Put the carb together with the new parts and set the needles. Put it
back on and run it.
Add a small inline filter if it doesn't have one already. Then use GOOD
gas and stabil. When you finish running it at the end of the day shut
off the gas and run the carb down. You won't get all the gas out but it
will be clear of the jets.

--
Steve W.