1988 244cc 2PG Starting Issue

[kyerik]

Does it run any better with the choke pulled out 1/3 to halfway?

Try making the spark plug gap narrower and see if that helps any.

Check the float setting on the new carb- remove the bowl and turn the carb upside down, the float should set parallel with the place where the bowl mounts/seals

You could buy a $20 squeeze type outboard boat motor primer bulb at walmart etc (get the one with 5/16" fittings) and this will allow you to eliminate the fuel pump as a possible culprit- if you don't have any extra 1/4" fuel line, you can temporarily splice it into the fuel line in place of the fuel filter (remove the filter and hook the hoses up to the primer bulb). You will need to work the 1/4" fuel lines onto the 5/16" fittings (it will be a tight fit) but they only need to go on about 25% of the way to seal properly.

As an added bonus, if you do any long distance trail riding, you could stow the primer bulb and install it/use it if you ever did have a fuel pump problem and needed to "limp" home.

[ryanjap33]

It does not run any better with the choke pulled out. Pulling the choke out seems to make it sputter more and backfire or the wierd "fffffttttt" sound.

The spark plug gap is currently set at .030" as I read it should be 0.028" to 0.030". I can try pushing it in to 0.028".

The engine fires up immediately as soon as you hit the pedal and would idle nicely all day. It's when the throttle plate begins to open, the revs start to climb, then it pops and sputters. As you let off and bring the throttle back to idle it cleans right up and idles again.

I do like the idea of the marine primer bulb and didn't think of it.

I tried priming the fuel line and filter byt taking the fuel line off at the tank siphon elbow and using a squeeze bottle and there is a lot of resistance. Is this normal? i'd squeeze in several ounces and would never visually see it go into the clear fuel filter and when i removed the squeeze bottle the gas would spray back out at me.

The pick-up/siphon tube in the tank and the fuel line from tank to filter are clear as i took them off and blew them out with air.

[1fast67]

just a thought. have you checked the new crank seals for leaks since installed?

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2

[kyerik]

Do you have access to an inductive timing light? This way you can verify that you are getting a consistent spark even when you try to rev the engine. Maybe you are losing spark at higher rpms.

A narrower plug gap (you could even temporarily try 0.015) will make it easier for a weak ignition system to fire. You might double check that your spark plug wire has no resistance (remove it and use an ohmmeter).

Yeah- what you did with the squeeze bottle is normal- when the bowl is completely full, the float valve will close and wont let anymore gas in. It should have revved up once or twice on a full bowl of gas even if the gas line was disconnected.

Does it act the same (refuse to rev) in forward and in reverse? I am asking because if it ran better depending on the direction, then that would point to an ignition timing issue.

If it starts and idles nicely, then I think your crank seals are probably OK. When I blew out my clutch side crank seal, it would sputter a little when choked, but it didn't come close to running.

[ryanjap33]

I had to re-pull the flywheel after it ran the first time as my initial thought was timing. This is when I also replaced the pulsar cause I threaded allthread in to far when using a puller to remove flywheel and damaged the pulsar. The crank seal was still intact at that time. I haven't checked the clutch side since installation.

I have a timing light. Would I hook it up the same way as you to on a normal vehicle?

It seems to run the same in forward and reverse. Maybe a little better in fed but I thought that may be due to the nature of this engine and it being slightly retarded in reverse.

I will verify resistance in plug wire and try closing the gap up a little at a time to see if any improvement

[ryanjap33]

I had to re-pull the flywheel after it ran the first time as my initial thought was timing. This is when I also replaced the pulsar cause I threaded allthread in to far when using a puller to remove flywheel and damaged the pulsar. The crank seal was still intact at that time. I haven't checked the clutch side since installation.

I have a timing light. Would I hook it up the same way as you to on a normal vehicle?

It seems to run the same in forward and reverse. Maybe a little better in fwd but I thought that may be due to the nature of this engine and it being slightly retarded in reverse.

I will verify resistance in plug wire and try closing the gap up a little at a time to see if any improvement

[kyerik]

Yes- just clamp the timing light's trigger wire over the spark plug wire just like you are timing a car engine.

Shine the strobe at the drive clutch- use a sharpie and number 1-10 on the angled face that the belt rides on (remove the belt). You can use these numbers as reference- you should always see the same numbers at the same positions under the strobe if the ignition system is working right and the strobe flashes should be really regular (it should not skip any flashes when you try to rev it up).

[devon]

ok before you go getting all crazy, pull the line off of the carb side of the fuel pump, turn it over for a second or two. if it is not shooting about 3 inches cover the carb and if it does not shoot out at least twice as far then start looking for a leak, the sleeve to jug, gasket is very common area for one and will give you no sign of a leak at all!!!!!!! the only way to know if there is a leak it to inspect the gasket. a normal running engine will not ask for a lot of compression in a short amount of time but at higher rpms it begs for it.i had the same problem and also had the backfiring. one gasket later i ran it like crazy till i seized the crank bearings...which i would suggest to anyone who has had to replace the crank seals check the crank bearings. a little wiggle from that area spells disaster as soon as it is back to its putt putt self and you are enjoying a ride every time you have a chance.

[ryanjap33]

i have had the carb side fuel line off and it squirts a good 6 or so inches out each time it pulses. I didn't shoot it straight up as I was trying to contain as much as i could in a jar.

When you say "sleeve to jug" seal, I am assuming you mean the gasket between the cylinder jug and the cranks case (main engine "block")? Am I assuming correctly? When I installed this jug, i applied an even amount of black rtv permatex on both sides of the paper gasket prior to tighteneing the jug in place.

I have tried testing the Pulsar while cranking the engine and am not getting the 1 - 2 VAC that I believe is was is required. I do not know if it is me not getting a good connectiong trying to hold all those items at once while cranking or not though. However, the resistance through it is right in range and it does run, just doesn't rev at all as i've stated. Can I eliminate the pulsar as a culprit?

[kyerik]

My digital multimeter was only showing AC pulses of about .4 volts, but my cart runs well with the HEI module.

It could be that the pulses are so short that my cheap digital multimeter can't show them accurately- an analog meter or one that would record the maximum values would have the best chance of displaying them accurately.

Did you check to see that the + and - leads on the coil are hooked up correctly?