B&S Hard to Start/Wont Stay Running

s7ven

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Im kind of a n00b when it comes to small engine repair and I was hoping someone could give me some guidance... I recently picked up an old huskee tiller for cheap, it was extremely hard to start when I got it but I can't get it to run longer than 30 seconds now. The engine that's on it is a b&s model:130292 type: 311101. So far I've taken the gas tank/carb off and cleaned them both with carb cleaner and some small gauge wire in any hole I could find. Its got fresh gas, new air filter, new spark plug. I've also taken off the magneto, sanded down the flywheel, magneto contact things and then reset the air gap using a dollar bill folded in half... I get a decent purplish sometimes orange spark when I set the plug on the head. I put the only adjuster screw to 1 and 1/2 turns, go full choke with throttle at full but it can take over and hour of cranking to get the thing running even more than 10 seconds. My hands are covered in blisters and the pull start retracting spring has came loose about 3 times now lol. The only other clue I have is that the warmer I get the motor the more it tries to run....oh yea and oil is full. Someone please help! My hands can't take much more and I wanna get my garden started :tongue:

Also...can someone refer me to a good how-to on setting the air-fuel screw and the proper way to get this thing started? The top of the tiller says to go full choke and full throttle but that doesn't seem to work very well.
 

ILENGINE

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Did you replace the little diaphargm on the carb under that cover next to the muffler. That is the fuel pump for the carb. The vacuum create in the carb can only lift fuel about 1 1/2 inches so you have to have a pump to get the fuel into the little well made into the top of the fuel tank.
 

mrfred54

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Im kind of a n00b when it comes to small engine repair and I was hoping someone could give me some guidance... I recently picked up an old huskee tiller for cheap, it was extremely hard to start when I got it but I can't get it to run longer than 30 seconds now. The engine that's on it is a b&s model:130292 type: 311101. So far I've taken the gas tank/carb off and cleaned them both with carb cleaner and some small gauge wire in any hole I could find. Its got fresh gas, new air filter, new spark plug. I've also taken off the magneto, sanded down the flywheel, magneto contact things and then reset the air gap using a dollar bill folded in half... I get a decent purplish sometimes orange spark when I set the plug on the head. I put the only adjuster screw to 1 and 1/2 turns, go full choke with throttle at full but it can take over and hour of cranking to get the thing running even more than 10 seconds. My hands are covered in blisters and the pull start retracting spring has came loose about 3 times now lol. The only other clue I have is that the warmer I get the motor the more it tries to run....oh yea and oil is full. Someone please help! My hands can't take much more and I wanna get my garden started :tongue:

Also...can someone refer me to a good how-to on setting the air-fuel screw and the proper way to get this thing started? The top of the tiller says to go full choke and full throttle but that doesn't seem to work very well.

try squirting some gas into the carb. if it starts and run for a few seconds on the gas you need a diafram for the carb. if it wont start on this gas your flywheel key is probably half sheared off
 

s7ven

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I was actually able to find the diaphragm at a local shop and I gave that a try. It didn't seem to make much of a difference other than not having to crank on it as long to get it to fire at least momentarily. Poured gas down the carb and got it to run maybe a total of 10-15 seconds before it dies....

Seems like everytime I get a decent 10-30 second run and dies, it backfires pretty violently for a while and refuses to run. I brought it over to a local guy that is good wit small engines, I'm going to see what he can come up with. Thanks for the help so far though.
 

s7ven

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try squirting some gas into the carb. if it starts and run for a few seconds on the gas you need a diafram for the carb. if it wont start on this gas your flywheel key is probably half sheared off

mrfred54, you are the man! The guy I took my tiller to found out that the key was sheared off. That makes sense because it hasn't started correctly since it made a squealing noise and the pull string spring broke loose last week...I just contributed that to the pull start messing up.

I'm glad it's fixed but just for the sake of understanding...what exactly does that key do?
 

andy spence

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May 15, 2013
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Your flywheel key keeps the flywheel at the proper position with the armature to assure proper ignition timing. Glad you got it going. Time to plant now.
 
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