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Picked up a John Deere SX95 with a Kawasaki FB460V. Mower has been sitting for over a year but the seller assured me it was running when parked. When I tried starting it with starting fluid it would cough from the carburetor and muffler. Could both valves be stuck from sitting? Haven't done a compression check yet because it's too cold to work outside. Just trying to get some ideas before spring. Thanks

Yes iif stored badly you can get enough rust on both valves to prevent then closing fully.

I'll pull the valve cover off and see if they're moving freely while cranking. Maybe spraying the stems will free them up and I'll check the valve clearance while I'm in there.

Got the motor running after cleaning the carburetor. Now it surges a lot at idle, not as bad at full throttle and when I engage the blade it smooths out and runs fine. Any thoughts?

The idle circuit on the carb still needs cleaned. When you engage the blades you load the engine enough to run on the high speed circuit.

Pay extra attention to the pilot jet area when cleaning too.

Cleaned the carb twice with 2+2 then bought a Ultrasonic cleaner and ran it through 2 - 4 minute heated cycles with detergent. This thing is squeaky clean and still doing the same thing. Runs great under a load. I have a new carb coming today and will put it on tomorrow and post the results. Thanks for all the input.

The idle circuit is the smallest passages in the carb. If it surges on the govenor the idle passage is blocked. Get a set of acetylene torch tip cleaners and ream out all the idle passages. If it has a Honda type pilot jet the passage will be tiny.

two 4 minutes cycle is no where enough time as it take 1-3 30 minutes cylces on the USC I got here that has four 40watts ultrasonic transducers to clean many carburetors deeply especially the dirty ones. Just because is clean on the outside doesn't mean it is cleaned in those tiny internal passages.

StarTech said:

two 4 minutes cycle is no where enough time as it take 1-3 30 minutes cylces on the USC I got here that has four 40watts ultrasonic transducers to clean many carburetors deeply especially the dirty ones. Just because is clean on the outside doesn't mean it is cleaned in those tiny internal passages.

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Same here.
Cube carbs get a degreaser soak the rinse to remove the external crud.
If it is set up I might give them a soda blast instead, depend how grubby I am as the soda goes everywhere.
For large carbs, they get an external soda blast then disassembled and another soda blast followed by at least 1 x 30 minute ultrasound using a special carb formula I get from my mower parts wholesaler.
After that they get a seecond 30 minutes using a 5% white vinegar solution
after that it is a final rinse in near boiling water.

Takes a long time, but the machine does the work while I do other things.

Most carbs exteriors I just use either a soap based degreaser or if very dirty oil wise a 2 cycle fuel wash using air power engine cleaning wand; of course, this is done outside. Thru either few cycles using Dawn Ultra/Platimum dish soap or a non residual 12.5 pH soap. I use 2 Tbsps per 10 L of water. I only use the vinegar if water corrosion or rust is present. Rinse cycle is used if I use the Dawn; otherwise, it is a simple light blown air drying.

On especially cubes and rotary barrel carbs I use no carburetor cleaner or high pressure air as damage to the delicate check valve can occur.

The vinegar is to neutralize the cleaning solution.
Took a while to get the concentrations down pat so that if I don't get to the cleaning tank before the ultrasound ends the carb does not discolour.
Any weaker and it take a 1/2 dozen cycles.

Back in the pre ultra sound days we used to boil carbs in dishwasher solutions then rinse in boiling water.
Before that it was trichloroetheleyne which is the best degreaser & solvent ever invented and if treated with the respect it deserves, totally safe but the big nanny decided it was too dangerous to use so it got banned to be replaced with dozens of far more toxic chemicals.

I have gone through a half dozen different magic potions for my US cleaner. Some degrease well while others cut the old fuel crud better but is hard on the aluminum, especially Honda carbs. Got some stuff called shellac buster that works pretty good but a little pricey. I run the real dirty carbs through the parts washer (kerosene) then the US. I usually wind up using the torch cleaner on real gummed up 4 stroke carbs.
Lots of people hate 10% ethanol gas. I love the stuff. Close to half my business is from people leaving gas in stuff too long. $Cha-ching$

Just a matter of finding what works best for you. As yes a USC is not 100% all the time as there times it just can't the surface of the curd without scratching it a little.

Here there are so many additives to the fuel it isn't funny. And it doesn't matter if it is ethanol or non-ethanol all fuels can cause problems especially if old or not properly stored. I even had products like Stabil to leave residue behind that creates problems. I use ethanol fuel in every piece of gas powered equipment that I personally without problems.

I had one customer recently to said "But I only use non-ethanol how can it be fuel related?". The gas smelled like old oil based paint and would put out a flame instead what it should have done.

BTW the way I have seen new carburetors to have problems if in storage too long especially the cubes or the plastic fuel lines to fail even when no fuel had ever touch them.

Well, you were all right. As hard as I tried I just couldn't get the carb clean enough. Put on a new one and it runs fine now. Thanks for all the help.

bertsmobile1 said:

Same here.
Cube carbs get a degreaser soak the rinse to remove the external crud.
If it is set up I might give them a soda blast instead, depend how grubby I am as the soda goes everywhere.
For large carbs, they get an external soda blast then disassembled and another soda blast followed by at least 1 x 30 minute ultrasound using a special carb formula I get from my mower parts wholesaler.
After that they get a seecond 30 minutes using a 5% white vinegar solution
after that it is a final rinse in near boiling water.

Takes a long time, but the machine does the work while I do other things.

Click to expand...

Soda? Would that be coca cola, Dr. Pepper or Pepsi?

Hammermechanicman said:

I have gone through a half dozen different magic potions for my US cleaner. Some degrease well while others cut the old fuel crud better but is hard on the aluminum, especially Honda carbs. Got some stuff called shellac buster that works pretty good but a little pricey. I run the real dirty carbs through the parts washer (kerosene) then the US. I usually wind up using the torch cleaner on real gummed up 4 stroke carbs.
Lots of people hate 10% ethanol gas. I love the stuff. Close to half my business is from people leaving gas in stuff too long. $Cha-ching$

Click to expand...

Parts cleaner is a good subject, since you brought it up. My brother has a small sink he's not using anymore and said I could have it. Was thinking about mounting it inside the shop, with a bucket under the drain pipe. Then using a 12v oil extractor pump to pump it out of the bucket. into the sink. The label says not to use gas, as it's not really a lubricant. But kerosene would probably be oily enough for the plastic pump.

What are your thoughts on that. (Besides it being a redneck way of doing it. )

Got 2 parts washers.
1 full of kerro
1 full of diesel that had gone off.
Sounds like a plan
put an S bend in the drain and a T off the bottom of the S down to a 5 gal drum.
Put another 5 gallon drum off the S in the normal way and draw the kerro of this.
that way the dirtiest & heavy bits will end up under the S bend.

The other trick is to fit a garden fountian pump and run it through an diesel filter.
Done both of them over the years .
In time you will end up with a lot of mower oil pumps that can be repurposed to pump the cleaning fluid.

My parts washer is an old 2'x2'x2' stainless steel lab sink i got free. I have a 120v solvent pump in a 5 gal bucket of kero under the drain. I also have a 6 quart US cleaner. Have a small 5hp pressure washer. One of my most used cleaning tools is a special non saftey blow gun and 140PSI of air. Have to wear ear an eye protection but cleans chainsaws real well. Have to be careful of air injection in the skin.
What is everyone else using?