What "brand" and model is this?

[afremont]

Okay, I was just thinking in terms of people searching for help. It's kinda confusing to read through a ton of irrelevant material to try and find the "good part'. Plus, it seems a little difficult to decide where said thread should actually be given that there different forum sections for different categories. Maybe a new section just for keeping random build/restoration topics to one thread or is that what the general discussion area is about? I mean my thread has material that seemingly belongs in four different sections of the forum (craigslist, engine/clutch, all other parts and general discussion). Just trying to figure out what you guys want in this particular forum as all forums have different policies.

At any rate, I played with her kart for about an hour yesterday and it started to act up a little bit. It would have a lean bog when giving it throttle, but then it would take it. That progressed to the point that it would only run at idle and die when I tried giving it throttle. I found that choking it seemed to help.

I had the sneaking suspicion that I hadn't gotten the tank clean enough and that the carb was plugging up. I ripped it apart and saw grit in the fuel tank bowl/well. I emptied the tank in a clean container and after it settled out, there was at least a tablespoon of crud/grit/etc.

Blew out the passages of the carb with cleaner and air and tossed it back into the Berryman can for the night. I filled the tank with lacquer thinner and soaked it for a while, that only got a little bit of crud out. Then I poured Gem Rust Killer (phosphoric acid) into it and let that sit for a while. I rinsed it, dried it and then I filled it back up with gas and let it soak overnight. I emptied it this morning and it had some discoloration and little bit of grit/crud.

I bought some Purple Power at the parts store last night and I'm going to fill the tank with that and let it sit all day. I used Super Clean (the other purple cleaner) on it the first time and it took a ton of gunk out of it, but didn't get it all. I'm also going to try the PB Blaster approach to it as well to see if that gets some more gunk out of it. It's actually starting to look a lot cleaner inside already. I almost bought the 5 gallon container of Purple Power so that I could just submerge the entire tank in it.

If there was a way, I would just swap carbs and use a separate tank for fuel. I just don't know how to go about doing that with this B&S that has it all made together. Is there an aftermarket carb that will connect to the B&S intake pipe?

BTW, this tank is metal after all. I had earlier posted that I thought it was plastic. I'll keep the rest of my ramblings about this kart confined to this thread.

 

[crazykart]

What we usually ask is that anything pertaining to a certain build stay in one thread. You didn't know, and that's ok, it just got merged, and you were told how to go about it from now on. Really it just helps us help you. If you have a problem and start a new thread then we don't know all of the previous information / pictures that you had posted in another thread (say this one). By keeping it all in one thread we have this plethora of previous information and pictures to go by to help assist you with any problems later.

I really hope I explained that well for you my friend.

I'm sure you'll get used to it, and see the advantages of keeping all info in one thread. It also helps to keep us entertained with your build. The more we know, the more we want to know, and the more we give our input.

Now, if you havn't heard of this yet it may sound weird, but have you heard of boiling the carb in lemon juice? It works wonders. Boil in lemon juice, and poke/blow the passages out afterwards, the carb will be like new.

As for the tank, you could possibly find a replacement if you really wanted to. Another way to go about the tank, since it is metal, first fill it about 1/3 with gas or thinner (I actually like to use trans fluid mixed with alcohol myself! ), then either 1/3 with sharp rocks, or something like screws and nuts, shake the life out of it. After give it a good rinse, and fill it up half with vinegar and half with water. Then just let it soak for a day, rinse, dry, and it should be good.

 

[afremont]

The carb seems okay, I think it just got plugged with tank grit as it ran good for a while and slowly went downhill. As for the rocks/nuts in the tank, it's full of baffling and I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to get them all back out. I'll try the vinegar and water solution too. Somebody really abused this tank to get it in that condition. I've got a bunch of lawn equipment, some of it sat for years outside and none of it as any where near as bad as this was. It's now filled with Purple Power and will sit all day like that. I can't wait to see what comes out when I dump it. The first time I soaked it with degreaser, large chunks of junk came out. It looked like the stuff you'd scrape off an old car engine after years of baked on oil and dirt mix. Never seen anything like that in a fuel tank before.

