gismo
Touchdown! Greaser!
We had really high winds here today and that's probably why the power was out when I got home. Not only my house, but the traffic light on the corner was dead too which made for a long commute home. Took literally 30 minutes to go 3 miles and there are no alternate routes worth trying, although had I known what the trouble was I would have tried one anyway. Since it seemed likely that the power would be out for a while I decided to fire up the generator. It turned over but no fire at all. Opened the carb bowl drain and nothing came out. Pulled the line from the tank to the carb and it was dry too. OK, the valve at the bottom of the tank is full of crap. Pulled the tank. Remove, clean, and replaced the valve. Hooked it back up to the carb. Now fuel is dripping from the line where it goes on the carb. Also noticed that the fuel line is falling apart. Hmmm, leaking gasoline right next to the exhaust probably isn't good. Dig around in the basement with a flashlight and finally find some plastic tubing. Hope it's fuel resistant. Soak one end in some gas and it seems OK, at least good enough for now. Hook up the new fuel line and crank the engine over. Still no fire, carb must be plugged up too. Took that off and found that the float valve was stuck closed and there was some of the same crud in the passage to that valve. Cleaned everything up, put it back together (almost.. more on that later), and installed the carb on the engine. Open the fuel valve and fuel runs out the hole where the main jet and mixture adjustment screw go. Oops forgot to put those back in. And of course, there's no way to get a screwdriver in the hole to tighten the main jet because the tire is in the way. Tried to remove the wheel, no joy. Removed the carb again, installed the main jet and mixture screw. Re-installed
the (complete) carb and hit the start button. Engine fires right up but dies when the choke is opened. Adjust the mixture a bit richer and try again. Success! Yay, now that the lights are back on, I can microwave something to eat. Wait a minute, I haven't thrown the transfer switch yet, the power came back on as soon as I got the generator running.
the (complete) carb and hit the start button. Engine fires right up but dies when the choke is opened. Adjust the mixture a bit richer and try again. Success! Yay, now that the lights are back on, I can microwave something to eat. Wait a minute, I haven't thrown the transfer switch yet, the power came back on as soon as I got the generator running.