Any small engine techs? My splitter engine is having issues.

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Davej_07

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I am having problems with my Speeco splitter engine. The last time I was running it, it died and I had a hard time getting it started again. It kept flooding and I would have to pull the plug because it was so wet. Today I used some starting fluid and it popped right over. After about five minutes it started to sputter and smoke before finally dying. For grins, I checked my oil and I noticed gasoline in my oil. I am savvy enough to fix it myself if I know what the problem is, does anyone have any suggestions?
 
I am having problems with my Speeco splitter engine. The last time I was running it, it died and I had a hard time getting it started again. It kept flooding and I would have to pull the plug because it was so wet. Today I used some starting fluid and it popped right over. After about five minutes it started to sputter and smoke before finally dying. For grins, I checked my oil and I noticed gasoline in my oil. I am savvy enough to fix it myself if I know what the problem is, does anyone have any suggestions?
Sounds like a hanging float..the little hinge pin could be gummed up .
 
Sounds like a hung float or needle stuck open.
Price out a new carburetor on ebay before you buy a rebuild kit, sometimes you can get a whole new carb for not much more than just a kit.
Try to use ethanol free gas if you can find it, ethanol is hard on carburetors.

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Needle and seat in the carb or impulse line. When you pull the carb and check the needle make sure the harder shiny material has not been warn through. Run your fingernails down the edge and make sure there is no hitch. If it has either replace it. If it has a brass seat make sure there are no groves worn into it. I have also seen floats that lose buoyancy. You can test them by putting it in a cup of gas for a few hours and making sure it does not sink. Impulse line is easy if there is one. Make sure it is not cracked, broken, restricted, or collapsed.
 
Have you pulled the splitter like with a 4 wheeler or on a really rough road recently ? The fuel has to be shut off the needle an seat can't seal after being bounced around . I had engines with so much fuel in the crankcase they lock up .
 
I'd open up carb, look for dirt and worn parts,,, rubber should be soft and flexible... I used to find dirt in the splitter carb a lot, til I put an inline fuel filter... New carb wont last long if its getting dirt in it
 
Oh and make sure you change the oil before running it again, gasoline thinned oil does not lubricate well.

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I agree but kinda funny that's what we all cut wood with.. It's got something to do with the float or needle as mentioned. Either its dirt that can be cleaned out or a hole in the float or bad needle. I got a free riding lawnmower because of this issue. They thought it needed a head gasket. I changed the oil cleaned the carb and sold it for 300$.
 
I had a carb issue on my splitter many years ago and a new carb was cheaper then rebuilding the old one. I first tried rebuilding the old one and it did fix it for one season, but the next season the same issue came up so I replaced the carb with a new one and it ran fine from then on.
 
Like lone wolf said, you’ll need the model and serial off the engine, not the splitter. It should be on a tag on the side of the recoil housing.

Alternatively you could try to disassemble and clean your existing carb. It may just have some crud in between the needle and seat not allowing it to close. I’ve had pretty good luck cleaning carbs without replacing the gaskets in the past. What do you have to lose? It’s already broken you probably can’t make it any worse. In my book not worse after a carburetor rebuild is a successful rebuild.
 
I would just take it apart and look for some dirt. Everyone always thinks you should run small engines out of gas before storing but when you run them out of gas you suck up all the stuff on the bottom of the tank creating issues. Dont run them dry or you can create problems.
 
For good measure you may want to install a fuel shut off and a filter with your new carb. That way you can run the carb dry without running the tank dry or if you do run the tank dry hopefully you won’t suck up crud into the carb.
 
I would just take it apart and look for some dirt. Everyone always thinks you should run small engines out of gas before storing but when you run them out of gas you suck up all the stuff on the bottom of the tank creating issues. Dont run them dry or you can create problems.

Not sure I agree with that. The gas will get pulled from the bowl at the same depth all the time. If you shut the gas off, the engine will just quit when the gas drops below that level. In order for dirt to be suddenly pulled in, either the point where fuel gets pulled from the bowl will need to drop (it is fixed) or the level of the dirt will need to rise (it settles on the bottom).
 
Not sure I agree with that. The gas will get pulled from the bowl at the same depth all the time. If you shut the gas off, the engine will just quit when the gas drops below that level. In order for dirt to be suddenly pulled in, either the point where fuel gets pulled from the bowl will need to drop (it is fixed) or the level of the dirt will need to rise (it settles on the bottom).

I'm not talking about dirt settling in the bowl. If it's running at a decent rpm and the fuel tank runs low it will pick up whatever sediment that is on the bottom of the tank and I dont think in that split second the dirt is going to settle to the bottom of the bowl.

They have fuel filters for a reason right?
 
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