Carborator Issue


  #1  
Old 08-01-04, 05:37 AM
Light4u2
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Flooding Engine

I have a walk behind commercial mower that was left at the house I bought, And all last year, I have had no problems. Up til now, that is. The mower started a month ago with starting and running fine then it would stop for no appearent reason, and would start again just fine. It progressed over time by stalling more often, actually on ever other pass through the lawn. So I put carberator cleaner in and sprayed gunk out in the carborator when it was running. I replaced the fuel filter also. Anyway the other day I went out to mow the lawn and realized there was fuel all over the ground. It was dripping out of the over flow for the gas bowl. I took the air filter off and lo and behold the it was flooded all the way past the choke up the neck that the air filter basket attaches to. I drained some gas out of it using the drain screw on the gas bowl. It started fine when I got the level down some. I did not put the air cleaner basket back on and ran it as normal and cut the lawn. It stalled only once. But when it did it was flooded just as before I ran it. And I followed the same proceedure and got it running again. When I finished mowing the lawm i flooded again. What could be my problem? I have had two people tell me that floats do not go bad. I disagree though. Any thoughts would be wonderful. Thanks !
 
  #2  
Old 08-01-04, 06:28 AM
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The float probably isn't bad but one of two things are probably happening. Either the needle valve is badly leaking or the float valve is stuck. The float valve is inside the float bowl at the bottom of the carburator. When gas from the tank rises to the proper level inside that bowl the float rises pushing the needle firmly into the seat shutting off any further gas flow. If that float/needle valve system fails the gas can rise to the top of the float bowl and will start overflowing through the overflow pipes. The float itself used to be a problem when they were made of brass. These days they are made of better materials and are mostly trouble free. What happens now is that the seats fall out or the float mechanism mechanically binds for some reason. Either way the only way to fix it is to take the carb apart, carefully inspect the mechanism, and replace the necessary parts. Parts are relatively cheap so I would recommend you just buy a carb kit for that engine and just carfully rebuild the carb and your problem should be solved.
 
  #3  
Old 08-01-04, 02:32 PM
Light4u2
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I took the bowl off and the float seems to move by the touch freely, however I am not so sure it does when the bowl is intact because it's not visible. As far as rebuilding a carb, I am not so sure anything would run with a James built carb on it. As far as an amature doing this how difficult is it? Should I take it off and take it to a repair shop and what is a guess on the cost ? I will takle the job should I have instructions because I am detailed oriented and can follow instruction sheets. What are your thoughts ?
 
  #4  
Old 08-01-04, 07:31 PM
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Hello Light4u2!

What brand, hp, and model engine do you have? Some engines have floats that rarely go bad, some have floats that are notorious for going bad. Some do not have seats, some do. Without more info, I cannot be specific, but the needle valve is not closing either because of a bad float, needle, seat, water in fuel, trash/debris in bowl, etc...
 
  #5  
Old 08-02-04, 04:42 AM
Light4u2
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The motor is a Kawasaki FC420V. 14 hp. The float is non metallic, almost like a plastic. As far as the bowl it's clean of junk and water. I am not sure what the seat or needle is, and how to check them against being bad or good.
Here is a picture of the motor.
http://www.kawasaki.com/kengine/4cyc...20v_specs.html
 
  #6  
Old 08-02-04, 03:11 PM
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A carburetor recon is in order here. What brand machine do you have? You will have to check with a service dealer in your area for the machine in order to get the needed parts. A good soaking in a quality bath cleaner will be needed along with a carb rebuild kit. You may also have to change the engine oil...this type carb/intake may have allowed fuel to enter the crankcase, poluting the oil with gasoline. Pull the dipstick and see if it is now "overfilled" and smells of gas. If so, do not run the engine before you change the oil and filter.
 
  #7  
Old 08-03-04, 04:19 AM
Light4u2
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How much should I expect to pay for a rebuild kit, and how difficult is it to do? Can an amature do it effectively ?
 
