Hi all
I purchased a used Dolmar 5105 and it worked fine last year in 2018. This year it has given me many issues. It's been in shop 3 times and each time it takes them about 2 weeks to get to it then another week or two to fix it based on delivery of parts. I don't have any experience with 2/4 cycle engines other than tune ups, but figured now is a good time to start learing more.
This year so far, the general issue i've been having are it will start, work for a short period of time (generally a few hours) then i can't get it started again. After taking it to shop, they will "fix it". The first day i attempt to use it , will be fine, then 2nd i can't get it started again.
The first two times it's been in shop, the following work has been done (cleaned fuel system, cleaned carb, replaced spark plug, replaced air filter, tuned carb). The last time it was in shop, the shop sent it back to factory with sales rep and they "found something they didn't like" with the cylinder and it was "factory rebuilt". Since getting it back, it started up first day i used it. 2nd day, couldn't start it. After about a week of daily start attempts, i was finally able to get it to start. I then started it up every day for a week until i had time to use it.
Last week, i got it started up and used it for maybe an hour (stopped and started it several times). The next day, I couldn't get it started. When put in choke, it will attempt to start on 2nd pull. When moved to run, it will not start. If i let it sit over night, next evening, same thing will happen.
Similar scenario has been happening all year. I will get it back from shop, it will work one day, then i can't get it started again so back to the shop it goes and repeat. I've lost a lot of time waiting on shop so I'm looking for things i can do myself to get this thing working or at least identify the issue and get some parts ordered.
Last week of not starting, I would pull spark plug, sometimes it would be wet, other times not. If i turn it upside down, i may get a few drops of fuel out or I may not. After putting plug back in, it would either (a) sound like it was starting on 2nd pull in choke then not start in run or (b) in run, start and immediately die. On my start attempts last week, i ran out of fuel. I filled it up on Saturday and since then I have been able to get it to sound like it was going to start in choke, but then i can't get it to start at all in run.
I checked plug gap and verified the air filter is clean.
Should i change carb settings and try starting again (read on here about turning L out 1 turn and H 1.5 turns)?
Should i pull carb, clean and inspect?
Should i check fuel pressure? If so, how would i go about doing that?
Should I get a compression tester and verify cylinder pressure? If so, what should it be?
Come to think, I have a spark plug test light, i can verify that the plug is getting signal.
I'm open to any suggestions.
thanks in advance
I purchased a used Dolmar 5105 and it worked fine last year in 2018. This year it has given me many issues. It's been in shop 3 times and each time it takes them about 2 weeks to get to it then another week or two to fix it based on delivery of parts. I don't have any experience with 2/4 cycle engines other than tune ups, but figured now is a good time to start learing more.
This year so far, the general issue i've been having are it will start, work for a short period of time (generally a few hours) then i can't get it started again. After taking it to shop, they will "fix it". The first day i attempt to use it , will be fine, then 2nd i can't get it started again.
The first two times it's been in shop, the following work has been done (cleaned fuel system, cleaned carb, replaced spark plug, replaced air filter, tuned carb). The last time it was in shop, the shop sent it back to factory with sales rep and they "found something they didn't like" with the cylinder and it was "factory rebuilt". Since getting it back, it started up first day i used it. 2nd day, couldn't start it. After about a week of daily start attempts, i was finally able to get it to start. I then started it up every day for a week until i had time to use it.
Last week, i got it started up and used it for maybe an hour (stopped and started it several times). The next day, I couldn't get it started. When put in choke, it will attempt to start on 2nd pull. When moved to run, it will not start. If i let it sit over night, next evening, same thing will happen.
Similar scenario has been happening all year. I will get it back from shop, it will work one day, then i can't get it started again so back to the shop it goes and repeat. I've lost a lot of time waiting on shop so I'm looking for things i can do myself to get this thing working or at least identify the issue and get some parts ordered.
Last week of not starting, I would pull spark plug, sometimes it would be wet, other times not. If i turn it upside down, i may get a few drops of fuel out or I may not. After putting plug back in, it would either (a) sound like it was starting on 2nd pull in choke then not start in run or (b) in run, start and immediately die. On my start attempts last week, i ran out of fuel. I filled it up on Saturday and since then I have been able to get it to sound like it was going to start in choke, but then i can't get it to start at all in run.
I checked plug gap and verified the air filter is clean.
Should i change carb settings and try starting again (read on here about turning L out 1 turn and H 1.5 turns)?
Should i pull carb, clean and inspect?
Should i check fuel pressure? If so, how would i go about doing that?
Should I get a compression tester and verify cylinder pressure? If so, what should it be?
Come to think, I have a spark plug test light, i can verify that the plug is getting signal.
I'm open to any suggestions.
thanks in advance