I might try boiling the carb too, but it's been soaking in Berryman all night. I've got some plans for today, so I'll leave it soaking for the day as well.

 

[Poboy kartman]

What we usually ask is that anything pertaining to a certain build stay in one thread. You didn't know, and that's ok, it just got merged, and you were told how to go about it from now on. Really it just helps us help you. If you have a problem and start a new thread then we don't know all of the previous information / pictures that you had posted in another thread (say this one). By keeping it all in one thread we have this plethora of previous information and pictures to go by to help assist you with any problems later.

I really hope I explained that well for you my friend.

I'm sure you'll get used to it, and see the advantages of keeping all info in one thread. It also helps to keep us entertained with your build. The more we know, the more we want to know, and the more we give our input.
.

Exactly. ^

 

[landuse]

You could probably get a tank real cheap off ebay if you want to be rid of the old one

 

[afremont]

I was looking out there and some of the cheap ones look worse than mine, but they sure are proud of those new ones. The same with carburetors for 5HP engines. For the price of a new OEM carb and tank, I could get a brand new predator and a Stage 1 kit. They sure are proud of that B&S OEM stuff.

 

[Poboy kartman]

Did you mean to put that "&" in there? It reads better without it....

 

[afremont]

Just trying to keep it family oriented. Personally, I like my Tecumseh stuff, but I don't have any 5HP horizontals, just a little 3.8HP. I do have a 6.75HP vertical though. I'm already looking for another chassis big enough for me. I found one on CL for $250, but no engine. It looks pretty decent though, big knobby tires and a real suspension. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks pretty large. Looks like a good candidate for a stage 4 predator.

 

[afremont]

Made a video of it running after the second carb rebuild and tank cleanout. I think I've got the tank pretty much clean now. When I was putting it back together this morning, I discovered that the pickup tube was actually hitting the bottom of the tank. I didn't notice it before when the gasket was new, but after using it once I could clearly tell that the pickup was hitting the bottom. I'm wondering if that was my whole problem before. I'm thinking that it was starving for fuel when trying to rev up the engine as the problem occurred gradually over time. I pushed the pickup further on the brass fuel tube and also added another gasket just to be safe. If it becomes an issue again, I will trim the plastic pickup until it's at least 1/4" off the bottom. It's not like I need it to suck every last drop out of the tank.

At any rate, here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R0J43W3Zv8

I hope it's okay to link to youtube this way. Oh yeah, excuse the mess in the background. I'm doing some garage cleaning too.

 

[DirtyDamage]

I like the sound of that exhaust, sounds good!

 

[afremont]

Thanks, I don't have the little shield and cap on the muffler yet as I wasn't sure it would actually run. It's having a little bit of a lean bog when I give it throttle, but the engine was cold too. I still to need to tinker with the mixture screw. It's popping a little when I let off the throttle. Do you think it's revving too high? I used a homemade spring solution on the throttle and I'm afraid it might be giving the governor spring too much competition when you punch it. The whole throttle mechanism is kinda cheesy if you ask me. I'm not sure I'm doing it exactly right, but it certainly works with the gas pedal.

 

[DirtyDamage]

Nothing I would worry about too much...could be a few things off the top of my head...
Could be a fouling plug, how fresh is the gas...and it could be a electrical problem...try fresh gas, then sparkplug, then lastly electrical problems(Kill switch..)

Any chance you can tell if the pops are coming from the carb or the exhaust?

 

[afremont]

Looks like a fairly new plug. The gas is a couple of months old, but it was sealed up well. I stocked up on gas when the storm was in the gulf. The pops definitely come from the exhaust when it decelerates. You can tell by the fire that shoots out. It was doing this the first time I had it running and tinkering with the mixture screw seemed to resolve it. I'm going to take it for a test drive in few minutes.

Oh yeah, I changed that drive tire as the other one was slick and kept going flat. I put a tube in there from O'Reilly since nobody else (not even Napa or Ace) had one that would fit. The rim was all rusty and gunked up on the inside. I cleaned all that with a wire wheel and straightened a little bend out that the outer half of the rim had in it. Somebody really abused this thing.

I'm going to do the rest of the wheels and paint them. But first I'm going to have some fun with it.