I hate small engines that have sat not used.

[Midniteoyl]

Somebody needs to learn to lean their engine during ground ops - or is the auto engine not set up for manual leaning?

I did my initial training in a Cessna 150 that really didn't like 100LL. It was OK in cruise (though you still needed to pay attention to the mixture for best results), it was a killer on the ground taxiing/idling.

Plane uses fuel injection with ECU, so no.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Well, not exactly a small engine. Something is out of tune with that engine IMO. Way too rich.

 

[dickfoster]

Pulled the splitter out of the shed. It's has an 8HP Briggs and Stratton engine. Wouldn't start after several pulls. Yanked the plug cleaned, gapped and replaced. Yanked the carb, cleaned and replaced. Engine starts right up now. Took maybe an hour.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have had good luck with my mowers stored over the winter (3-4 months) using Stabil but for long term storage as in I don't know when I will use it again, I run the tank and carb dry or at least till it will no long run. I do my chainsaws, push mowers, pressure washer and weedeaters this way and they all crank on the 2nd or 3rd pull even if they have set for many years.

I have had spark plugs in my boat go bad over winter. NGK plugs are famous for that according to a boat engine mechanic. My boat would run fine then drop the RPM down to about 2000 and putt along for a while then suddenly rev back up and run per spec for a while. I tried everything including replacing the fuel tank and line and finally stopped at a boat shop to schedule an appointment. The mechanic knew immediately that it was the plugs. They weren't fouled, I had already pulled them and they looked fine. He said the NGK plugs which came std. on my 4 stroke Evinrude would just internally short out and then fire normally. Sure enough a new set of plugs and all was good.

 

[drizler]

Stabil is good for months and maybe a year or so but I've had no luck with it when an engine sits for multiple years. I try to drain the carb but even that can lead to things like gaskets drying out. My advice would be to just break down and buy the internal parts like the jets and gaskets and clean the rest. A jet that isn't fully cleaned will be too small and could make your engine run too lean damaging other parts while using a drill to clean it out could make the hole too large and run too rich. With the model number you should be able to find the needed parts on line cheap. I use to be the type of person who would spend hours to try and repair or clean a part but now that I'm older I realize that I have much better things to do than spending an hour trying to save a $5 part. I still get the feeling that I fixed it myself, just without investing all that time.

Maybe but be careful doing this. The last time I went out buying a kit for a small engine I found that a brand new one was almost the same price $32 vs $20ish for a one size fits way too may sorta maby kit. You will often these days find whole carb assemblies on Fleabay and Amazon for common tools. I don't like playing surgeon if I can just stuff one on and know it's going to purr like my cat.
The important thing is to never leave ethanol gas sitting in a carb for more than a few days. If you put on a tiny inline shut off valve and let the carb run dry you won't have issues with even the old stuff. Contrary to popular belief they will happily fill 5 gallon cans at the airport pumps. I used to do it myself although I ran my plane mostly on car gas.

 

[John_Mc]

Well, not exactly a small engine. Something is out of tune with that engine IMO. Way too rich.

If an engine is not running hot enough, it will not scavenge the lead in the fuel. 100LL generally has an additive in it to help scavenge the lead during combustion, bit it doesn't work if things don't get hot enough (which is one of the things contributing to fouling during idling). And yes, we're engaging in quite a bit of topic drift... I'm done with the aviation-related posts for now.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'm getting an HH series industrial OHV Tecumseh running right now...

I bought it new in 1975 and I had not heard it run since the 80's, but it will pop and run on a wiff of starting fluid. Problem is, all the gaskets in the carb leak, so I bought a rebuild kit, 20 bucks and i'll be rebuilding the carb soon... I even bought a new electric starter for it...

I'm looking forward to getting it running, and once it's running, it will NEVER see even a drop of E fuel!

SR

 

[John_Mc]

Contrary to popular belief they will happily fill 5 gallon cans at the airport pumps. I used to do it myself although I ran my plane mostly on car gas.

Some will, some won't. Some are under the mistaken impression that it's illegal to sell for other than aviation use, some (particularly those run by a government entity) are laboring under the rule of their owner (state/county/municipality) that they only sell for aviation use. THey are not supposed to sell for "over the road" use, since they don't collect road taxes on it (though there is an aviation tax). Lastly, some airports - particularly larger ones - have increased security since 9/11 and may not let you out onto the field if you don't have an aircraft or other airport business out there.

 

[John_Mc]

I'm getting an HH series industrial OHV Tecumseh running right now...

If you weren't so far away, I'd give you a couple of 12 horse Tecumseh HH engines I have lying around - they might make good parts donors. One was in my old Coot when I bought it, the other was a used one I bought cheap when the first stopped running reliably (died when hot). I eventually converted to a Briggs Vanguard.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

If you weren't so far away, I'd give you a couple of 12 horse Tecumseh HH engines I have lying around - they might make good parts donors. One was in my old Coot when I bought it, the other was a used one I bought cheap when the first stopped running reliably (died when hot). I eventually converted to a Briggs Vanguard.

That would be great! I'd love to have them, wonder what it would cost to ship them?

Maybe I could get one running out of the two, for a little tractor I have?

BTW, I have a Vanguard here and it's been a GREAT engine!

SR