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Old 06-05-2009, 03:12 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Rick... (The other Rick)[_2_] Rick... (The other Rick)[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2009
Posts: 1
Default Briggs & Stratton engine not running smoothly

On Wed, 6 May 2009 07:58:05 +0100, robinfrance wrote:


Hi Bob,

Bob Hobden;842989 Wrote:

Hunting is when an engine speeds up and then slows down of it's own
accord
instead of ticking over. This is usually caused by fuel starvation and

usually a dirty carburettor is the cause, sometimes a knackered fuel
pump
but mowers don't have those.

However you mention it's using a lot more fuel than normal and making
black
smoke which suggests it's actually running rich. Others have mentioned
a
stuck choke but it could also be a stuck float in the carburettor. My
suggestion is to remove, partly dismantle, and clean the carb, just
taking
the top of is usually enough to clean it out (use petrol not water).
Make
sure the float moves easily and that there is no muck in the float
chamber.


Thanks for the reply. Sounds like taking the top off the carb and
giving it a good clean out is a sensible place to start. If that
doesn't do the trick I guess I'll have to try taking the carb off to
see what's underneath it.

It'll probably be the weekend before I get to it – I'll post back with
an update.

Thanks again to all,

Rob


When you do that, pour the petrol in the tank into a glass jar and hold it up to the light.
When I had a similar problem, I found that the petrol contained very fine pieces of grass. I'm
guessing that the grass was fouling the filter on the carb.

Anyway, a good clean out and fresh petrol should solve your problem.

Rick... (The other Rick)

Science and sound engineering will always prevail in the end
"for nature cannot be fooled" [Feynman]