Troy-Bilt - Briggs and Stratton - Won't Stay Running with Brand New Carb

[Th3InfamousI]

Hi all!

Not completely new to minor engine repair but I will give you all a run-down of my issue and hopefully someone can point me in a the right direction as I thought I had it narrowed down as a carb issue but alas I purchased a brand new carb after trying to clean the old one about 5x without luck. I had thought that the small vent for the air into the float bowl may have been clogged as that was the only hole I couldn't get a paper clip down.

Anyways....

Its a Troy-Bilt with a Briggs and Stratton 12A-566N063 Tuff-Cut 210 (2003).

I can get the engine to run with a few shots of carb cleaner and then it will die. As it had appeared to be a fuel delivery issue and carb problems are not uncommon on mowers. With the new carb installed it does the same, will only run with carb cleaner. I can confirm that the float is indeed filling with gas and clear fuel line from tank to carb.

I also replaced the spark plug for ****'s and giggles as I purchased the mower off craigslist last year. This mower worked 2 weekends ago just not last weekend so this isn't an old issue.

After replacing the carb to no avail, I tried unhooking the spring to ensure the carb stayed at full throttle and that did not help either.

I'm at a loss here in what to try next? Can't afford a new mower but already got a notice from the city to mow the lawn so I need to get it done this weekend.

Appreciate anyone's help and assistance to the matter.

 

[ILENGINE]

I know this may sound rude, but you could have a stale fuel issue. The starter fluid in the intake and run until die means a fuel issue in most cases.

 

[Th3InfamousI]

I know this may sound rude, but you could have a stale fuel issue. The starter fluid in the intake and run until die means a fuel issue in most cases.

Morning,

Thanks for the suggestion. I have thought about getting some fresh gas. Just odd it would go completely stale over a week. I would expect it to run just maybe run like crap at least if the fuel was stale.

I will probably get some fresh fuel tomorrow and try it, hopefully someone comes up with some other ideas to try along with new fuel.

 

[Rokon]

I also replaced the spark plug for ****'s and giggles as I purchased the mower off craigslist last year. This mower worked 2 weekends ago just not last weekend so this isn't an old issue.

Just to be clear, the fuel two weekends ago is still in the tank, yes? How long has that fuel been in the tank? More than two months?

 

[Th3InfamousI]

Just to be clear, the fuel two weekends ago is still in the tank, yes? How long has that fuel been in the tank? More than two months?

I really don't know why people think gas goes terribly bad in a short amount of time. I have never encountered a time in my life were gas went stale and a something wouldn't run completely. I have 2 motorcycles and have experienced receiving bad gas from time to time and it runs just not as well as it should. But I've never had gas go bad sitting. This gas I bought back in October and I'm sure it's lost some octane but it's still ignitable. Same gas is being used in my weed whacker and my leaf blower which both operate as normal and run great.


Back to the item at hand - I dug into the mower more this AM and found the issue. I knew it wasn't getting gas (good gas or bad gas). The intake manifold is made out of PVC and split in half right at the 90 degree angle which goes into the cylinder housing. It wasn't creating a vacuum to suck the gas up and out of the carb bowl. For now I used electrical tape to put it back together and she runs like new. I put the original carb back on and I'll throw the new one I bought back on EBAY. I'll search for the new plastic part online and replace soon.

Hopefully this will help some down the road as I had assumed chances are it's not the gas that's the problem...unless it's real old.

 

[Carscw]

I agree some people blame gas or valves for everything. I have mowers that sit for months and start right up.

Now someone will come on and say that it cracked because of the ethanol in the gas made it weak