small engine help

[some zilch]

i told someoone i would look at their john deere la115 lawn tractor. it is a home depot/lowes JD, not a "real" one. it was submerged in the hurricane irene floods, and was under 7 ft of water. it has a 17.5hp briggs and stratton engine, and is about 2 yeaars old.

anyways, i have it running. changed the oil 3 times, cleaned the flywheel, new coil, cleaned/rebuilt carb w/B&S parts, cleaned fuel tank, new hoses, new air filter, etc. it runs well-kind of.

if i move the throttle slowly from lowest speed to highest speed, it will rev up fine. if i move it quickly, it will chugg for a few seconds and die; and then will not restart on any throttle setting except the lowest speed position--and even that takes excessive cranking. the same will heppen if i try to engage the mower deck too fast. if i engage the mower nice and slow, it will take it, keep running, and the proceed to mow pretty well. it will usually only start with the throttle in its lowest speed setting, not on choke.

given the parts i have replaced/rebuilt carb, i am at a loss. i dont have a manual/can't find one. the carb is non-adjustable, and is super clean inside and out.

any ideas?? new carb??

[RANDYT]

I would take an educated guess and say that there is a jet in the carb that is partially plugged. May be corrosion related from the salt water from the hurricane.

[Travelover]

I would take an educated guess and say that there is a jet in the carb that is partially plugged. May be corrosion related from the salt water from the hurricane.

+1 - I'd take the carb back apart and blow out all the passages and look for dirt or water in the tank or fuel filter..

[some zilch]

carb has been apart twice, and is spotless. it was not saltwater, but "fresh" water.

i am leaning towards a carb issue, but just want to rule out electrical issues. it does seem to be carb related

[Fixemall]

Before you go tearing things apart, make sure the governor springs are right...could also be a bad seat in the main jet, did your kit include new seats?

[PappaWheeliee]

Not sure what that carb looks like but Is it running rich? Could be the float level. When you put the coil on did you gap it? It should be 20 thousandths. You can use a match book cover or a post card to gap it. Most likely it's the carb. The ethanol they put in the gas bonds better with water than it does gas. So when you get water in the gas it gels up and could be hard to see. its like a clear yellow. I had a chainsaw carb I had to clean about 3 times. Also if there are any of those black clear or blue diaphragms with the gasket in the carb and you have them reversed that would make it not run right.
good luck

Chris

[fbson395]

I also vote for the carb. when you took it part did you remove anything that looked like a small freeze plug. If anything got in their it will have to be removed to clean it. Also, did you put the carb in parts dip?I have found that to be important. Good Luck