JD H Carb/Plug/Cold Temp Question

If my carburetor is working properly and I disconnect my spark plug wires, would the plugs be wet with gasoline if I turned it over a few revolutions?I am still trying to troubleshoot my H not wanting to run/stay running. Today I spun it over probably 20 times and barely got a burp out of it. When I pulled the plugs they were bone-dry. If I open the drain valve on the carb bowl gasoline does come out. Not a giant stream of gas, but not a trickle either. I feel like my problem is fuel. That leads me to my second question. How easy is it to start a hand-start H when the temps are below 20? Am I wasting my time even trying at temps this cold?

Thanks for any replies.

Almost every ?H? I?ve heard of is very prone to flooding and the plugs will be moist when removed at that point. And most ?H?s? seem to start the best with very little throttle and very little or no choking. My ?H? will start that way unless the temperatures is quite cold, say 20 degrees or lower. Even then, it starts best with no throttle and maybe one revolution with the choke on, and then no choke, and it?ll start. Although you have fuel flow to and through the carb, is the fuel level correct? (The best way to check this is to replace the fuel drain cock at the bottom of the carburetor bowl and replace it with a ?? hose barb with a piece of clear plastic tubing attached to the barb. Hold the tubing up alongside the bowl and turn the fuel on. The fuel level in the tube should be ?? below the bottom of the carburetor casting and top of the carburetor bowl.) The throttle shaft bushings must not be worn or a lot of air will be sucked in along the throttle shaft and that messes up choking as well as the idle mixture and will cause lots of starting problems. Furthermore, fresh fuel (meaning no more than 30 days from the pump) and new plugs go a long way to helping with starting.

Mine always started easy in the cold. Fuel can flow from the drain but it may not be getting through the carb. Twenty times and dry plugs? You should have seen raw gas blowing out of the stack.

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked the fuel level in the bowl this morning and it is right where it should be. Throttle shaft seems to be fairly tight. What if my manifold is warped and therefore not seating tightly. Would that cause me to loose suction and prevent fuel from getting into the manifold?

A leak on the intake of the manifold will definitely make starting very difficult and it will also affect idling. This is easily checked with on a running engine by spraying some flammable fluid (ether/starting fluid, carburetor cleaner, etc.) around the intake area of the manifold and gasket - if there is a leak in that area, the flammable fluid will be sucked in and the engine speed will increase noticeably.