Small engine repair needed

[Pop's garage]

Who's good with small engines around Fayette Co. or McDonough?

 

[Don231s]

gas, oil, fire

 

[Pop's garage]

Roger that. I don't have time.

 

[Colossus]

just ask here.
most of the time it will be the carb. fuel sucks this days.

 

[greg vess]

It could be a host of thing. Carb, low compression, the little screen over the exhaust outlet " spark arrestor ", bad coil " if you replace that use a business card to set the tolerance, the little fuel filter on the end of the fuel pick in the fuel tank. If it's a two stroke it could have been fed the wrong ratio of fuel/oil. The manual should have a parts break down and you can order parts from that. Sometimes it just better to buy another unit if it has extensive engine damage. If it a riding mower then the cost vs. new is worth it. Most of the time it's the carburetor. Todays fuel has a lot of ethanol and that causes varnishes to build up is it sits to long with fuel in it. It a good habit to add fuel stabilizer to the fuel before winter and fill it to the top of the tank so moisture can't build up in the tank.
I would fisrt dump out all the fuel and replace it with fresh gas. Replace the spark plug or clean it real good with a wire brush and go from there. Also check out the little spark arrestor right at the exhaust outlet. A small portion of is sticking out for replacement. Pull it out and lay it to side until you get the engine running again. Those little bastards can cause total engine failure and most guys just take them out and not replace them cause they get clogged so quickly.

 

[Pop's garage]

Thanks for the advice. It’s a four stroke on a pressure washer and ran great one weekend. After sitting all week and getting rained on, it won’t fire. Gas is fresh, always had stabilizer. Carb always drained before storing. I’ll check the screen and plug.
You’re right, gas today is crap.

 

[greg vess]

You might want to remove the engine cover and just sand the pick up of the coil off with a piece of light grit paper. That's a worst case scenario. I wouldn't expect it to rust that quick but it just depends on how the cover is designed. Also sand the spark plug wire up in where it clamps onto the spark plug. Those small engines aren't designed to sit out in the rain but who know the provide a pretty good seal unless they are old and brittle. I would imagine it being a pressure washer it has a pretty good resistance to water.

 

[StuP]

Pull the plug, turn it over and check for a spark. Ignition system is probably the most vulnerable to water.

 

[galvatron]

You might want to remove the engine cover and just sand the pick up of the coil off with a piece of light grit paper. That's a worst case scenario. I wouldn't expect it to rust that quick but it just depends on how the cover is designed. Also sand the spark plug wire up in where it clamps onto the spark plug. Those small engines aren't designed to sit out in the rain but who know the provide a pretty good seal unless they are old and brittle. I would imagine it being a pressure washer it has a pretty good resistance to water.

"old wive's tale" similar to leaving a battery on concrete. (which at one time was sorta kinda true, long, long ago when cases were made of bakelite)

The ignition works by rotating a magnet past a coil, it's induction. Magnets are unaffected by surface rust.

 

[thebull]

Water in fuel. It did get rained on.