Just to let everyone know that I took apart the fuel tank and carb this afternoon. There were no visible problems - no out-of-alignment gaskets, blocked tubes or visible bits of dirt, no grass in the petrol or anything I could see. Nevertheless, I gave it a good clean out as best I could, and when I put it back together, hey presto! It worked a dream. It now seems to be running nice and smoothly again.

Thanks everyone for your help - your comments and advice gave me the confidence I needed to be able to attack this and I'm very pleased with the result.

Rob

Briggs & Stratton engine not running smoothly
 

On Sat, 9 May 2009 18:07:10 +0100, robinfrance wrote:

Just to let everyone know that I took apart the fuel tank and carb this
afternoon. There were no visible problems - no out-of-alignment
gaskets, blocked tubes or visible bits of dirt, no grass in the petrol
or anything I could see.

The first time mine played up like yours I didn't spot the stuck flap
valve. Like you I just took it apart didn't find anything obvious put it
back together and it was fine, don't like "no fault found". It lasted
about 4 months, the next time I spotted the flap tucked into the hole on
dismantling and arranged things on reassembly for maximum overlap, IIRC I
haven't had to touch it since.

hey presto! It worked a dream. It now seems to be running nice and
smoothly again.

Result. Good to get the feedback.

--
Cheers
Dave.