M-18 fuel issues
 

Well my fuel pump bit the dust yesterday on my M18. I have this engine in a tracor that has the tank about 3" above the carb. Today I took the carb apart and cleaned it good. It had just a little trash in the bowl. The pump doestn't work at all but I do have an electric pump I wanted to use on it. But since everyone says if the tank is above the carb you can use gravity feed. So that's what I did. It is not running exactly right now. On flat ground it seems to be fine but when I go up a steep hill the gov. is hunting. I adjusted the carb per manual (walbro w/ main jet and idle adjustment).
Could my problem be as simple as not getting enough gas to the carb or more like a carb issue?
Also, since I'm not using the manual fuel pump is it ok to leave the ends open and the pump on the engine or should I take it off and put a plate over the opening?

The fuel pump on a KT-17/M-18 delivers between 1.5 to 3.0 PSIG worth of pressure. I am thinking, that especially with Walbro Carbs, that pressure is necessary for proper fuel feed.

Sent you a note. You are probably going to need to pull the fuel tank and give it a really thorough cleaning which involves removing that fuel valve. Make sure you have an extra fuel tank grommet before starting the job. I am pretty sure that t the screen in your tank is both rusty and dirty........ask me how I know?:

bash2:

Thanks. I am getting ready to temporarily hook up an electric fuel pump to see if it helps.
As far as cleaning the tank, I just did that recently and put in a new shut off valve. This is an old project tractor that I built a while back. It has the 1x9 gas tank.
I'll try the pump first and if that doesn't do the job then I will look at the tank again.
This all started kind of weird. I've been running this tractor for a good while with no issues. Then yesterday it started missing and I had to use the choke to get it back to the shop. This morning it started up and ran great for about a half hour or so and it started acting up again. While I had the carb off to clean it I turned the engine over (a lot) and didn't get one drop of gas.

Ok, I put on the elect fuel pump and it runs out perfect.
So now a few questions. The pump I have is rated at 2-3 psi. I let the pump run and it didn't t cut off so I drove the tractor around and when I pulled in it was still running after I turned off the engine. I have it straight wired for this test but shouldn't it eventually build up pressure and cut itself off? I know once I wire it up right it will shut off with the switch. But I thought they would cut off once the pressure is reached.

Those electric pumps "de-stroke" but they don't shut off.

More then likely it won't shut itself off if it dosnt have a cutoff relay or pressure switch. Hook it up to a switched power feed and you will be fine

Thanks. I have an 1810 wiring harness on this so where would be the best place to wire it in?

Anything that has power when the key is turned on should be ok. I would fuse it also just in case. I'm not familar with that harness someone that is I'm sure will chime in

Chip

One cool thing about going with the elec pump is that if you put a toggle switch in the circuit you can turn the pump off and let the engine run the carb bowl empty and then when you are ready to start it again just turn the pump on before starting to refill it.:beerchug: