B&s 18hp vanguard

[rob_p26]

Would anybody else have any ideas im loosing sleep at night its driving me nuts and need to fix it for hunting?

[Kinger]

Hi. Have you checked to make sure it has the correct jetting in the carb? Have you had this machine for a while or just bought it? Have you checked for carb and intake gasket air leaks? Also carb float setting and air/ fuel adjustment screw?

[ARGOJIM]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18674[/ATTACH]I checked the key and it looks good from what I can see i did put a new set of plug and they fouled they were black with soot and it only glow red at night and when wot thats when it glows

I'd be tempted to say the idle circuit or float level are causing the black smoke and fouling issue unless the bowl gasket has gone bad.
As far as the glowing red at night is it full on full muffler cherry red or red tints at the ends? Could be as simple as the prefilter ( even for the fouling, I throw them away on my briggs) esp. if you have oil on the foam, a little red at night at wot is normal in my opinion definitely if machine is loaded or climbing.

[rob_p26]

I checked the carb and the pilot jet was alittle clogged so I'm starting to think its the carb I cleaned it it seems a bit better I changed the bowl gasket but still doing it what would I be able to use to soak the carb ?

[john swenson]

can you purchase a reconditioned carb anywhere ? online , etc, if it's not any problem with the main engine ( rings,timing , etc. ) it may be worth trying another carb. johnboy va.

[john swenson]

rob ...cal the guys at ec performance 615 446 6807 . they seem to be very knowledgable on vanguard engines and carburetors . j.b.

[dirtdobber]

Rob,
You indicated that you cleaned the carb multiple times. I don't know your skill level, but to properly clean a carb you must remove and completely disassemble it. It needs to be soaked overnight in cleaning solution and every tiny passage should be blown out. If you haven't done this you need to before you go any further.

[Laird]

If the carb is a Nikki two barrel, there is an "o" ring kit for them. These carbs are riddled with tiny passages that have to be clean. As suggested, disassemble and soak in a carb cleaner, put it thru an ultrasonic cleaner, blow all passages out. The "o"ring kit is inexpensive unless you live in Canada, then you can get hosed buying one out of the States. Sorry for any Americans who are offended but the shipping to Canada is horrendous in a lot of cases. Ask me how I know(!). Maybe the same way Canada to the States. I don't know. Anyway, the carb kit of "o"rings has two tiny little dinky "o"rings that fit on two small jets. A right and a left.DO NOT GET THE JETS MIXED UP. You have to change them one at a time. There are other shaped round and flat gaskets. One has two larger holes and four small holes. These have to open. The small holes can close up for some reason. All small holes have to be clean. You may have to take a very fine wire and clear the holes. I had one so bad I ended up buying a Chinese knock off. It worked fine. $55.00 Can with free shipping. Had to wait a couple of weeks(more like 6) but at the time I was not in a hurry. When I went to Briggs school, one year we had a six hour seminar on carburators. Yes they can be very frustrating. 80% of small engine problems are fuel related. 90%of fuel problems are carburation. I hope you get the problem sorted out. Let us know how you make out.

[rob_p26]

Ya my carb is the single barrel carb and ya i only took the jets out and blow the passages with carb clean and blow the jets with carb clean and air but I definitely want to soak it what would be a good cleaner to use like house hold cleaner ?

[racerone3]

Ya my carb is the single barrel carb and ya i only took the jets out and blow the passages with carb clean and blow the jets with carb clean and air but I definitely want to soak it what would be a good cleaner to use like house hold cleaner ?

Acetone works great, but will swell any rubber parts so you need to remove ant O-rings before soaking

[Laird]

Raw gas will also loosen up the gunk in a carb. It is not as harsh as acetone but may not be as effective. Never used it. i used simple green in the purple (? why isn't it called simple purple)bottle in the ultrasonic cleaner. They work very good unless the carb is actually worn out. Gas, like water, will errode what ever it is flowing over given enough volume and time. When you think of how many gallons of gas actually goes thru a carburator, you can see where maybe the carb just needs to be replaced.

[Laird]

Been out of the loop for a while. the Nikki two barrel are used on the Intec engines. Have only had one vanguard engine in the last couple of years. As I recall a good cleaning fixed the only problem I had with it and it was in a lawn mower.

[mfenmor]

Raw gas will also loosen up the gunk in a carb. It is not as harsh as acetone but may not be as effective. Never used it. i used simple green in the purple (? why isn't it called simple purple)bottle in the ultrasonic cleaner. They work very good unless the carb is actually worn out. Gas, like water, will errode what ever it is flowing over given enough volume and time. When you think of how many gallons of gas actually goes thru a carburator, you can see where maybe the carb just needs to be replaced.

Walmart has carb cleaner/soak in a one gallon can with basket. Works the best and safer than comestible fuel and acetone.

IMG_0633[1].jpg

[Laird]

I am old school I guess. Back in the day when I was dinking with snowmobile engines a lot, I was told by a very well informed dealer not to soak the carbs in carb cleaner. The reason being , at that time the aluminum or whatever metal that they used was not as good a quality as now and could become pourous. The carbs would either leak gas or suck air. To fix that problem, the manufacturer put a varnish like coating on them. Anyone who has played with the older carbs and has had one that looked like the ClearCoat was coming off knows what I mean.Gas or that type of cleaner wouldn't hurt the carb. U tuber Mustie1 uses carb cleaner in his ultrasonic cleaner. He doesn't seem to have any problems. Walmart Canada doesn't carry anything like that, at least not in our store. Priced it at Ideal supply....somewhere around 60 bucks a can. Need two cans for my cleaner. Ain't happening.

[Ruffus]

Another useful tool for cleaning jets is a welders tip cleaner. They in very tiny sizes, usually come in assorted sizes similar to a feeler gauge pack. Soaking doesn't always do the job when the jets are badly varnished, or clogged.