What should an Onan sound like?

[sorner]

I finished reassembly of the tins and covers and stuff and started it up and it still did the exact same thing. So, into the carb I went. I found one of the jets had been plugged and I cleaned it out, and put it all back together and fired it up, and no more surging. But, the top end power still seems weak, with the deck engaged it drags the engine down and it has to wind back up, and when I get into thicker grass it bogs down. I guess I'll start looking at the governor now...

[Leadslingingdaddy]

That front bowl jet is known to get clogged and cause surging...Have you done a Comp check yet to see the condition of the internals??

[sorner]

Originally Posted by Leadslingingdaddy

That front bowl jet is known to get clogged and cause surging...Have you done a Comp check yet to see the condition of the internals??

The jet that screws in from the top is the one that was clogged, and there wasn't any dirt in the bowl. I've not done a compression check yet. One of the easiest things to do, and I haven't dug out my kit to do it yet. I've been very preoccupied with building my pole barn to move all my tractors and equipment into.

I did notice that the governor spring was in the third hole from the end, and the engine was maxing out at 3100 RPM's according to the tachometer app on my phone. So I moved it up one hole (both appear to have the paint worn a little so the spring has been in both holes at some point) and now I'm at 3600 RPM, and it seems a little better, but I didn't have time to run it in grass yet, that was after dark and the headlights on it are pretty much useless, they don't make much light at all. I'll take it for a stroll today and see how it is, and maybe I'll even get the compression test kit out.

The clock has 1900 hours on it, but it looks like a clean 1900 hours if that's accurate. It's not dirty/oily/gross like I've seen from lower hour machines, and the engine does not smoke at all. It fires right up as soon as I hit the starter now that I've gotten the carb cleaned out.

[sorner]

Originally Posted by Leadslingingdaddy

That front bowl jet is known to get clogged and cause surging...Have you done a Comp check yet to see the condition of the internals??

While I'm working on stuff around the place, I got around to checking the compression on this. I'm around 70PSI on both sides, so it looks like the engine is tired. I read places where it should be around 100PSI min for a B43G.

[ol'George]

If it is not using oil, let alone. Was it warm/hot both plugs out and open throttle? As it should doing a test.

[sorner]

No, it was cold and throttle closed. I’ll check it again. It’s a dog under load, the engine just bogs down. I set the governor spring right and went through the carb and cleaned it to solve a surging issue, but it had no power before and after. It doesn’t smoke, I’ve not used it enough to see if it’s using oil over time.