Hard start Tecumseh

[wml52]

I have 1999 Generac generator Mdl PP5000T which is powered by a Tecumseh 10 HP HM-100 159436P engine with a 12 VDC electric start. It has served me well over the years as power outage backup here in the north east. I have never really had any problems with it until this year. I live in upstate NY and this winter has been especially cold the coldest I've seen in a number of years in fact. I normally run it once a month just to keep things working, however this past winter I have had a hard time starting it in very cold weather, in fact the starter gasped it's last breath trying to start it. I have since replaced the starter.

In also own a Yard Man snow thrower, which is also powered by a Tecumseh 10 HP HMSK 100 Snow King engine. The snow thrower has never given me a days trouble starting even on the coldest of days. On this particular engine however the carb has a priming bulb, aside from this the engines look almost identical at least to me.

I was wondering if there was a carb that would fit the HM-100 engine but has the priming bulb. It seems like the priming bulb on the Snow King engine is the key to starting in very cold weather, or am I being simplistic in my assumption? Any thoughts or suggestions regarding a solution to the hard start in cold weather condition would be appreciated.

Thanks to all,

Bill

[madmantrapper]

Have you not been able to start it at all? If it does start does it run well, correctly? Does it stammer if a heavy load is applied suddenly? I would pull the float bowl and check for plugged main jet. Does the choke work properly?

[Deere2me]

Basically all the primer does on them motors is push a shot of raw gas up the main nozzle. IF the choke is working, and the jets are clear then it should start. You shouldn't need a primer. Ya got a good spark? Is the plug good? As the Maryland Madman mentioned, prolly need to clean the carb :http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/#id_tecumseh

[Tim]

Snow engines were made for the cold and as you stated a shot of fuel saves the shoulder. if the cleaning doesnt help just remove the air cleaner and give it a shot of raw fuel from a squirt bottle in an emergency...thank god for primers this winter...brrrr.

[wml52]

The carb was cleaned a short short while ago and the choke worked fine prior to the cold weather moving in so I don't believe the carb is the issue. Before the cold snap really kicked in it ran smooth, no hesitation or surging. I will however check the plug and also the CDI coil and magnets, sometimes they build up with rust and affect the spark.

The reason I was asking about switching carbs was to install one that had a remote primer as on the HMSK engine so as to eliminate the need to remove the air cleaner every time I need to start it in cold weather. In addition the current carb which I believe is a series 10 (emissions) does not have any means to adjust it. My thought was to see if the carb for the Snow King engine would work on the HM-100 giving me the addition of a remote primer as well as the ability to adjust the fuel mixture.

Bill

[Deere2me]

Why not save the expense of a new carb and just drill a strategically located hole in the air filter base to facilitate shooting carb cleaner/ starting fluid in the carb throat? Get ya a rubber plug to fit the hole or make a wooden plug.

[bgsengine]

Or, if you have the machinist skill to do it, you can drill out the vent hole in carb and press in a small, formed piece (flared) 1/8" brake line and attach a vented primer common to tecumseh models.

[mwerles]

only problem with adding a primer port is that the vent hole in the side of the carb is too large to allow the primer to work,primer equipped carbs have a very tiny vent hole which allows pressure to build in the bowl,it could be blocked off completely if a primer bulb with a vent hole in it is used
Les

[bgsengine]

only problem with adding a primer port is that the vent hole in the side of the carb is too large to allow the primer to work,primer equipped carbs have a very tiny vent hole which allows pressure to build in the bowl,it could be blocked off completely if a primer bulb with a vent hole in it is used
Les

'zactly - that is what I'm saying - the vent hole on a non-primer carb , can be drilled out , and install a fitting, the primer button itself and the line IS the vent - when you go to prime, naturally , your thumb blocks off the vent hole, allowing air to pressurize the carb bowl and pushing fuel out - once you take thumb off the vent hole in the primer, it becomes the bowl vent. - That is the reason to use the vented primer ("Dry Bulb" primer) - when not being used to prime, it does double duty as the carb bowl vent.

On a MODERN EPA compliant carburetor, that vent is internal to the carb and intake, there'll be no external vent, SO, the above would NOT WORK, obviously - I'm talking about the non-EPA compliant carbs (Should have qualified my original reply with that detail) where they have the bowl vent drilled in the side of the carb (below the idle stop screw area, - the air space they vent to, is covered by the big steel internal welch plug)

My suggestion *WILL NOT* work on an EPA Compliant internally vented carburetor, however. - But as they have said it is a '99 Generac with an HM100 engine, which, if I remember right, were built before EPA regs kicked in, it PROBABLY has an externally vented carburetor, which, if the vent is in the right place, can be drilled and fitting attached to a remote vented primer.