2072 carburetor problems?
 

having some issues with my 2072...was mowing today everything was doin fine for about a half hour, then the motor started choking down...I shut it off, started it again ran for maybe 10 minutes then the same problem..this problem continued with no specific run time...may be 2 minutes might be 15......sprayed the carb down with carb cleaner that didn't seem to help at all..also no adjustments that I made to carb changed the problem....time for a rebuild? any other ideas? thanks for your time

Did you take it apart to clean it?

no didn't get that far yet..jumped on the 1810 to finish cutting then got to dark to work on it

I doubt that it would. Spraying an assembled carb with carb cleaner does NOTHING.


This would be the next step.

I had the exact problem multiple times on 1872s. I cleaned several carbs rebuilt a few with varied results. The best results I got was taking the carb to the local dealer and having it rebuilt. 15 minutes off 15 minutes on and $60 later all was good.

I had a Mercury outboard that sat 5 years with gas in the carb. Had the dealer ( my first motor boat)"rebuild" the carb.. slightly better. I talked to my snowmobile mechanic, and he told me to take apart the carb and boil it in vinegar and water for about 30 minutes. FIXED IT. He said he gets 100 carbs a year that need the same fix. You can spray them all you want with carb cleaner, but if you want to get every small nook and cranny clean, that's how he does it. Just a thought. Don

I had the same problem with my 1872. I use one of the 1 gallon cans with 3 quarts of solvent and the basket. It worked and I have not had any more trouble.


Here is what I used:

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/g...m=carb+cleaner

That's the stuff:beerchug:
Soak it for a couple hours, or a few days, wash it out and use compressed air, rebuild. = clean carb:beerchug:

I read these threads all the time and I don't understand it. If the carb has been sitting for years and has dried up crud and rust in it, I'll soak it. If it's off a runner that suddenly "gunked up", or one that has ran in the distant past (6mo-1yr) and has gas in it, I just pull it apart and rebuild. Never had any issues getting one cleaned out of the first try. :Unknown:

I've saved two crusty cruddy carbs on the stove with vinegar and water. Then add sugar,pickles and peppers. I used to have a 115 merc, inline 6 with 3 carbs. Mike:biggrin2:

thanks for all the advice...got it soaking in "gunk" right now.....I am not sure how long this tractor did sit before I got it...It seemed to run fine for me but never ran it for an extended period of time..thanks again for the help

It is my understanding that you are a mechanic working for many years on this type of stuff on a daily basis. I would expect you would have better results than many of the guys that do this like me for a hobby. I would be willing to bet that you could take a simple lock a part and put it back together. I would also bet that my master locksmiths could do it faster, easier and repair any problems that you might not even see was there. Not sure why it is so hard to understand that we are not all mechanics. I thought that was one of the purposes of this board, for less experianced members to get help from the more experianced. We are all at different levels of knowledge and ability in this hobby from a newbie getting his first tractor all the way to an expert like you. :Unknown:

I hear you, and I'll explain.
Yes, I understand that some people may be taking their first carb apart and I can see that it may be somewhat intimidating. But here is the simple truth. It's just like helping your wife do the dishes. Lets use somthing somewhat complicated like say, a food processor. You can't just set the whole thing down in the water assembled and then rinse it off and call it clean. First of all, your wife may be somewhat upset..... but also, it won't be clean. You have to disassemble it..... COMPLETELY. (Just ask your wife. :biggrin2:). Then, you have to clean all the parts and not just dip them in the water and rinse them.... no, you have to clean the parts. You have to wash the nooks and crannies of the blades, and all the little corners and stuff. If you've ever washed a baby bottle, that's another good example. If you don't use the bottle brush down inside, and in the nipple, you won't get it clean. A carburetor is just like that. You take it all apart and clean it. You have to get all the nooks, crannies, corners, and most of all THE PASSAGES. You can't blow air through it an call it good. I don't know about any of you, but I can't see air escaping. So, here is some advice: Use anything in a pressurized can with a straw. Brake cleaner would be the best choice, but WD-40 will do if you don't have any. Put the straw in the hole and pull the trigger. You will see it spray out of the other end of the hole. If it doesn't spray out, it's plugged. Take a small wire, torch tip cleaner, pin, whatever and stick it in the hole and get that crud out!!! It HAS to be clear! The most common missed areas are the emulsion tube, and the main needle valve, which is hollow. You can see the holes in it. You must, must, must get all the crud out of the passages or it's not going to work. Sometimes you can't get the main needle clear.... you just have to replace it. No way to get inside of it. On another note: when using brake cleaner to spray in the passages.... wear eye protection. You won't like it when the other end of that hole your spraying in is aimed back at your face. BTDT. :bigeyes::angry:

It's not a difficult task, nor does it require any kind of experience. Just patience, and persistence. You can't find a plugged hole and say "oh, well I cleaned all the others, it will run". No, it may not. They must all be clear. That was my point. :beerchug:

Jonathan to my point exactly you are an expert and just gave some real good and helpful information. This post would have been much better as your first post in this thread rather than your third. I think anybody reading would have a better understanding of what is required to clean a carb.

just an update as far as my carb problems...my dad went to cub dealer to buy a carb rebuild kit (same dealer we bought tractor from in the first place).....he was told that when they got the tractor they had the same issue (fall of 2014) they thought it was water in the tank so they replaced the fuel cap...the dealer thought they had the problem fixed because it cut for 15 min. or so.....then the tractor sat outside all winter until I bought it in march.....I already have the carb apart so that's gonna get a rebuild and im gonna take the tank out and drain it.....any other suggestions before I put it back together? thanks again hope I ain't a pain in the butt

ps. when I changed the oil it was a bit milky lookin...I chalked it up to just sitting to long and condensation

