Mastercraft Yard Beetle issues

[lawnbugger]

The seller told me it just needs a solenoid and shift cable. I asked how many hours are on it,he never knew,then I asked when it was run last,he said a couple weeks ago to do his lawn,I said how did you run it if it doesn't run,he said jump straight to the starter but never had jump cables and battery and said it's out of gas or he would fire it up to show me. He listed for $100 so I said I will give you $50 and he jumped at it. I got it home and the gas in it was years old and the carb bowl was jammed full of gel,not some,but packed,no way anyone had the thing running a few weeks ago,it was last run years ago. The guy probably got it for free in a scrap metal pile on someones curb. Thankfully at $50 bucks and few more bucks and some time on it it will be worth a few hundred running. I want it cause it's more compact to store and it's getting harder every year for me to walk my lawnmower around the yard. So far I have $38 into it for a new solenoid and not sure when the cables get here. After a battery and cables I should have over hundred something more into it. Not sure what the no neutral issue will run me at this point. I may have to pull the axel and check the gears and fork inside,but I need to get it running and see if moves in forward and reverse right now,the neutral is a hard spot to get by hand in the middle of forward and revers,so it may just need to move a bit again to get fork into place???? Don't know this is the first I've ever worked on one of these models.

 

[lawnbugger]

I got the carb soaking in a can of seafoam now. Hopping it will clean it out and get the carb working again,I will probably toss some in the gas to clean out the engine after also.

 

[lawnbugger]

Update,I found neutral. In my case I took a slot screwdriver and placed it on the shift linkage and lightly hammered it back and forth about 7 times and in between pushed the machine back and forth,rocked it as hard as I could and tapped the srewdriver with a hammer light,seems the shift fork and or gear was froze from sitting for years and not for weeks as the seller said, anyway the shift fork now moves into Neutral,reverse and forward. So no neutral is solved also. To recap,I can now turn it over by the key and start it with quick start and it stalls and I have neutral. The sad set back is the starter gear shaft broke off,seems the seller 3D printed a new starter gear and it was tight and needed to be slid up by flathead to the flywheel to spin. Now I have to order a new starter gear assembly. In the meantime,I shaved down the 3D printed gear so it slides properly and put the gear spline back together with JB weld,so far it's holding but I have not tried to put the starter back on yet. The carb has been soaking since yesterday afternoon in seafaom,all the seafoam has turned to yellow and the gelled gas that was stuck inside the chambers is floating around and the trash that has come out is thick,mass amounts of dirt,rust and particulate's have filled the bowl. I filtered out what I could and stuck the carb back in the seafaom to soak more. At this point I have not got it running on other than fire it with quick start and I need new shift cables and now new starter gear assembly. I might just order a new carb also. At least I know what I'm dealing with now. I will update after more progress is made,I will try to run it with the starter fix and carb cleaned tomorrow and fill anyone in.

 

[lawnbugger]

K today I got new starter gear and had the carb soaking in seafoam for 3 days and sprayed the carb good with carb cleaner after,it fired up no problem on the key,goes into neutral from me monkeying the shift lever to get the fork free. I still need new shift cables and those are the expensive ones at $62.00 a piece but I'm looking online to order them cheaper. Now this seems to race pretty high when I open the carb up and idles slow with a bit of low popping,is that normal????

 

[lawnbugger]

Working backwards now. I got it running and found neutral. I wanted to see if it drives,I put a cable on it to pull the shift lever into gear when it's running,it doesn't move and began to stall and won't start again,it turns over but nothing and I can't get it out of whatever gear it's in and it won't go back into neutral???????? I will try to fiddle again to get the fork to move,I hope the transmission isn't pooched??????

 

[lawnbugger]

Ok I will keep posting whats going on. I hate people who post and never give the final fix and every post on this model and issue has gone into limbo years ago and not one person posted the final fix,just left the threads open ended and dead. I found out why It wouldn't start again wink lol it was out of gas hahaha. Ok I got running again then fiddled the link the same way I did in my upper comments and found neutral again. I suspect the fork has not moved anything in some years and needs to be told again. Now what the issue is right now,it doesn't move in gear,it idles but when I speed up the throttle it runs way fast and loud like it's gonna fly into space and blow up lol,not sure why its racing high and won't move in gear??? I seen some talk on belt or pulley miss-placement and same issue,but of coarse the thread just dies and left dead without the final fix. Can anyone shed some light into why it would not move in gear? Now when I jack the rear end up,in gear I can move the wheels and both spin opposite of each other as they should in forward or reverse,so I can't say the break is binding. I can only figure something with the belts or pulleys. The gear splines are working in the transmission/rear end as I can tell when I spin the tires. So right now,I'm working on getting it move by the engine and why it's racing high when I throttle up?????

 

[lawnbugger]

Had a moment after work to look under the carriage and see there is a belt that has rolled off the pulleys,so it should start moving in gear when I rout the belt back on right. I will see if I can get it back on right tomorrow and hope it's right belt,but I think it's obvious why it would move in gear. Will give update tomorrow.

 

[Freddie21]

With the carb installed and the bowl off, turn the gas on and it should run out of the bottom of the carb until you lift the float. If it doesn't, you have a restriction in the fuel line or a bad pump, if it has one. There must be a fuel filter. You should see gas in it. If gas is not present and there is a pump, you may have to crank until it primes. You could also take a small bottle of gas and connect a short fuel line to the carb and see if it runs gravity fed.

 

[gregjo1948]

I bought a used Mastercraft Yard Beetle,guy said it needs solenoid and shift cable but runs by direct jumping the starter.
Got it home and does not fire up,direct jump to starter and turns over.I got a new solenoid and nothing on the key??? I direct jump the starter and it turns over but not getting spark.
I pulled the carb and cleaning it but don't know why I'm not getting spark or turning over by the key.
It also will not go into neutral and I have pulled the 2 shift cables that are bad,won't shift to neutral by hand?The shifter moves by hand back and forth?
So no crank on key,no spark and no neutral????

No spark is probably because there is no neutral. There is likely a safety switch that allows spark when it's in neutral.

 

[lawnbugger]

To recap. I got spark,got it tuned over by key,bought a new solenoid,new starer gear,soaked the carb in seafoam for 3 days and cleaned out the gunk and gel,waiting on the shift cables to be delivered,found neutral and both gears,replaced the belts and it moves in reverse and forward.
Right now it runs very low and pops a bit switched on rabbit and as soon as I drag the lever down a little it races really high and still races high on turtle. I tried adjusting the carb screws and nothing changes,the cables are fine and the carb rods and thin line,I have no idea what is up with the racing and low idle. Anyone have anything on these carbs to troubleshoot these brigs & Straton carbs?