Problems With Idling-Tecumseh 6HP OHV

[Russ2251]

Let me be blunt. It is not Tecumseh's fault...It is yours.
Obvious to me that carb is worn out...IF what you have told us is factual.
At least 2 of us have reported 2 possible replacements for your carb. Dump the governor.
I strongly recommend the fully adjustable (high and low speed) model.
Another option. Send it to me and I will have it running better than new in 30 minutes or less.

 

[Kawabuggy]

Russ, I'll gladly ship it to you for free and you can do whatever you would like with it.

Obviously guys I was just letting off a little steam. I'm not really upset about the situation. Realistically, I now know what I need to do to get it running which is more than I knew when I started fiddling with it.

I'm not the type to give up on something, and ultimately I can always just purchase another engine and be done with it. However, I don't want to be too hasty and give up on the Chump-sey just yet. I'll get a new carby for her and see how she goes.

Now if I wanted to be upset we could talk about the jack-wad that created the double-loop, pretzel bent, piece of wire that attaches the governor arm to the carb arm.. Whoever invented that piece of wire, or the necessity of said wire, needs to be kicked squarely in the cajones. I wasted more time trying to figure out how to get that doo-hickey back on then I did on the entire carb rebuild. Ultimately I ended up straightening out one end, and re-bending it so that it can more easily be put into place without holding the carb upside down, and dumping a bunch of fuel trying to get it hooked back up. It works "properly" now that is has been red-neck engineered. If only the carby would join the party we'd be havin' a good time.

 

[Kawabuggy]

Okay folks. I have good news. I was able to repair the leaky throttle shaft with a rubber hat seal from a transmission rebuild kit. This seal fit nice & tight around the throttle shaft, and just fit between the throttle arm, and the carb casting. When I say it "just fit" it was a tight fit. Tight enough that when you gave it gas, it would bind up and stop the throttle from returning to idle. So, I had to rig a stronger throttle return spring. After that-all is well! The cart now starts on the first pull, and idles like a champ! it also revs much quicker than it did before.

The next project is to bypass the governor so that the cable acts directly on the carb. But, at this point, the cart is running and the kids are happy. Seeing the smile on their faces when I told them that they could finally ride it was, well, priceless.

Thanks to everyone for their help up to this point. You guys helped me through it & I really appreciate it.

I can now add Tecumseh carb rebuild to my repertoire. Ooh Rah! Go Armed Services (Army)!

 

[buckeye]

It' s all part of the fun. Glad it is running.

 

[Kawabuggy]

Okay.. Newest update. The kids came back and told me that it still runs, but is having troubles at high speed. I went and drove it and I see what they are talking about. It accelerates really quickly, but then reaches a point where it feels like the governor is kicking in.. It does not do this when cold. If you hold it to the floor for a while, it will finally get up to top speed but it takes several minutes. I can also hear it popping through the exhaust when it does this. The frame bar that runs behind the muffler is covered in black soot. Looks like it is running rich. I'll have to get back in there and verify that the needle is sealing properly on the seat, verify float adjustment, and check for any debris in the needle seat contact point. The fun never stops!

The kids are already complaining that it is not fast enough. I drove it and I think it is probably too fast for them. I'll have to bend up some type of roll cage for this cart so that if it ever rolls, they will be protected. Once I get a cage on it, I'll be looking at a torque converter. My kids are already hinting that they BOTH want one so they can ride separately.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Glad you managed to revive it! Now for some fine tuning...

You know your kids better than anyone, including them. They might be going "Faster, faster!", but if there's a chance that they aren't yet skilled enough to handle more speed, then hold your ground. I made it clear from the beginning that the Green Machine is capable of a lot more, and that I would be boosting it's performance as the boys became more skilled at driving it. Fortunately, they understand that I'd like to avoid them dying, and they're cool with the concept.

 

[Kawabuggy]

Well, my daughter is the cautious one. She is the better driver of the two of them. She slows down when she comes to turns, does not like to drive it full speed even in long straight-a-ways. My son on the other hand, The minute his butt touches the seat the gas pedal is on the floor. When he needs to brake, or slow down (almost never) he actually keeps it floored and rides the brake momentarily. He is the one I'm worried about. He is the one that is constantly spinning out because he comes into the turns too quickly. I've told him and told him to slow down, but it just is not getting through.

