Re: RE: OT: Small engine repair

From: jon@dakota-truck.net
Date: Thu Aug 03 2006 - 11:01:44 EDT


"Ray Block" <bpracing@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
:> -----Original Message-----
:> From: jon@dakota-truck.net

:> I have confirmed that there is spark, but would a weak spark
:> or incorrect gap cause this?

: You might try a new plug to eliminate that possibility.

   Yep, I'll buy a new plug and see if that helps; if that doesn't
do the trick I think I'll be officially out of ideas. :-) Now
that I think about it, there was one time when I forgot to turn the
ignition key to "run", but the motor caught for a couple of cycles
before quitting, I guess it had ignited the mixture via mostly
compression, so if it'll do that with no spark, maybe a weak spark
can ignite an overly rich mixture whereas a normal spark would be
able to ignite a regular mixture. Its worth a shot. (Course, I
have no idea what the plug gap should be, if it doesn't run well I
guess I'll just start out around .035 and work down to .015 or so.

:> What about incorrect timing?
:

: Is it even adjustable?

  I'm not sure. :-) I haven't even looked at the ignition system
yet except to confirm that there is a spark. I had figured if
somebody said it could cause this, I would investigate further to
see if I could find anything that looked like points or what have you.

:> Low compression?

: Isn't that a design "feature" of these little engines? ;-)

  :-)

: Seriously Jon, I've encountered the same symptoms with my chipper/shredder
: when I've failed to run out all of the gas at the end of the season. In my
: case it was a very small orifice in the carb/float bowl that filled with
: varnish or debris. It was very difficult to see that there was even a
: passage there but once I found it and ran a small wire through it all was
: well. It might take a bright light and a magnifying glass to see it.

: My long term solution has been to always run out all of the gas before
: winter storage. I've had no problems since.

   Yep, obviously this wasn't put away right. :-) I have confirmed
that it was running fine when it was put away, so it seems to me that
the only things that could have degraded just by sitting are the carb
(varnish) and possibly the spark plug fouled in my attempts to break
the engine free and get it running. I'll throw a new plug in there
and if that doesn't do the trick, I'll have to have yet another long,
hard look at the carb. Maybe I could get a vat of carb cleaner to
soak it in for a few days.

  Thanks!

-- 
                                          -Jon-

.- Jon Steiger --- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -. | 67 Dodge Coronet, 70 Plymouth Barracuda, 76 Peugeot TSA | | 78 Dodge B100, 90 Dodge Dakota Convertible, 92 Dodge Ram 4x4 | | 96 Dodge Dakota, 96 Suzuki Intruder 1400, 96 Kolb FireFly | | 99 Jeep Cherokee 4x4, 01 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD | `--------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'



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