Joel_BC
Super Self-Sufficient
Okay, well a guy in the neighborhood was having rototiller problems. I knew he likes to avoid shop-time fees, when he can. So I checked out the tiller, which is not too old. He says it had been running stong - but within a few minutes, while he was tilling in his household's garden, it quickly got weaker.
At his place, I tried starting up the engine, and I was pleased that it started on the second pull of the rope, but even after it warmed up it sounded slightly rough. Also, the rpm the engine would run at, with full throttle, seemed kinda low to me. And I tried tilling with the machine, and it seemed to have maybe half the amount of oomph I'd have expected. The engine never actually died, but did not run strong.
Long story short... I checked the gas tank, and gas line - no dirt, scaling, or obstruction. Ran some gas out of the line and it was clean looking, and he told me he'd gotten it from the gas station within the last couple weeks. I took the spark plug out, and it was quite carboned up. I had him go buy a new carburetor air-filter cartridge and a can of Seafoam. Meanwhile, over at my shop, I sandblasted the sparkplug. Then I gapped the plug. I got the specs for adjusting the overhead valves ("valve lash"), and adjusted them. Put the new air cleaner in, put the plug back in. Started it up (second pull) and it sounded much better. Stopped it, added some Seafoam into the gas tank, and restarted it. It ran for about 25 minutes, until all the treated gas had run through the engine.
Result: now starts on the first pull and runs with impressive power.
I just did the basics I described, and all concerned were happy with how it turned out. Yahoo!!
At his place, I tried starting up the engine, and I was pleased that it started on the second pull of the rope, but even after it warmed up it sounded slightly rough. Also, the rpm the engine would run at, with full throttle, seemed kinda low to me. And I tried tilling with the machine, and it seemed to have maybe half the amount of oomph I'd have expected. The engine never actually died, but did not run strong.
Long story short... I checked the gas tank, and gas line - no dirt, scaling, or obstruction. Ran some gas out of the line and it was clean looking, and he told me he'd gotten it from the gas station within the last couple weeks. I took the spark plug out, and it was quite carboned up. I had him go buy a new carburetor air-filter cartridge and a can of Seafoam. Meanwhile, over at my shop, I sandblasted the sparkplug. Then I gapped the plug. I got the specs for adjusting the overhead valves ("valve lash"), and adjusted them. Put the new air cleaner in, put the plug back in. Started it up (second pull) and it sounded much better. Stopped it, added some Seafoam into the gas tank, and restarted it. It ran for about 25 minutes, until all the treated gas had run through the engine.
Result: now starts on the first pull and runs with impressive power.
I just did the basics I described, and all concerned were happy with how it turned out. Yahoo!!