During some Craigslist perusing a few weeks back I ended up with a non-running Great Dane Scamper with a 15 HP Kawasaki FH451V v-twin engine. It's recoil start and the choke is incorporated into the throttle cable. There is no fuel solenoid on this carburetor, but it does use a vacuum fuel pump.
Basically the PO broke the recoil starter, then let it sit outside for a while. The fuel system was funky. I cleaned up everything as best I could, but there still could be some junk in the carb. Fuel lines are clear, and while I didn't soak the carb, I cleaned it thoroughly.
I got it to run, but it only wants to start with carb cleaner or ether. You can pull the recoil all day and it will not start on its own, spray one shot of ether and it cranks right up. Runs very strong with the PTO engaged, but sometimes surges at idle with the PTO off. That has improved somewhat the more fresh fuel runs through it.
I used to work for a company that repaired this stuff, but in this situation we would have just slapped a new carb on and called it a day. I don't want to drop $185 on a new carb if I can avoid it. Is there a certain area of the carb I should focus cleaning efforts on to resolve the issue with starting? I have not made any adjustments to the control panel. It probably hasn't been touched since leaving the factory, so I didn't want to mess with it without having a clue about what I was doing.
Worst case I will just keep a can of ether handy. Once it's warmed up it starts on the first pull.
Basically the PO broke the recoil starter, then let it sit outside for a while. The fuel system was funky. I cleaned up everything as best I could, but there still could be some junk in the carb. Fuel lines are clear, and while I didn't soak the carb, I cleaned it thoroughly.
I got it to run, but it only wants to start with carb cleaner or ether. You can pull the recoil all day and it will not start on its own, spray one shot of ether and it cranks right up. Runs very strong with the PTO engaged, but sometimes surges at idle with the PTO off. That has improved somewhat the more fresh fuel runs through it.
I used to work for a company that repaired this stuff, but in this situation we would have just slapped a new carb on and called it a day. I don't want to drop $185 on a new carb if I can avoid it. Is there a certain area of the carb I should focus cleaning efforts on to resolve the issue with starting? I have not made any adjustments to the control panel. It probably hasn't been touched since leaving the factory, so I didn't want to mess with it without having a clue about what I was doing.
Worst case I will just keep a can of ether handy. Once it's warmed up it starts on the first pull.