Gummy carburetor fix

[bcarwell]

I have a 4cycle Briggs power washer that ran fine last month. But the stale gas has caught up to me. I used a turkey baster where the gas line from the gas tank goes into the carb to suck out some gas from the carb and found that it was viscous and a little jello-ish. It would run a short time with starter fluid then quit.

So questions are:
1) Can I use a horse shringe or something similar at the carb port where the gas line connects to suck out as much of the gooey gas as possible out of the bowl and then inject some fresh gas into the bowl in the hopes of dilluting the gummy gas, or
2) Can I inject a little gentle compressed air into the same port going into the carb to blow this old gas out of the tiny ports in the carb, or
3) Is there some other additive you can inject ino the bowl to loosen things up (I realize this does nothing directly for the tiny ports inside the carb but thought maybe at least having fresh gas in the bowl might help loosen things up.
4) Is there anything else I can try short of taking the carb off, cleaning it out and air jetting the little holes (I'm sure waiting for one of our good ol' 105 degree Texas days wouldn't hurt)
5) If I succeed in getting it to run again is there some additive I can put in the fresh gas and then run the engine long enough for it to go through and clean out the old gooey gas ? I know there is stuf like Stabil to keep it from happening in the first place, but what about some stuff to help after the gas has turned a little gooey ?

Thanks for any suggestions,

Bob

 

[Scooby074]

you could try removing most of the gelled gas and add some seafoam to fresh gas and try to run it...but i think your going to have to bite the bullet and clean it out by dissassembling it and using carb cleaner.

Ive never had good luck with miracle in a can products

 

[CurlyDave]

Typically, after the stuff has turned gooey there isn't any way to undo that.

Based on no experience, but some knowledge of chemistry, if it were mine, I would try a little Methyl Ethyl Ketone to clean out the old gas. If it hasn't turned too gummy this should at least help.

I don't know if you can run the engine on MEK or not, but I wouldn't try. A few percent mixed with gas for a minute or so probably won't hurt the engine, but you are on your own there.

* * * * *

Every time I buy gas in a container, I put a double dose of Stabil in there before pumping the gas in. Even if I know I am going to use it in the next week. Now a lot of my friends think I am crazy for doing this, but a few times that "use it all next week" has turned into a generator sitting idle until next hunting season or something like that, and I know it has saved my bacon a few times.

 

[Just Bill]

Hello
Forget about trying to get gas out of the carb inlet, won't work that way.
If you can get the bowl off of the carb without tearing up the gasket you might have a chance of getting it to work by cleaning the gunk out.
I use Super Tech carb and injector cleaner (from Walmart) in all of my small engines to keep the carbs clean, costs about a $1. I put 1/4 bottle in 5 gal of gas and use it in everything.
Worth a try.

 

[bcarwell]

Thanks to all for the help. I've learned my lesson and am going to pull the carb and clean it out as you've convinced me there's no easy fix in a bottle or going through the gas intake with my proctoscope, as I'm sure the internal orifices are gummed up. Actually there are some great videos on cleaning a Briggs carb on YouTube short of rebuilding and it looks pretty straightforward. And CurlyDave you're absolutely right about human nature, that's why I got in this fix. I was "sure" I'd use the pressure washer in a few weeks, and it turned into a few months. So now I'll add Stabil or Supertech with all my engines every time I gas up. I'm actually shocked that now the gas formulations are such that its good for 60 days or so and then you can expect it to get gunky.... Lesson learned.

Thanks again all.

 

[RalphVa]

If you can get it to run at all through the carb, Seafoam will likely clean it up. I've had it clear up uneven or inability to idle and uneven running at speed, but the engines ran through the carburetor, both 4 cycle and 2 cycle. On my generator and JD mower, I always shut off the fuel and allow them to run the carb dry. I recently put a carb shutoff on my Lawnboy so I can do it on it. I'd been just running it until dry by not filling it all the way up. Then finish with the JD. On my chain saws, I ALWAYS run them empty. If need be out in the field, I just pour extra gas on the ground (yeah, some pollution but less than people in SUVs) and run the carb dry if I'm not up to finishing out the tank. ONE TIME in the life of my 38 year old Stihl 009L did I not empty its carb, and I was sorry then next time I tried to start it.

Sounds like you cannot though.

 

[mustangsallysdad]

I have a 4cycle Briggs power washer that ran fine last month. But the stale gas has caught up to me. I used a turkey baster where the gas line from the gas tank goes into the carb to suck out some gas from the carb and found that it was viscous and a little jello-ish. It would run a short time with starter fluid then quit.

So questions are:
1) Can I use a horse shringe or something similar at the carb port where the gas line connects to suck out as much of the gooey gas as possible out of the bowl and then inject some fresh gas into the bowl in the hopes of dilluting the gummy gas, or
2) Can I inject a little gentle compressed air into the same port going into the carb to blow this old gas out of the tiny ports in the carb, or
3) Is there some other additive you can inject ino the bowl to loosen things up (I realize this does nothing directly for the tiny ports inside the carb but thought maybe at least having fresh gas in the bowl might help loosen things up.
4) Is there anything else I can try short of taking the carb off, cleaning it out and air jetting the little holes (I'm sure waiting for one of our good ol' 105 degree Texas days wouldn't hurt)
5) If I succeed in getting it to run again is there some additive I can put in the fresh gas and then run the engine long enough for it to go through and clean out the old gooey gas ? I know there is stuf like Stabil to keep it from happening in the first place, but what about some stuff to help after the gas has turned a little gooey ?

Thanks for any suggestions,

Bob

Seafoam...remove the bowl and clean it & reinstall filled with Seafoam and add Seafoam right down the carb throat...crank it a couple of times and then let it sit for awhile...when you go back it should start but may run rough for a couple of minutes, however, it will save you having to tear down the carburetor.

 

[skipmarcy]

I ran a business from 1988 - 1995 called Carb-Tech and repaired/rebuilt carburetors as a mainline - thousands of carburetors. Trust me, you will have to strip the carb down and clean it. You'll be lucky if there isn't metal corrosion too - the "pot" metal small engine carbs are made of is very subsceptible to it, especially with the moisture attracting alcohol in most gasolines today. In cases of corrosion you can use a small sandblaster to clean it up and hope you don't get a particle stuck in the extremely tiny orfices in the castings - strip the carb as far as you can. Of course I used bulk carb "acid" for my business but also used alot of spray choke/carb cleaner in the cans - it will clean well too but none of that will remove the corrosion. That and a good blowgun should get it serviceable again if assembled properly. Everyone has their own ideas about all the different additives for small engine gas but in my experience using premium gas in all of my small engines has always worked for me without any other additives. Even on my 2-cycle stuff - I can put my equip. away for winter with or without gas in the tank and with a few pulls on the rope in spring they start every time. Most 2 cycle engines require fuel line replacement every few years - I just finally replaced mine on my 16 year old weedeater and all it's ever had was premium fuel and quality oil - no synthetics. Haven't had the first carb problem with it either. My generator sits for over a year at a time sometimes but starts on a few pulls every time with premium gas in it, same with my 20 year old tiller and my pressure washer, lawn mower etc. The only fuel I put an additive in is my diesel for my tractor.

 

[mostly_gas]

You can get cans of parts/carb cleaner that are designed to let you immerse the parts. That will allow you to get the varnish and gunk out of the carb. Blow carb out when pulling out of the cleaning solution. Injector cleaner such as Seafoam will finish the job if any residue is left, but I never had that problem . Using a gas stabilizer is your best bet to prevent future problems like this.