The riding mower still has a miss in the engine even with the tune up, new battery, and new fuel filter, so tomorrow I'm going to open the pilot screw a bit and enrich the fuel mixture. Thank goodness for Penn Foster's small engine course from 1991. Called ICS (International Correspondence School) back then. If that doesn't get the miss smoothed out, I'll have to take the carburetor off and re-kit it. The gaskets are five years old and this ethanol gas (E85)is tough on gaskets. Makes them dry out or swell and this interferes with gas proportions with the air intake. Even with the fuel treatments, it's still a good idea to know how to kit a carburetor.
Get the miss out of the engine and all it will need is the blades sharpened and the axles greased.
All the chainsaw needs is the fuel High and Low speed needles adjusted. Still lagging a bit when the engine is cold. Need to adjust the idle speed, too. I don't really like having the chain spinning it's deadly teeth around the blade when I'm holding it while pulling a vine or branch out of the way. Have had enough close calls with these unforgiving machines called chainsaws.
Have I forgotten the Nano camper? Nope. Was outside a little while ago praying to God for guidance in getting it built. Have the roof material picked out, the flooring material, and siding. Already have the wiring, gas line, and other safety items ready to go. Will start back in March to have it ready by late April for camping. I need the Nano camper, so it's going to get built.
Found a flow chart for diagnosing sick carburetors. Flow Chart for Sick Carburetors
Souped Up Garden Tiller Racing.
This looks like fun!!!!
Seems I have a cheapo carburetor manufactured by Nikki on the Toro riding mower. They are hard to kit, from what I've read on the Internet about them. I've kitted Ford carburetors a few times, so I'll go the kit route before spending $100 to $150 or more on a new carburetor.
ReplyDeleteAdjusting the pilot screw didn't do much good. Tightened the carburetor against the manifold gasket a bit because it might have been a vacuum leak. It wasn't though. Dripping raw gas along the seams of a manifold gasket to find a vacuum leak didn't seem all that safe. If it's a vacuum leak, the raw gas gets sucked into the manifold by the intake motion of the engine piston and the RPMs increase noticeably from the extra gas. But, that seems kinda dangerous unless you use an eye dropper.
Finally increased the idle screw so it runs at a higher RPM at lower speeds, but that's just cheating. It's still running a lean fuel mixture and that can cause overheating of the engine internal parts. Can't afford to hurt this engine, so it looks like I won't be running the riding mower till February with either a kitted carburetor or a new carburetor.