One cylinder floods with gas
 

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Engine will start and run for about 4 seconds then die and will not restart. Pull both plugs and a lot of gas will shoot out of the right cylinder (if sitting on tractor) but the left cylinder is dry. I disconnect the vacuum hose to the fuel pump and after a bit of cranking the engine will start and run just fine, but only if the vacuum line remains disconnected from the fuel pump. The engine will continue to run if I connect the vacuum line just long enough to keep gas in the carb. If I connect the vacuum hose while the engine is running it will die in about 4 seconds.

I'm far from a carb expert, but I'm suspecting my problem may be in there? Would a stuck float do this? Maybe it doesn't close and pumps gas into the engine?


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Can you use a small tank and gravity feed the carb? That would eliminate any fuel pump issues. I would also check the ignition module to see if you have fire in the right side hole. If that all looks good you may want to do a compression and or leakdown test on the cylinders.

I'd do as Oak suggested but I suspect that the carb is in need of a rebuild if the tractor sat for a long time.

What model of tractor are we talking about here? Which engine is it? If only one cylinder gets wet and the other one doesn't, I suspect something other than carb issues.

Pretty sure it's a Mag18 in a 1541

Bcdsfcret
 

Needle and seat in the carburetor is bad. Replace the needle and seat and add a fuel shut off valve in line so it can easily shut off or on.
Brian
:American Flag 1:

For like the millionth time, the tractor already has a fuel shut-off, and as long as everything is working properly, it doesn't need 2. Besides, the fuel tank on a 1541 is BELOW the carb. It can't leak unless the fuel pump is running.

It may very well be a bad needle and seat. That's where I'd start too. But, I think Oak had the right idea about a dead cylinder. Sounds like multiple problems to me. :bigthink:

I took the float bowl off and the float is full of gas, guess it leaked in somehow. I found a new one locally for $11.28 that I'm going to put in and see what happens. I cranked the engine with the float bowl off and the needle and seat seem to be working fine.

How did you manage to take the bowl off the carb with the carb still attached to the motor? And better yet..... why?

I took the carb off to check the float, needle, and seat. While the carb was off the motor and the float bowl off the carb I wanted to confirm that the needle and seat actually would shut the fuel off, so I connected the gas line to the fuel pump and cranked it and gas poured out the bottom, lifted the float and it did shut off. I did it just as a test to be sure everything was working right since I suspected my gas soaked float was the problem. Just peace of mind before reassembly.