Need help with B&S small engine
 

Hi,
I just bought a small portable generator (5500 watt) that is powered by a 10ishHP engine. I bought it used, but it looks brand new and was hardly used. It starts and runs great, but only on "choke." As soon as I take the choke off, It sputters and stalls, even well after it warms up.
I took the carb off and cleaned it thoughoughly, although it wasn't dirty at all...it was actually spotless.
So, why will it only run on choke? SHould I not worry about it, and just run it this way, or is there another issue at hand?
Thanks.

How old is the gas in the tank? Try fresh gas. I assume the air filter is clean.

Check the floats.

If old gas can leave crud on float that weighs it down preventing bowl from filling properly.

If there was gas sitting in the bowl of the carb it has probably turned to Goo. This will clog the main jet which is very tiny for these motors.
Drop the carb bowl and pull the jet (it screws out) and hit it with carb cleaner.
Drain the gas in the tank and lines and put in new stuff.

Should be good to go. Reason it run on only choke is because you are cutting the air flow down to the level of the idle jet ability to provide fuel.

Experienced with Briggs racing engines. Drain the gas when you are done using it.

you would do well to soak the jets that you can remove in carb cleaner for a few hours then use a thin wire to clean the orfices, your main jet and possibly and idle circuit jets are probably clogged

Pull spark plug and leave it out to allow cylinder to dry if needed.

Pull fuel line and drain into approved container.

Pull float bowl plug and allow to drain.

Spray the inside of the carburetor with "Lawn Mower Tune" by PB Blaster.

Work throttle back and forth a few times.

Work choke back and forth a few times.

Fuel it up and start.

thank you for all the replies.
it did have old gas in it (about 3 years old). I drained it before starting it and put new gas in, but as i mentioned in the first post, it started right up, but only on full choke and only ran that way. When I took the carb off, I never dropped the bowl on the bottom (I tried to, but the 2 screws are on there so friggin tight, i started to strip the screws, so I just left it alone...especially since the rest of the carb looked so clean). I guess I need to revisit that and get the bowl off one way or another.
thanks again.

small needle nose vise grips remove the soft brass lower bowl screws. Replace with proper length/thread allen head socket bolts

OK, I got the screws out and the bowl off. still, everything looks pretty good....except there's a loose spring that i don't know where it goes. anyone know where this spring is supposed to go? i'll go to the store and look for that "lawn mower tune-up" and spray that everywhere i can. here's some pics to show what i'm working with exactly....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1285771877.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1285771909.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1285771942.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1285771971.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1285772004.jpg

Does sound like it is fuel starvation, but, my generator's instruction manual reccomends cleaning the muffler screen/spark arestor every so many hours.
I have not done it yet, but I can see, a small mesh screen in the exhaust the could easily get clogged
Good luck.

Need the engine model number
 

Hi,
I work right down the street from Briggs & Stratton, and sell them components.
I deal with engineering daily, and can try to help.
the model number is located on the blower housing and is stamped in along with a manufacturing code.

get me those numbers, and I'll try to get you and anser right from the horses mouth as it were

Jeff

cool, Thanks!

The stamped numbers are:
Model 204412
Type 0147E1
Code 060313YD

Parts and Diagrams for Briggs and Stratton 204412-0163-E1

Top right diagram looks like yours.

If that engine has a governor and if the carb has been off prior to you owning it then it may not have been set properly when reassembled.

I highly doubt the carb was ever off before I bought it, but yes, it does have a governor. There was some crud in one of those tubes on the white piece (you can see the orange tint to it in the pic above. I'm gonna get that as clean as possible now and fire it back up and see what happens. Stay tuned!

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!
After I cleaned it all again, this time including the white part/bowl/float, etc, it started up first pull and I immediately had to take the choke off to keep it from stalling. So now it runs like it should. Thank you thank you thank you. I appreciate all the help.
Now, to shut it off, instead of hitting the off switch, I cut the fuel supply off and waited for it to get starved of fuel and then stall. Is that a good way to turn it off so that the fuel doesn't remain in the carb/bowl for long periods of time???

WOOT. Glad you got it running.

Yea you could do that (Starve it of fuel on shut down). or treat your gas with stabil or something. At the end of Hurricane season I drain the tank and burn it in the Daily POS car.

Yes and no. Fuel saver added to the gas before storing is the best. Draining the carb with the fuel shut off still leaves the problem of old gas. 3 months and it's old. A year and it's dead and nasty.