Suspect carb problems

B&S 17 HP single cylinder starts with gas in air intake but won't keep running. REmoved carb and it had gas in it. Suspect the electric solenoid valve at the bottom of the bowl. That part is new to me. What does it do? I plugged the electrical connection with the solenoid removed, turned key and nothing happened. I assumed it would be activated by the switch.

TexasVol said:

B&S 17 HP single cylinder starts with gas in air intake but won't keep running. REmoved carb and it had gas in it. Suspect the electric solenoid valve at the bottom of the bowl. That part is new to me. What does it do? I plugged the electrical connection with the solenoid removed, turned key and nothing happened. I assumed it would be activated by the switch.

Click to expand...

Anti-afterfire solenoid on carburetor shuts off the fuel to main jet in carburetor. Its purpose is to prevent backfiring, not as a fuel shut off valve. If you turn key one click (not two clicks to crank engine), you should hear and feel (put fingers on it) the solenoid clicking as it opens and closes. If it doesn’t, remove it and cleans it with carburetor spray and reinstall. This must be functional for engine to start and keep running, unless you disable it.

If there's no click with the key " on " check for power at the terminal on it, use a test light- no light , work back towards the key switch - it will not run unless it opens to allow fuel flow

Thanks. Found the wire to the solenoid had been broken. All fixed now.