  #8  
Old 08-03-04, 09:51 AM
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A kit should be from 10 to 15 dollars, as far as diy, taking the carb off is more than half the battle however your carb probably only has one linkage you will need to pay attention as to how it attacthes, and is the last item to unhook when removing the carb as you will need to twist the carb slightly to get the little hook out of the hole, likewise when re-installing the carb this will be the first item to reconnect. Once the carb is removed, move to a suitable bench, table or work surface and get comfy
Refering to this diagram http://www.buykawpower.com/kmcb2c/Me...historyDepth=2
reference 92053-A, 49123, 49121 and the bowl bolt 92002. The jet assy should remove with a small flat blade screwdriver, these are the main items you will want to clean. You most likely can get away with a can of carb cleaner and some compressed air for cleaning, although using a bath of industrial carb cleaner is best, it may not be ideal for a 1 time DIY'er. You will also want to remove your adjustment screws (16035) noting which go where AND b4 removing, count the turns Clockwise from where set now until it lightly seats (1 1/2 to 2 turns...)
If the diagram is overwhelming to you, you may want to have a shop perform it, if its only a little intimidating you will probably do fine on your own. Just leave the hammers and power tools in the cabinet
Forgot to mention the Needle valve and seat, on yours the seat I believe is brass and the tip of the needle soft rubber or....if this is the case a new needle should be included in a kit, and you only need to clean through the seat area with cleaner and air. The kit may also include a new seat although its highly unlikely that the soft tip of the needle has worn the seat any, and replacing a seat of this type is not for the light hearted.
 

Last edited by Azis; 08-03-04 at 10:06 AM.
  #9  
Old 08-12-04, 03:11 PM
Light4u2
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Carborator Issue

I just recently had a carb rebuilt and totally cleaned out, because it was flooding my lawn mower engine. I brought the carb home and put it on and now my engine runs sort of rough, and blows a faint black smoke out of the exhaust at high speed. I called the place that rebuilt the carb and they said to "tweak" the screws on top of the carb and the symptoms would disapear.......well of course I did that making sure I counted every twist and it did not disapear. To add this note I put the screws back to where they were before "tweaking" them. This is only when the motor is at full throttle. I have no problems at low throttle. Another thing is it will run very slow if I put the air filter on as if it is going to die. It runs fast when the air filter basket is off, however it runs choppy and blows the faint black smoke. Any ideas would help. I am just happy after two weeks of having it in the shop I was able to cut the lawn with out it dieing because of flooding. Yeah thus far.....Thanks in advance. If you would care for my previous thread look at the thread for "flooding engine". It details exactly the mower and so on I have.
 
  #10  
Old 08-13-04, 01:31 AM
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Light4u2,

I merged this thread with your original to maintain continuity of the discussion. Use the reply button to post additional info. The thread will go to the top of the list each time a new reply is made.

There should only be one adjustment screw for the air/fuel mixture on this carb. It is probably a brass screw with pins stuck through it to aid in turning it. It should have little or no effect on high rpm performance. Sounds like the carb shop didn't do the job right.

It also sounds like you need a new air filter. If it slows the engine rpm down when you put it on, then it is bad. If the black smoke is occurring only with the filter installed, then that's the problem, but I understood that it does it with the filter removed as well, correct?
 
  #11  
Old 08-13-04, 08:39 AM
Light4u2
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The brass screw you mention is the air/fuel mixture. Where is that? Is that the two screws inside the carb on either side of the choke ? Also the black smoke acures only at high speed, and both when the air cleaner is on and off. The air cleaner only bogs down the motor. Thanks for helping.
 
  #12  
Old 08-15-04, 02:11 AM
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2 screws INSIDE the carb on either side of the choke??? Are you sure? The mixture screw on all those engines that I can ever remember is toward the top/side of the carb at the rear. I really don't think that's the issue though, because you are having the problem at full throttle too. Have you verified visually that the choke is opening completely?
 
  #13  
Old 08-15-04, 05:12 AM
Light4u2
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Yes it opens fully at 90 degrees from full choke closure. For some reason it runs fine at slow speeds at high speed it blows the black smoke and runs choppy. And no matter the speed if I put the air cleaner on it bogs down.
 
  #14  
Old 08-15-04, 08:16 PM
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It's still running too rich then. Maybe a jet was left loose or got damaged when it was rebuilt. The rebuilder should stand behind this as warranty if so. You need a new filter too.
 
  #15  
Old 08-26-04, 02:01 PM
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hmm no help there. He said the main jet hole looks too big.....and that maybe they put the wrong jet in. Would that cause this ?
 
  #16  
Old 08-27-04, 02:23 AM
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Yep, that could do it. It's possible that maybe someone swapped carbs before you got it, and used a carb off a 17 hp kawasaki. I believe they will interchange as far as bolts and connections, but the jetting is different.
 
 

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