Trying to start TEA 20-85

Today was the first chance I had to try and start the Fergie that has been sitting in the yard since I brought it home. I drained all the oil, took out the plugs and sprayed kerosene in the plug holes. I then turned the engine over with the crank several times. I changed the oil filter which was very dirty and drained the old fuel out of the tank and put in new fuel.

I put new plugs in and checked over the wiring before putting in a battery and trying to start her up.

I don't have an key for the ignition switch so I tried jumping the two wires at the back of the switch. What is the normal procedure to start a Fergie? Do you just turn the key to active the starter switch as I do not see a separate push button switch on the dash?

What is the little red light on the bottom right of the dash? Does it act as an ignition light or as a warning light to let you know that the generator is not charging? Mine comes on when I tap it and then goes out so there may be a loose connection there.

I eventually activated the starter switch by bridging across the two terminals. The motor turns over OK but does not fire. I am getting a spark at the plugs so I think that it is fuel related. I noticed when I cleaned the glass bowl that the old fuel was very stickey and smelled like varnish, so I have taken the carb off and am going to try and carefully take it apart and clean it. Is it possible to still get gaskets and parts for the carb?

Thanks for the help,
Richard

The linkage your refer to as missing is easy to make with a piece of wire and a collar with set screw. Cut a length of stiff wire (I think I used a coat hanger) and put a z-bend in one end to attach to the throttle cam. Slide the collar over the wire and insert the wire into the tube on the choke. You can then use the collar to adjust the amount of throttle applied when the choke is opened. Using an adjustable collar is easier than trying to reproduce the stop-bend in the wire at the correct point. If done correctly, opening the choke will apply the desired amount of throttle but moving the throttle control will make the wire slide through the tube with no affect on the choke. E-mail me if additional explanation is needed.

Thanks to John(UK) and tractorfix for outlining the starting procedure, and thanks to Rod for the info on carb kits.

Yes my TEA 20 has the Zenith 24T-2 carb, and while cleaning it I realized that I am missing a piece of the linkage.

In the parts manual, it shows a Interconnecting rod between the choke assembly and the throttle lever. I think I can make a rod to fit, but I need to know exactly what it does. It seems to me that when the choke is pulled out that this rod would push the throttle lever to the open position which makes sense. The question is what happens when the throttle is opened using the hand throttle does this rod also then close the choke or does the rod then just slide inside of the tube which is held in place by a screw on the choke assembly instead of actually closing the choke.

Does anyone happen to have an extra one of these interconnecting rods from an old Zenith carb? If not I am pretty sure that I can make one I just need to know how it operates.

Thanks again for you help,
Richard