carb troubles

[trevorakm1]

hi guys, i hope someone can help me. i have a 2001 argo bigfoot with the standard b&s 18 hp engine. i just bought it and had about 3 good hours of running. then i put an ounce of stabil in a full tank and went for a ride. during the ride every time i stopped with engine running it wouldn't idle. it ran smooth while running only when idling it would stall. it would only idle with the choke on but had lost a lot of power when running this way as expected. i didn't ride it like this. my friend, a mechanic, looked at the carb andfound debris in the small tube at the top of the carb, pardon my lack of mechanical vernacular. he clear this in seconds and it ran great. idled fine with the choke off. he then took it for a ride and it stalled on him and he thought it was out of fuel. it seemed to be flooding out so more carb problems. it was also jetting so much fuel it would spray out of the top of the carb, this all seen while air cleaner assembly was off engine to be worked on. so any suggestions? and now some questions:
1. where is the best place to buy a carb rebuild kit?
2. can anyone tell me the carb info, manufacturer, part number etc.
3. how do you adjust the mixture and could this be the problem, i see a knob on the side of the carb behind the little black grill/ protective plate but can't seem to turn it.
4. do you guys run a fuel stabilizer all the time not just storing, i keep hearing that ethanol is very detrimental to these carbs. does havoc to my yamaha raptor.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!

thanks in advance guys, i love my argo but don't trust it at the moment to do some serious riding.

trevor

[Roger S]

You can try cleaning the carb without a kit, I had mine apart many times over the years and never replaced a gasket, nothing. Don't over tighten the top screws and warp the bowl/top. Make sure the smallest holes in that tube are open, use a needle point or tip cleaners. What you see behind the grille is a mixture screw with a plastic limiter cap pressed on it. Pop it off and leave it off. Screw it in and count the turn(s), you will probably want it out farther/richer. If you pull it out and clean that circuit while doing the rest, while the top is off, you should fix your idle problem. Spray carb cleaner with the spray tube, and compressed air through everyting. There's a fixed main jet in the bottom of the bowl, blow through it too. Sometimes the ethanol deteriorates the rubber fuel hose. Is there a fuel filter under the seat. I use an automovite one and not the cheesy small engine ones. I had my gas tank out when new, had stuff that looked like gooey pine sap.

To buy parts for the engine you need the #'s off the engine cowling, on the side down in front. Hard to see, maybe use a mirror. The carb should be either a nikki of a tikki.

[lewis]

Like roger said. The fuel line is 9 years old at least. Fuel line is cheap and once you clean the card with new line this may get rid of your problems.