Im getting a little sick of hearing about people junking perfectly good Tecumseh carbs for no reason and replacing them with stock type knockoffs and there seems to be so much discussion and knowledge about them but no one seems to know that much about the originals. from personal experience a properly cleaned and cared for Tecumseh carb will run nearly forever and have no bogs or dead spots. with very little maintenance. its all about setting it up for success. Ive had dozens of these stock carbs and no real issues . .
most of the issues people have about the Tecumseh carb not starting right or running inconsistently can be traced to improper tuning or dirt and grime in the carb. its almost always one of the two.
tips for a better running carb.
1. tanks collect dirt over there lifetime especially metal ones that can rust. it happens durring fuleing or when you open the tank to check the fule level. every time tiny bits of dirt get in. so Tecumseh always need fuel filters. they will always give you issues without one. most of the time dirt in the carb will make it run good one minute bad the next or just fully clog it up.
2. fuel congeals or drys out leaving residue behind over time so a fule shut off valve helps a lot. you dont want old fule to sit and congeel while its in the carb so when finished running shut the fuel off and let the bike idle an burn up whats left in the carb. this enshures fresh fuel to the carb apon re start. and thers left over gunk to clog the carb.
3. to prevent fuel from congealing over time add a fuel stabilizer. even for short stints of a few days to a week this will make a difference..
with these three tips and a properly tuned carb issues can be reduced to a minimum and the carb will run as good as any honda or preditor crab. i have engines that i haven't touched the carb on in over 3 years and they start and run perfect.
as far as tuning the carb always clean it first. tuning a dirty carb is useless, it will just fall right out of tune again. i wont go into detail with how to disassemble and clean a Tecumseh carb due to the difficulty of explaining it properly without a video to show what I'm doing. but i do have some pointers on tuning it afterwards. this only apply s to adjustable jet carbs seeing as fixed jet carbs don't need tuning just cleaning.
these tips apply to on a Tecumseh carbs on 2 - 5 horsepower engines
when tuneing the carb I always start with the high speed jet first. this is only because you need the high speed jet to be set right in order to get the low speed jet set properly so I start with the high speed first. ideally for a good running Tecumseh the engine shoold rev up freely without bogging doun and it should return to a nice idle afterward. but setting the high speed jet perfect then setting the engine to iddle perfect won't make the carb run right. it actually becomes to rich in the mid range and bogs. on these engines you need the high speed jet set perfect but idle jet needs to be set a bit lean to run right, it needs to be so lean it may seem to have issues idling at first and you use that little screw on the trottle plate to push the throttle plate open frurther at idle bringing the rpms back up to compensate. using this screw you should still be able to achieve a good idle.
I first set the high speed screw at the perfect spot where its running the best then i play with the idle screw revving the bike repeatedly until it revs smoothly without studdering. then i turn the screw on the throttle plate slowly opening it further until l get the desired idle.
I also have 1 good tip thet is off topic but can help most small engines have less spark problems , spray paint the magnet and coil. (it works) the coils and magnets on these engines rust and rust blocks the magnetic feld and suddenly you have no spark. so to prevent this remove the coil clean all the rust off it and the magnet then paint them both and after they are dry re assemble them properly with the proper gap and it will be years before you have another spark problem. (obviosly if your engine has points, dont dont paint them! points don't get paint!!)
most of the issues people have about the Tecumseh carb not starting right or running inconsistently can be traced to improper tuning or dirt and grime in the carb. its almost always one of the two.
tips for a better running carb.
1. tanks collect dirt over there lifetime especially metal ones that can rust. it happens durring fuleing or when you open the tank to check the fule level. every time tiny bits of dirt get in. so Tecumseh always need fuel filters. they will always give you issues without one. most of the time dirt in the carb will make it run good one minute bad the next or just fully clog it up.
2. fuel congeals or drys out leaving residue behind over time so a fule shut off valve helps a lot. you dont want old fule to sit and congeel while its in the carb so when finished running shut the fuel off and let the bike idle an burn up whats left in the carb. this enshures fresh fuel to the carb apon re start. and thers left over gunk to clog the carb.
3. to prevent fuel from congealing over time add a fuel stabilizer. even for short stints of a few days to a week this will make a difference..
with these three tips and a properly tuned carb issues can be reduced to a minimum and the carb will run as good as any honda or preditor crab. i have engines that i haven't touched the carb on in over 3 years and they start and run perfect.
as far as tuning the carb always clean it first. tuning a dirty carb is useless, it will just fall right out of tune again. i wont go into detail with how to disassemble and clean a Tecumseh carb due to the difficulty of explaining it properly without a video to show what I'm doing. but i do have some pointers on tuning it afterwards. this only apply s to adjustable jet carbs seeing as fixed jet carbs don't need tuning just cleaning.
these tips apply to on a Tecumseh carbs on 2 - 5 horsepower engines
when tuneing the carb I always start with the high speed jet first. this is only because you need the high speed jet to be set right in order to get the low speed jet set properly so I start with the high speed first. ideally for a good running Tecumseh the engine shoold rev up freely without bogging doun and it should return to a nice idle afterward. but setting the high speed jet perfect then setting the engine to iddle perfect won't make the carb run right. it actually becomes to rich in the mid range and bogs. on these engines you need the high speed jet set perfect but idle jet needs to be set a bit lean to run right, it needs to be so lean it may seem to have issues idling at first and you use that little screw on the trottle plate to push the throttle plate open frurther at idle bringing the rpms back up to compensate. using this screw you should still be able to achieve a good idle.
I first set the high speed screw at the perfect spot where its running the best then i play with the idle screw revving the bike repeatedly until it revs smoothly without studdering. then i turn the screw on the throttle plate slowly opening it further until l get the desired idle.
I also have 1 good tip thet is off topic but can help most small engines have less spark problems , spray paint the magnet and coil. (it works) the coils and magnets on these engines rust and rust blocks the magnetic feld and suddenly you have no spark. so to prevent this remove the coil clean all the rust off it and the magnet then paint them both and after they are dry re assemble them properly with the proper gap and it will be years before you have another spark problem. (obviosly if your engine has points, dont dont paint them! points don't get paint!!)
In this particular instance I was able to get the adjustable carb I wanted for cheap. The stock carb is put away only so I can say that I still have the original carb but I never intend to use a non-adjustable carb on this engine again. Anyway, that was how I arrived at purchasing a knock-off carb.
