We were mowing the lawn and I disengaged the blades and the engine started surging so I shut it down. It took about two weeks until I could get to it again and it would barely idle, and I thought that it was not getting enough fuel.
I flushed all the fuel lines, new fuel filter, new vacuum hose to the pump, took the carb off and cleaned it.
Nothing has changed. It still idles like crud and won’t accelerate or change no matter where the throttle is. The governor looks like it is at WOT, but I am not sure because this does not have a direct throttle.
I did notice that it seemed to be smoking g a little, so I checked the spark. Getting spark on both sides (using an inline bulb tester), but when I take the plugs out cyl. 1 is wet and cyl. 2 is not burning clean.
I don’t know what else to check, test or fix.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
OCO
First test is a pair of new plugs
The tester tells you the magneto is making a spark so the ignition system is working but it does not tell you the spark is jumping the gap on the plug.
Slide the carb off sideways turn the ignition on then blow some compressed air through it , High volume low pressure is best.
I use one of those reverse vacuum cleaner spray gun hoses for this .
You should see a stream of atomised fuel coming out the engine end
Did you clean the carb according to the instructions on outdoor power info page , if not then it is not clean .
Are belts and pulleys clean and clear? Bearings going out? Deck belts dead?
Is the blade PTO electric? If so disconnect for testing the engine. PTO might be shorting out as well.
Dump and clean the fuel tank. Flush fuel lines again. Does this have a fuel pump? I see a listing for one. Make sure you have good fuel flow AT the carb/s. Glass jar and crank the key.
She's a smoker now. Caused by not cleaning the carbon out of the engine, per the manual. Or lack of maintenance. I would clean the cooling fins yearly and set the valves.
Carb clean wouldn't hurt anything. Make sure the float is dead level with bowl mounting surface.
Surging is lack of fuel or fuel air ratio. Could be a vacuum leak too.
#4
StarTech
It appears to have single barrel Nikki carburetor but only looked at the generic 44N engine since the type number was not posted. These carburetor do have two problem that the DIYer can indice when cleaning. One is the lost of the main jet ( usually caused by the o-ring strinkage). The otther is the float bowl gasket set. These are easily damage and can be installed incorrectly leading to a flooding engine. It only takes a small nick in this gasket to cause problems. Also this appear to the version with a separate o-ring for the inlet tube. These also shrinks and lead to flooding of the engine.
The smoking can be cause filled oil that has extra fuel in it from these leaks. If overfill change the oil as gas in it will cause engine damage.
