WD45 (Gas) Sputters

[gulag1]

Starts just fine, but once I start to drive her she struggles then sputters out. Battery seems to be fine. Could this be a bad connection that is causing a lack of power to the fuel pump? I was also going to check the manifold gaskets and dunk the carb.

 

[old]

Starts just fine, but once I start to drive her she struggles then sputters out. Battery seems to be fine. Could this be a bad connection that is causing a lack of power to the fuel pump? I was also going to check the manifold gaskets and dunk the carb.

A WD45 doesn't have a fuel pump it is a gravity flow fuel system. Does choking it hurt or help. If it hurts it is running to rich and you need to check your air cleaner and make sure it has good fresh oil and it isn't full of water and mud. If it helps you need to open up the main jet a bit

 

[used red MN]

but once I start to drive her she struggles then sputters out

Sounds like the carb is not getting enough gas. Pull the drain plug on the bottom of the carb and give it a 5 count and see how the stream coming out looks like then. If it slows to a dribble you’ll have to find out where the flow is being restricted.

 

[farmer52]

Sticking intake valve?

 

[mdm1]

Have to ask did you do anything to the tractor before this started? Did it just start happening? That info will help.

 

[gulag1]

Charged the battery last night and am going to clean the air filter today + some of the other suggestions. The only thing I did was remove the belly mower.???

 

[used red MN]

Sticking intake valve?

I don’t know what exactly “sputters out”
means, I take it that means it dies. Usually one valve / cylinder falling out of the equation does not cause the engine to quit.

 

[gulag1]

Sputters then dies. Fully charged battery, cleaned a bunch of dirt out of the air filter oil bowl, + fresh oil. Started right up and was running smoothly. Wan't able to take her for a ride as its about to storm. It sounds to me like she still doesn't have the umph that she had when I first got her, but we'll see when I'm able to drive her around. Thanks!

 

[old]

Sputters then dies. Fully charged battery, cleaned a bunch of dirt out of the air filter oil bowl, + fresh oil. Started right up and was running smoothly. Wan't able to take her for a ride as its about to storm. It sounds to me like she still doesn't have the umph that she had when I first got her, but we'll see when I'm able to drive her around. Thanks!

Once running the battery has little to nothing to do with running since the charging system should take care of all power needs. I'd pull the plugs one at a time and look them over. I fouled I'd replace them with NGK3112 plug

 

[gulag1]

Thanks, old. I will try that next.

 

[Jim.ME]

Sounds like a fuel restriction. Have the right toll ready to pull the carb drain plug and do the check used red MN suggests in post #3. You should get at least a pint in about two minutes, ideally less than that.

 

[gulag1]

Cleaning out the air cleaner definitely helped, but there is still an issue. I noticed quite a bit of sediment in the bowl so I'm going to drain the tank, give it a good cleaning, clean the carb, then go from there. I'm also going to convert to 12V although I know that has nothing to do with the stalling out.

 

[Richard Nixon]

Starts just fine, but once I start to drive her she struggles then sputters out. Battery seems to be fine. Could this be a bad connection that is causing a lack of power to the fuel pump? I was also going to check the manifold gaskets and dunk the carb.

WD45 has no "fuel pump". Strictly a gravity fed system.

 

[flying belgian]

Starts just fine, but once I start to drive her she struggles then sputters out. Battery seems to be fine. Could this be a bad connection that is causing a lack of power to the fuel pump? I was also going to check the manifold gaskets and dunk the carb.

Gas cap vent plugged? Loosen cap and see if it runs better. Or I had a moth get in the tank of the 706. Went down into the sump of the tank and tractor died. After tractor died moth would float up and tractor would start again. Take fuel line off at carb, slip a rubber hose over line and blow backwards into tank. When I did that tractor might run fine for 10 minutes or 3 hrs. That's when I new something was in tank.

 

[gulag1]

Ok - haven't gotten to removing and dunking the carb yet, but now it runs great if its idling or moving on low throttle. If I increase the throttle to 1/2, starts to sputter and eventually stalls. There is sediment in the bowl beneath the gas tank so I'll give that a good cleaning as well. I might also replace the manifold gaskets as its been a while on those.

 

[old]

Ok - haven't gotten to removing and dunking the carb yet, but now it runs great if its idling or moving on low throttle. If I increase the throttle to 1/2, starts to sputter and eventually stalls. There is sediment in the bowl beneath the gas tank so I'll give that a good cleaning as well. I might also replace the manifold gaskets as its been a while on those.

Does choking it when it messes up help or hurt how it runs?? If it helps good chance it is running to lean and you need to open up the main jet on the carb a bit. If it hurts then either your air cleaner needs to be serviced or the main jet set leaner

 

[mdm1]

Not saying this is your problem but try playing with the timing. Had this happen to a Baby G. No power. Did everything suggested and for whatever reason I played with the timing. Problem solved. I hadn't touched the timing so don't know what happened. Maybe the tractor fairy came by at night and messed with it?

 

[gulag1]

Not saying this is your problem but try playing with the timing. Had this happen to a Baby G. No power. Did everything suggested and for whatever reason I played with the timing. Problem solved. I hadn't touched the timing so don't know what happened. Maybe the tractor fairy came by at night and messed with it?

Thanks mdm1. I wouldn't even know where to start on playing with the timing other than that I know how to get the 1st piston to top dead center. I think (?) its then a matter of ajusting the distributor in some way, but not sure exactly what needs to be done.

 

[mdm1]

Here's what I would do. First mark a reference line on the dist base and mount so you can put it back to where it is now. Loosen the bolt that tightens the clamp on the dist base just enough so you can move the dist clockwise or counter clockwise. Start the tractor and move the dist just a little at a time both ways and see if it runs smoother either way. If it does tighten it down and see what happens. Doing it by ear is maybe not the best way but worth a try. I'm sure I'll get beat to death for this but worth a try. I did time my G's with a light afterwards.

 

[gulag1]

Thanks, mdm1. There are two bolts on either side that clamp the distributor. Loosen both or am I looking at the wrong thing?