MountainBuck
Silver Member
My Ventrac 4500P is having some momentary power issues again. This is even after I have replaced the fuel filter.
With several other postings here, I decided to take the leap and see if anything was in the gas tank.
I took off the fuel filter panel and released the gas line at the fuel filter and let gravity drain it into an available gas can. This was surprisingly slow. I removed the gas cap and with an explosion proof light, I watched the gasoline drain from the tank. (Yes, I would also watch my disk defragment back in the day.)
As the gasoline got low enough that I could actually see the bottom, I saw what appeared to be a white fuzzy rope laying in the bottom of the tank. At first I wondered if it was some kind of sealant.
Finally when the gas was all drained out, the "rope" was actually now a line of fine sediment.
My hands are too big to fit into the tank, so I used a non-lint rag in a flexible pickup stick approach to wiping this out. It mostly looked like fine rust on my white rag. I can't explain why it looked white before it was completely drained.
I probably got 7 - 10 good "dirty" wipes out of the tank before I called it good.
I decided to consider the drained gas "contaminated" and disposed of it at our local recycling facility which took contaminated gas.
Then I took apart the Ventrac gas cap which was a bit of a challenge. I used a screw driver and pried the inside section out. This exposed the inside ratchet mechanism and the small white ring of filter material. This all looked clean so I used a vice to press the two halves back together.
I took out the spark plugs and the gap is supposed to be .030 according to the engine manual shipped with the tractor, however in the engine service manual it states .028 - .031. Mine were both at .032, so I closed them down to .028 and re-installed. I installed these plugs earlier this year, so they are new-ish.
With fresh gasoline, I'm still having a momentary power loss occasionally. It happens quickly so I can only vaguely describe it. Last time it happened, I had the throttle at about 2800 rpm and lightly raking gravel downhill (not much of a task) and the rpms momentarily dip to like 1500, but then bounce back up to the 2800. In 15 minutes, this might have happened about 3 or 4 times.
This hasn't happened on a "cold" engine, only when it has warmed up. It doesn't really sound like a misfire. Sounds more like a hesitation.
I'm thinking maybe the air horn needs cleaning?
Any ideas?
With several other postings here, I decided to take the leap and see if anything was in the gas tank.
I took off the fuel filter panel and released the gas line at the fuel filter and let gravity drain it into an available gas can. This was surprisingly slow. I removed the gas cap and with an explosion proof light, I watched the gasoline drain from the tank. (Yes, I would also watch my disk defragment back in the day.)
As the gasoline got low enough that I could actually see the bottom, I saw what appeared to be a white fuzzy rope laying in the bottom of the tank. At first I wondered if it was some kind of sealant.
Finally when the gas was all drained out, the "rope" was actually now a line of fine sediment.
My hands are too big to fit into the tank, so I used a non-lint rag in a flexible pickup stick approach to wiping this out. It mostly looked like fine rust on my white rag. I can't explain why it looked white before it was completely drained.
I probably got 7 - 10 good "dirty" wipes out of the tank before I called it good.
I decided to consider the drained gas "contaminated" and disposed of it at our local recycling facility which took contaminated gas.
Then I took apart the Ventrac gas cap which was a bit of a challenge. I used a screw driver and pried the inside section out. This exposed the inside ratchet mechanism and the small white ring of filter material. This all looked clean so I used a vice to press the two halves back together.
I took out the spark plugs and the gap is supposed to be .030 according to the engine manual shipped with the tractor, however in the engine service manual it states .028 - .031. Mine were both at .032, so I closed them down to .028 and re-installed. I installed these plugs earlier this year, so they are new-ish.
With fresh gasoline, I'm still having a momentary power loss occasionally. It happens quickly so I can only vaguely describe it. Last time it happened, I had the throttle at about 2800 rpm and lightly raking gravel downhill (not much of a task) and the rpms momentarily dip to like 1500, but then bounce back up to the 2800. In 15 minutes, this might have happened about 3 or 4 times.
This hasn't happened on a "cold" engine, only when it has warmed up. It doesn't really sound like a misfire. Sounds more like a hesitation.
I'm thinking maybe the air horn needs cleaning?
Any ideas?