craftsman brigs and straton 550 wont run

[NCC74656]

My mower will start when primed but dies after a few cycles. i assume this is a fuel sending issue so i have disassembled the fuel system and here are some pictures of the units. i can not find any holes in any lines or blockages.

Photo Album - Imgur

pictures are of: gas tank, lift pump, injection port, mower itself, sender unit, fuel from fuel tank.

what should i check/replace to make this work again?

 

[scott47429]

soak the carb in some carb cleaner if you have som other wise spry it out with spray carb cleaner you can get at any parts store and the blow through all the holes in the carb with compressed air also replace the gaskets and fuel pump diaphragm i can't tell from the pics but if its a plastic carb you can't do much with them just buy a new one and replace it there only like 26 bucks ( if its plastic )

 

[NCC74656]

will do, ill do that now. ill let ya know if it makes it work. there is a fair amount of carbon inside the fuel port on the top of the engine. what can i pour in there to try and clean it up? also what oil is best to use in this, i feel its due for a change.

 

[scott47429]

you can spry carb cleaner in and use a screw driver to see if you can get some of the carbon out and as far as oil goes i would use straight 30 weight

 

[Rivets]

I see evidence of water in the fuel, make sure you have fresh gas. Don't worry about that little carbon. I would use 30W oil.

 

[scott47429]

i agree with rivets i seen that also and forgot to say something but yeah get rid of that gas and use fresh

 

[NCC74656]

a final question assuming all this works and it runs again. most of the grass i end up cutting is very thick with rocks and such. i run this mower at WOT all the time, is there anything that should be done to help the longevity with a heavy work load or anything that can improve the power of this mower?