I have a Troybilt 2800 psi powerwasher I picked up for free. The carburetor is leaking gas only when the airbox is hooked up with the vacuum tube. It’s leaking from the small port just below the throttle opening. I ran it with no problems without the airbox hooked up, but as soon as I put it back on it begins leaking. What would the airbox/vacuum tube be doing to cause this? It’s duplicated with the original and an aftermarket carb. Needle, float, etc. has all been ruled out.

Is it possible

Hello, I'm a 15 year old small engine mechanic that has got a job at a truck shop. I aced the interview and impressed the owner, who owns 3 locations mind you. I'm very proud and happy of my position, and it's a lot better than my old mechanic job. Now, it was my first day today. It was awesome, and everything I've dreamed of, but I'm borrowing another techs tools. I hate to do that, and I'd love to buy a toolbox and fill it up with my tools, but I don't know when it's appropriate.

Do I ask beforehand, and if so, when? Do I wait until I work more hours, or do I wait a few months?

Any help is appreciated!

Engine is a gx160. I have spark and it will start and run on starter fluid. I have fresh fuel and I've cleaned out everything on the carb. Fully disassembled and cleaned every port with carb clean and compressed air. Cleaned the jet and emulsion tube, the plastic "jet" under the idle screw, i even took a diesel to the table on the needle so I could remove it and clean, still won't start. Is there something stupid I missed? I have cleaned hundreds of theses carbs and never had one stump me like this.

As the title says my saws(one was not) were professionally repaired and tuned at a reputable shop when I let someone borrow them and they essentially blew up the piston. Ran/runs great when I pull it out. Today and a few weeks ago I ran my husqvarna 45 rancher(not that I'm typing that I'm not sure that's actually the model but it's a husqvarna rancher) and it started and ran great but shut it off to take a quick break, about 10 minutes or so, and when I went to start it it wouldn't until I choked it then it would idle very high and eventually sputter out. I can use the throttle to feather it but any reasonable amount of throttle it would sputter and die. I went through this probably 10 times and gave up and started looking for a fix on various forums. I have a stihl pole saw that essentially does the same thing. It runs great and idles smooth. I can set both of them down idling and walk away and come back and they still run well. But both of them will not start a second time regardless of throttle position, choke position, etc.

If I let them sit until the next day they fire right up again but it seems to take quite awhile that same day I use them to get them started a second time. Pole saw has had this as an ongoing issue. Chainsaw just started. Not sure if it's a plugged jet in the carb or what.

I'm pretty novice when it comes to small engine repair. I can adjust idle screws but I'm not necessarily great at it any help would be greatly appreciated.

I recently just got an in.lbs/nm. Torque wrench and am super excited to use it on everything instead of guessing and hoping. But I can't find any torque specs data sheets anywhere. Does anyone know where to find what I'm looking for?

My gx160 engine has been given a billet fly wheel (arc billet super light) and I believe I installed it correctly. I used valve grinder to lap the flywheel onto the crankshaft then installed the key and slid the flywheel on.

Also worth noting I have installed 18lb valve springs to the engine and have ensured the valve clearances (0.006 for intake, and 0.008 for exhaust) . But when starting the engine it kick backs the recoil occasionally which is so violent that I actually fear for my fingers and also Mis fires out of the carb and exhaust sometimes , all in all it’s such a pain to start and runs quite poorly when started.

As I said I’ve made sure the valve clearance is good, the ignition coil is 0.012 clearance. These are all spec for Honda gx160 I believe.

Today I took off the flywheel to check the key and it had sheared on the top ( it looked like someone had gone at it with a chisel) but it was still in good enough shape to hold the flywheel but I REPLACED it with a new one, relapped the crank and flywheel and reassembled but still facing the same timing issues.

I think maybe the actual keyway has been slightly deformed when the key sheared so it might explain something but it looks OK to me.

I really don’t know what the problem is, before the flywheel install the engine started pretty much first try but I don’t see why this flywheel wouldn’t work and it gives great performance over the stock one .

Please any advice for this problem, happy to give any extra info if it helps, thanks

Acquired an old snowblower and lawnmower.

One thing I noticed about both is that the gas in the tank is most likely 3+ years old. Might be a dumb question, but can any of it be salvaged? Perhaps mixed with new gas? I have a little ethanol free gas that is probably a little over a year old but has extender in it.

The reason for this question is two fold. I want to be able to see if it can be started so I can heat up and drain the oil easier but I also have no means to dispose of old gasoline. My only option would be to pump it in to my only gas can currently and store it until the summer when my community recycling center opens and can take it. I would have to buy a separate gas can for newer gas and they would probably have to take my older one with the gas in it.

This question is purely hypothetical (unless its easy to do!). I've used countless snow blowers that all have that plug in electric starter. No battery, you plug an extension cord into your engine, push a button, and it cranks.

Can you add a feature like that to a motor that doesn't have it? I'm thinking something like a Predator 301cc or a 420cc. Yes, if I ever do a snow blower engine swap, it would be nice to have that feature. But the main reason I'm making this post is that engine on my 6.5 HP go kart. When its running well, its one pull start. But if theres problems with it, I can be pulling that cord for days. A plug in starter would be a super nice feature for something like that.

I imagine all you really need is to replace the flywheel with one that has gear teeth around the edge (assuming it doesn't already), a place to mount the starter motor and a place to mount the push button. But just because it's theoretically easy, doesn't mean it's actually easy!

Has anyone done this mod on an engine before?

I took the task of fixing up my grandma's leaf blower because she had a problem with it at one point a few years back, took it to a repair shop, and shortly after receiving it back, it wouldn't run again. I would really like some help figuring this out!

When I first looked at it, it didn't seem to have spark (but later on I realized that I was checking it wrong and it has good spark), I added new fuel since the old fuel was a bit old (but not old enough to damage anything, just ruling out possibilities). Went through the starting procedure, and it wouldn't start. Primed it 2 more times, tried again. No dice. But then, I sprayed starting fluid into the carb, and it fired right off (and then died because no fuel). What I'm confused about is when I took the spark plug out to re-gap it, the cylinder was dry. This is when it went TO THE INTERWEBS! and saw that the manual said to pour a tsp of fuel into the spark plug hole. So I did that, and it still only ran on starting fluid. I'm confused because the priming bulb is moving fuel, but its not making it to the cylinder? But starting fluid is? No bad lines or clogs.

Anybody have any ideas? I've reached my knowledge limit. Thanks!