93 Argo 16hp Vanguard starting problems

[ArgoSteve]

argo has been sitting for a while, about a year. tried to start it up yesterday but she'd run for about 10-15 seconds after turning choke off and then die. Everytime I tried it, same thing. I did a quick cleaning with some carb cleaner, drained old gas, put in new gas and same thing. Darkish gray smoke coming from exhaust.

Any suggestions on what to do or look for? Maybe a removal of carb and a thorough cleaning? Plugs? (fairly new plugs) air filter and fuel filter are fairly new/clean.

I'm lost here. Any help would be appreciated. \
Thanks,
Steve Cornick
Newfoundland Canada

[trevorakm1]

take your time and thoroughly clean the carb.

[jerseybigfoot]

Remove the valve covers to check that a push rod did not drop from a rocker and your are running on one cylinder. This is a common issue with Vanguards that sit. Also check the fuel flow from the pump at cranking by removing the fuel line at the pump. Otherwise you will have to clean the carb thoroughly. You can do a reasonable cleaning by removing the carb top, idle adjustment, and main jet bowl plug or solenoid .

[Supermag]

I had the same issues with my 18 hp kohler magnum. It ended up being a plugged fuel filter. It would run for a while then just stall. The reason my filter plugged up was due to the seafoam treatment I put in the fuel. It loosened all the dirt and debris in the tank and slowly fouled the filter. It would let some fuel through and run but every time I shut off the choke it would go lean and die down. I hope this helps. Please keep us posted

Dave

[eddieb1965]

If you are getting sooty gray out the exhaust it isnt a lean condition due to a dirty carb,check the valve train as Jersey BF said, and check the spark on both plugs.

[ArgoSteve]

Well I cleaned the carb as best I could without taking it out. Blew air through the ports and the fuel pump and lines. Took out spark plugs and checked them. A little black but not wet. Took off valve covers and everything was where it was supposed to. A little dirty but nothing major. Added some fresh gas and tried starting it again.
Finally she stayed running without cutting out. Had her going for about 5-10 mins. Thanks for all the advice.

Now got to find out why the ignition is not working. I don't mind using the pull cord but kinda a pain. It worked the last time I used it last year.