That's a good place to start! It may fix it. Do that and report back. :beerchug:

so clearly im not an expert with carbs first time tearing one apart...but the more im messing around here I think im understanding more what is goin on....so ill try n make this as short as I can...so I put carb back together today (all the pieces that I bought the tractor with) put it on the tractor, took the tank out drained the tank and put fresh gas in...ran good for around 20 minutes then started choking down again....looked at the carb on the tractor and saw gas coming from around the bowl...took the carb back off and took the bowl off....and then realized that there was no needle to shut the fuel off....my float moves freely but theres nothing to contact it to shut the fuel off......also I can only crack the shutoff valve under the tank open if I open it the full way it completely floods everything immediately......so I guess first question is does this sound right or am I way off base? 2nd question is I did buy a rebuild kit but it did not have a needle valve are they available at all? thanks again for your time

It MUST have a needle valve.

The rebuild kit should have had one. Are you sure it didn't? How about a part number....

I am about 99% sure that before I bought this tractor someone had takin the needle valve out PO I suppose...cause I took carb apart over a 2 qt. tub just incase anything did fall out...the kit did not have one (not sure why not) luckily my dad had one and it seemed to have cured the problem...ran the tractor for about 45 minutes and didn't choke down at all...im thinking and hoping that was my problem all along, that there was no needle valve and it was just starting to flood after 15 or 20 minutes..and ill certainly know where to start lookin if this happens again

It would have never ran if that was the case. Fuel would have poured out of it all the time.

it basically did pour out of it when I had the shutoff valve under the tank the whole way open....when I put carb back on today and had shutoff valve open it wouldn't start at all and I had gas coming out of the exhaust....I shut the valve off it burnt up all the gas and it would fire and run till it ran out of gas...this was all before I realized that it didn't have a needle valve in it..........the shutoff valve was barely open since I bought it (im talking an 1/8 of a turn open) I ran it tonight like I said for 45 minutes no hiccups at all...needle valve in and shutoff valve under tank completely open...if your thinkin other problems? lemme know please...thanks

Yeah..... if you had enough gas in the motor to run out the exhaust, how the heck did you get it to start? Should have hydro locked!! Better drain the crankcase..... That doesn't even make sense. You sure?

am I sure about what? maybe I got lucky im basically a newbie to these issues...the only way I got the motor to fire initially when the needle valve was not in the carb was to shut off the gas completely....so to the best of my knowledge it was running off the gas that was in the line and in the fuel filter....I could watch the fuel in the fuel filter running out and then shortly after it would run itself outa gas......maybe I should clarify out of the exhaust...it was not comin out of the part that pokes through the grill it was coming out right before the muffler I guess you would call it

what do you mean by hydro locked?....never heard that term before...like I said im newbie at this.......first tractor was a hand me down cub 106 that went through head gaskets like crazy (other then that no issues) but decided to upgrade bought an 1810 4 yrs ago no issues what so ever with it...decided to stay with the similar line and got the 2072 for blowin snow mainly

Hydro locked is when the cylinder fills with liquid in this case gas. This happens to myself and my friends end up riding our ATVs in water too high...lol

oh ok I follow ya thanks

well were back to where we started...ran it today for around a half hour, ran fine then started choking down again...this stuff gets frustrating

I know this will sound like a crazy idea to some on the board but since you are in your own words a newbe how bout you just take the carb to a dealer and let an expert rebuild it. At least then you will know the carb is ok. the local guy here charged me $50 and it stopped the problem.

yea im leaning that way..although it just came from a cub dealer having the same issue it is with me now and they thought they had it fixed...I've done everything I know to do so im all outa ideas

is there a possibility that this is a bad coil? and nothing to do with the carb...I've had a couple ppl mention bad coil now...any opinions?

Your the one who took us on the whole carb ride.

Sure.... it could be a coil. Along with a list of other things. YOU have to find which system is the problem child. I don't think you wasted your time working on the carb though.

I aint blamin anyone bout the carb that's what I thought it was all along..sorry bout takin ya on a "ride".....never expected anyone to be able to tell me this is your problem 100%...just was lookin for opinions sorry I wasted your time..take care

I think you misunderstood what I meant. I meant, you asked questions about your carb, so we answered. Now you ask if it could be a coil. Yes, it could. You didn't ask how to diagnose the problem, so we assumed that you knew the carb was the issue. Do you want us to help you diagnose it? You need to ask more specific questions. There are several things that can cause the issue you are having.

So tell the OP what could cause his problems, lets not turn this into a major issue. Obviously if the OP knew what the problem was he would not have even bothered to post. :bash2:

well I apologize for not askin more specific questions..my bad.....and yes could use some help diagnosing the problem, right now I know that I am only getting spark to the left spark plug wire and nothing to the right plug wire this is when motor is hot or cold but it will still fire and run, it does not sound rough as I would think it would only being on one cylinder but it is much more quiet and flatter sounding then my 1810.....I have taken all the heat shields off and gonna get ready to pull motor this weekend...so any help diagnosing the problem and suggestions on what might be goin on is appreciated

Okay, I missed something someplace along the line.
Why are you pulling the engine? Kind of hard to diagnose problems with a non running engine.:bigthink:

engine does run...but just no fire to right spark plug wire...so Im thinkin ignition coil

ps. I shouldn't of said pull the motor...just goin to move it forward to get to ignition coil is more like it...am I jumpin the gun as far as it bein a bad coil?

Your on the right track. I would pull it, remove the tins and clean all the grass clippings out and replace the ignition module. It would also be a good time to inspect the front and rear seals for any leaks. Then you will be good for another 20 years.:beerchug:

Now you say you have discovered no spark on one cylinder. The planets are starting to come into alignment.