Gerald Miller wrote:

On Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:27:49 -0800 (PST), "Hustlin' Hank"
wrote:

On Feb 11, 11:09?am, "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.

--
EA

Because it starts up and runs for a few seconds, that tells me that
the compression is good enough and that the coil is firing on time.
Now to fix it........

First change the plug. Some plugs can run fine until it reaches a
higher RPM. Since you said you could smell the gas, that is also a
sign it could be a "gas fouled" plug which may fire, but not
continuously.

If that dont' fix the problem, then move on to the fuel delivery
system. There is little use cleaning the carb if you don't clean the
tank and fuel lines too. Look in the tank and see if you see any
foreign material in it. If it is a metal tank, look closely for rust.
If there is rust, you must get that rust out or it will clog the carb
again. so, cleaning the carb only will be a waste of time. If there is
rust, remove the tank and take it to a radiator repair shop. They can
remove the rust. Call them first to make sure they do this. Some shops
only re-core, not clean anymore.

Good luck,

Hank
Make certain that the vent hole in the gas cap isn't blocked.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

Mom and uncle shared a riding lawn mower. Se complained it would run for a bit and stop.
Then she could repeat the run and stop bit again. The gas tank cap had a vent that you
could screw down to seal the system. It was screwed down.

Wes