AC WD running rough still... Any ideas?

Backstory: Last fall I was doing some plowing, and the tractor had a few misses, and finally she started to just plain run rough. I had power, but I was worried. So I dropped the plow and shut her down for the night. I go back out to work on her the next day, and try to crank her over, and bang -- the starter bendix breaks. So over winter I got the starter fixed.

Fast forward to today: I just put the starter back on the tractor, charged the battery, cleaned all the connections on the cables, cleaned the carb out (it had some nasty sediment in it, which is part of why it was running rough I think). Fire her back up... Starts okay, idles great, but when you open up the throttle it runs a bit rough still. Not only that, but if you put it in gear, as you start to let out the clutch and it goes under load it stutters a bit as it opens up and takes off.

I'm not sure where to approach working on it next. I don't want to re-clean the carb again (though the float may be bad?) if I don't have to... I'm worried it may have jumped timing when it was missing while I was plowing? Or does that not make any sense? I could go shoot some video of how she operates if that would help, since she does start pretty consistently and stays running. I set the carb to 1 and 1/2 turns out for both the idle and the main jet screw... And no amount of playing with the main jet screw seemed to change much of anything, for whatever reason. The engine just seems to run a bit louder, too, if that makes any sense. All of the oil pressures and fluid levels are where they should be... So I'm at a loss, I guess.

Timing is gear to gear so it would be unlikely that is the
problem. Sounds fuel related so a major cleaning is needed
from tank to carb .

Misfire while plowing snow and breaking the starter drive point to a wet and/or carbon-tracked distributor cap.

So there may still be some spark issues, as well as fuel flow through the carb issues.

(quoted from post at 13:39:26 04/20/14) Misfire while plowing snow and breaking the starter drive point to a wet and/or carbon-tracked distributor cap.

So there may still be some spark issues, as well as fuel flow through the carb issues.

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It was actually fairly dry the day I was plowing the garden when it misfired on me.

But is the distributor stuff something that can be cleaned by hand, or do I just need to replace it? What about the points?

Try boiling the carb in plain hot water......boils a lot of crap out of the passages. Like st says- timing is gear on gear. Not impossible to shear a drive, but unlikely. KISS formula.

(quoted from post at 15:31:20 04/20/14) Try boiling the carb in plain hot water......boils a lot of crap out of the passages. Like st says- timing is gear on gear. Not impossible to shear a drive, but unlikely. KISS formula.

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Hmmm... Boiling the carb seems like a decent option. I just sprayed it internally with carb cleaner, so it could still be well and plugged.

Make sure to remove all the jets so the gunk can come out.

(quoted from post at 17:32:28 04/20/14) Make sure to remove all the jets so the gunk can come out.

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So basically if I just take off the float and gasket, I should be good here, right? I've already got the main and idle jets out.



Boil it open like this, I presume?

I would not discount electrical. A coil with a bad internal winding can give these symptoms.

If the distributor cap is cracked it can also cause the backfires.

Replacing either of the them should not break the the bank.

(quoted from post at 14:48:36 04/20/14)

(quoted from post at 17:32:28 04/20/14) Make sure to remove all the jets so the gunk can come out.

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So basically if I just take off the float and gasket, I should be good here, right? I've already got the main and idle jets out.

Boil it open like this, I presume?

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Maybe take a 3/8 deep socket and remove the main jet and boil it right along with the rest of the stuff. Lots of little orifices up and down the stem that could benefit from boiling....

Also, don't discount above mentioned electrical potential problem areas.

I always use Chem-dip carb cleaner soaking overnight instead of the boiling water for the job...

my .02...

Yep- let it bubble for about ten minutes and watch the scum float up! Won"t hurt a thing and might fix it.

Probably you still have a plugged main jet. Remove the brass main jet, use a small wire to clean the other passages and soak the bare carb and components in a good carburetor cleaner. Then flush it out and re-assemble. Should be OK. Old cast iron carbs need serious cleaning, not spray with some so-called carburetor cleaner.

I had two separate issues with my 45. Bad (rusted)
toggle switch for on-off. Also a cheep inline
filter that was not letting gas through completely.
(air pockets)