Small engine with points?

[ultrarunner]

I have had some coated steel tanks on ATVs, and the coatings did not hold up well with 10% ethanol gas. If one is more fortunate, the rust (and the first pinholes) are mostly at the bottom of the tank and it can be patched and welded. Some early machines had soldered-in bungs in the fuel tanks, and that resulted in electrolysis.

I have also resorted to fabbing a new tank with stainless steel, but that is best when it is covered up with plastic panels.

This is where plastic tanks are clearly better, but sadly some new equipment still employ steel.

I have several coated tanks good for decades from motorcycles to automobiles..

The alcohol turned the aviation coating to goo and now I have a mess…

Great product for the times but not with alcohol.

 

[CalG]

I have several coated tanks good for decades from motorcycles to automobiles..

The alcohol turned the aviation coating to goo and now I have a mess…

Great product for the times but not with alcohol.

Did you use what was affectionately known as "slosh"?

There is two part stuff available now that works, but the kits are costly.

Two part epoxy or even polyurethane works.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yes… sloshing compound sold as aviation fuel tank sealer.

I had a nice Honda bike that kept clogging fuel filters…

Pulled it and sloshed around a can of nuts and bolts and let dry.

The next weekend sloshed 3 times and zero fuel problems over the next 6 years of my ownership…

Sloshed many Model A Ford gas tanks.

25 years ago with California reformulated gas is when I started having problems with sloshed tanks and rubber fuel lines…

It was not just me as every day the news had commuter stories of car fires and fuel leaks from degraded rubber fuel hose…

 

[CalG]

Yes he left ethanol fuel in it over the winter and it wasn’t full either, a bad combo. There are two tubes that drop into the tank, one long and one short. The short one has a little chamber it sits in. It’s my understanding the long tube brings fuel into the little bowl under the short tube. I can see how a leak would prevent that from working correctly.

I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos on the carb issues.

It’s become a little bit of an obsession to get it going.

I bet it needs a good carb cleaning with attention to all the gaskets and fitting, jets. tubes, airways and passages.
I've had the carb off twice over the years. First time because I jumped the tiller off a 4 foot retaining wall. That was fun! The tiller landed on the fuel tank side and pulled the carb body off the engine. (bent the flange)

The second time was about five years ago. Routine cleaning...

That and confirm the valves are moving. (compression good?)

 

[ultrarunner]

Have not had one in years but Berryman 5 gallon pail of carb cleaner, compressed air and a micro drill bit set with welding tip cleaners saved a lot of carburetors for me…

More recently the online cheap carbs have proved to be a good fix…

Brother bought a like new Craftsman riding mower the family could not start… they bought a new battery and air up the tires… still no go.

The last day of the estate sale it was still there and my brother asked about it and was told $500… brother said he was thinking $75 and got it.

New carb and oil change and good to go…

 

[CalG]

 

[2manyrocks]

Putting ethanol gas in these old engines is just asking for trouble because none of the carb parts were designed for it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep but outside of canned gas at the hardware store there is not ethanol free within 75 to 100 miles from me and airport is high security and tail number registration required.

 

[dodge man]

That video was pretty good CalG. It gave me a couple of things to look for. I’ve cleaned the carb out more than once.

 

[CalG]

That video was pretty good CalG. It gave me a couple of things to look for. I’ve cleaned the carb out more than once.

It's the little things!

And I thank you for the inspiration!

Tomorrow, I'm going to dig that tiller out of the garden shed and make sure it runs this year! I might even dump out the gas that has been in the tank for two years now (e10, OH THE HORROR).

Or I might just till a patch out back for grins and giggles!
It's rained so much the past two weeks, the ground might be a bit too much to till.