Lawn-Boy 10227

[lzn197]

Just purchased a LB 10227 from the original owner of 19 years. 4.75 HP with the "V" engine. The machine looked real nice but the owner was no mechanic and the final straw were a few things he could not fix. It had a Fuel leak, broken throttle control lever on the carb and the recoil starter was a disaster. He started the pricing at 50 and we ended up at 25. It included the original owners manual, the warranty registration card, mulch plate and side discharge plate. First thing I did was remove the recoil and tear it completely down and examine the inside. The recoil spring was bent at the "reactionary end" and had no way to do it's job. A quick repair of the spring and I installed a used rope I had handy. Next I pulled the spark plug (it was new) and peeked down the cylinder and all looked good. I had a small container of 16 to one fuel and put a little shot inside the chamber and turned the crank a few times to spread the lube around and all was fine. Checked for spark and all was ok. Installed the plug and yanked the cord and BOY does this thing have compression. I mixed up a small batch of fuel (slightly rich with oil) and got it to start with about 7 pulls. It was running ok but I could tell it was "burbling" pretty rich. With a quick shut down I let it sit for 10 minutes and fuel started leaking from the air cleaner. A quick tear down of the carb and things inside looked pretty good with a small amount of "lint" on the internal filter. I flushed it all out and proceeded to install a new needle and seat (Stens kit number 525-303). Inside the package was also a nylon gasket for the seat and I installed it too, even though the carburetor did not have THAT gasket when I tore it down. I set the float level and put it all together. Started on the first pull with one prime shot and let it run for 30 minutes or so. All seems fine now and today I will verify operation and be sure the leak is fixed and install the new throttle lever. The question I have for those out there that have had these "V" engine plastic carbs apart. Was it proper to install that nylon gasket from the Stens kit? I know it is a universal kit but wondered if the nylon gasket was only for certain models. Also this engine runs strong and all but it seems to have more compression than other 2 cycle machines I have worked on. Does the "V" engine have a higher compression ratio to get them the 4.75 HP?
Thanks.