I just bought a MiniBike with a HS 50 on it. It had a cheap replacement carb on it, and would only start for a few seconds on starting fluid. I took that carb apart and cleaned it but it looked brand new inside. It still was the same after cleaning and only ran a second on starting fluid. I bought a $12 carb and put it on and now it will run on full choke but will stall if I take it off choke or try to rev it up a little. Thanks in advance and any help will be greatly appreciated.
Having carb issues with HS 50 mini bike I just bought.
- Thread starter hd94vett
- Start date
Are these tecumseh carbs? There is a procedure to tune the tecumseh carbs
https://www.smallenginesuppliers.co...cumseh_L-Head_Engines_Service_Information.pdf
https://www.smallenginesuppliers.co...cumseh_L-Head_Engines_Service_Information.pdf
those $12 carbs generally work decent. but you can get a 'bad' one (it happens a fair amount.) the castings aren't great. but if you get the high speed adjustment correct, generally they work pretty well. the high speed adjustment is at the bottom of the float bowl. get the engine warmed up, then put the bike on a milk crate with the rear wheel up. go full throttle (choke off) and adjust the high speed jet. usually that's all it takes. also i would recommend alcohol-free gas. those china carbs don't like ethanol, as the rubber parts swell, and then the carb leaks.
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My experiences with the "aftermarket" (China-made) Tecumseh carbs has been a hit and miss. I would say that about 50% of the time they do not run right, cannot be tuned correctly, or leak. They ARE cheap enough however, that even if they are a dud, it does not break the bank. How about trying an OEM Tecumseh carb?
Michael
Michael
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Take your focus off of the carbs for now. Do as sparkwizard suggests in his post above.
Is the gasoline fresh?
Is the gas tank mounted high enough for gravity feed?,
Gas cap vent hole open?,
Does gas flow freely and in volume out of the hose to the carb inlet?
Is there a good seal between the carb and manifold and manifold to engine block?
A couple of photos of the bike/engine would help a lot.
Please keep us posted on what you are finding.
Is the gasoline fresh?
Is the gas tank mounted high enough for gravity feed?,
Gas cap vent hole open?,
Does gas flow freely and in volume out of the hose to the carb inlet?
Is there a good seal between the carb and manifold and manifold to engine block?
A couple of photos of the bike/engine would help a lot.
Please keep us posted on what you are finding.
Most small engines that set for a while get gummed up. Add Carb and Injector Cleaner to your gas can for all of your gas engines. I even use it in my 1972 440-6 CUDA and 1978 Harley and truck my lawn mower and my mini bikes too. And they all run better using it in them. It keeps you gas tanks cleaner too.
additives just make you feel better, they don't actually do anything. look at the Darrel videos he did on all those fuel additives and stablizers... bottom line, none of them really do much.
a better approach is just to use ethanol free gas. i'm in michigan and it's sold at a lot of gas stations. it's about $1/gallon more, but well worth it. my carb gaskets don't swell, and the gas stays "gas" for *years*.
a better approach is just to use ethanol free gas. i'm in michigan and it's sold at a lot of gas stations. it's about $1/gallon more, but well worth it. my carb gaskets don't swell, and the gas stays "gas" for *years*.
Thanks everyone for your great suggestion. I did order another carb last night from Amazon. There is no gas running out of the carb, there is a gas filter in-line but the gas seems to flow pretty good. I put in True Fuel from Menards that contains no Ethanol and added a little Gum-Out injection cleaner. The carb and manifold bolts seems tight. I will post some pictures later today. Thanks again
If this second carburetor you just ordered gives you problems you have spent $24 + shipping and have 3 cheap ones that don’t work.
Now add that total up to $36+ if you purchase a 3rd cheap one.. And if that third cheap one doesn’t work THEN you pay up for an OEM
If the OEM one is $40 + shipping that knocks the total up to $80 + WHEN THE OEM WAS $40 ALL ALONG AND WILL WORK CORRECTLY..
The OEM won’t fail in a year..
Now add that total up to $36+ if you purchase a 3rd cheap one.. And if that third cheap one doesn’t work THEN you pay up for an OEM
If the OEM one is $40 + shipping that knocks the total up to $80 + WHEN THE OEM WAS $40 ALL ALONG AND WILL WORK CORRECTLY..
The OEM won’t fail in a year..
That certainly has not been my experience. I have used Sta-Bil Fuel Stabilizer in all of my small engines, including motorcycles, for over 16 years with excellent results. Many of these engines have had the same fuel in the tank and carb for over a year (some over 1.5 years), with no damage or degradation to carb parts, no hard starts, or otherwise poor performance whatsoever. I have always just purchased "regular" unleaded, 87-octane, ethanol-laden CA gasoline...
Michael
Michael
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I worked on the engine for a couple of hours tonight. Here is what I found. One of the manifold bolts was tapped out to 3/8” bolt, once I noticed this I removed the manifold to see the condition of the treads and they seems good. When I inspected the manifold I noticed they had 2 gaskets between the block, one correct gasket and the other one looked like a carb gasket that created an air leak. I am not sure why they had 2 gaskets there. I have pictures of that. I have a picture of the serial # can someone tell me please the year and any information from that serial #. Would you guys know if the throttle linkage seems correct, it doesn’t return to idle until the engine starts and then it still not completely close the throttle unless I close it by hand. I removed the incorrect gasket and it runs much better now. I can take it off choke and it runs and I can rev it up. I removed the belt so I can rev it up without lifting the rear wheel. That’s as far as I got with it tonight. Is it ok with that 3/8 bolt that hold the manifold to the block? Thanks again everyone for the great help.