I've yet to adjust the floats. Today when I went out to the shed on my lunch break, I noticed there was a small puddle of gas under the carb, and it is still dripping a drop about every minute or so. Definitely floats are set too high, or the needle is not sealing well against the seat.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Then, father-to-father- Don't increase the available speed. Not yet, anyway. Nothing kills a great time faster than a trip to the ER.

A quick note on the roll cage/bar/hoop/whatever- The cardinal rule is if you have roll protection, you must have a restraint system (harness). No roll protection, no restraint. The thought is that if an unprotected kart goes over, you want the occupant thrown clear (not pinned under) so, no harness. On the other hand, if there's a cage, there's a better than good chance the occupant will not only NOT be thrown clear, but get tangled in, and probably collide with the bars. This is bad news too- so, harness. I don't know if you knew this but I had to point it out. I'm all about having a good time> see above note re: the ER.

 

[Russ2251]

No roll protection, no restraint

Knew this, but added thanks as a backup/agreement.
@ Kawabuggy:
I apologize for the harsh post (#41).
It should be noted that most Tecumseh carb problems can be traced back to gasoline not being completely evacuated from carb from last run.
Stale gas turns into the most God awful, sticky, gummy varnishy mess that just mucks things up.
With the emissions carbs this is becoming (more and more) a nasty problem.
I have noticed a recent up-surge with this same problem with the clones. Perhaps they will just buy another clone.

The illogic of waste, Mr. Spock.

Somewhere, someone has a dozen or so clone carbs they are looking to get rid of.

 

[orndog]

Could the use of ethanol in fuel cause this problem? In the very least it will make it worse, since ethanol loves water, any fuel left in the bowl will over time evaporate and leave water behind. I keep a can of non-ethanol in my garage for my mowers and the kart.

 

[Kawabuggy]

Russ, it's all good. We just bought the cart and not knowing it's history, or how well it had been maintained I had no clue what had happened to the carb. Now I know that I can't leave old gas in it for storage purposes.

Since these carbs don't have fuel shut offs (petcocks), how do you get all the old gas out of it before you store it?????? Do you just run it until it is out of gas and then not refill it? Flip it over with the gas fill cap removed? ha ha just kidding!

I will definitely look into the restraints. I see some 5 point harnesses being sold on Evil-bay. Any ones I should stay away from?

I guess depending on how the cage envelopes the passengers I better think about helmets as well. And padding for the bars where they might come in contact with the cage during a roll-over event.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

There's a few ways to empty the system. Drive it 'till it quits. Or, pull the fuel line off the carb and drain into a suitable container, then start engine and run carb dry, or remove carb bowl nut and drain. I like to install fuel valves on all my equipment. Throw some Sta-Bil in the tank, run engine, turn off valve, run carb dry.

 

[Kawabuggy]

I've got Sta-Bil in all of my small engined equipment. Chainsaw, lawn-mower, go-cart, blower, gas-trimmer.. All of it! But, I've learned that even Sta-bil is no match for the newer formulations of gas if they are left to their own devices for longer than 3 months..

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Absolutely true.

 

[r_chez_08]

I've got Sta-Bil in all of my small engined equipment. Chainsaw, lawn-mower, go-cart, blower, gas-trimmer.. All of it! But, I've learned that even Sta-bil is no match for the newer formulations of gas if they are left to their own devices for longer than 3 months..

Thanks. My kart is sitting under a tarp currently, waiting to be repaired. I should probably drain the fuel, or atleast drain the carb, because I am not going to get to it for another month.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Definitely drain the carb. It wouldn't hurt to drain the tank and pour it into something that you can burn it in soon.

 

[tbutler01]

Hey, guys! The tecumseh carbs are bad about wearing out the throttle shaft which leaks too much air into the carb to where it won't idle. Get the engine running and spray some carb cleaner around the shaft. If the engine speeds up, you got a bad throttle shaft! Temp fix is to put some axel grease around the little felt washer where the shaft goes into the carb. Just buy a new carb on Ebay. About $40.00 and they work super!