Down to the Wire
April 29th, 2019I Feel Almost Competent
I have to blog again. I have fixed the surging on my Homelite pressure washer. I feel invincible.
I found the answer on one of the most useful Youtube channels imaginable: Steve’s Small Engine Saloon. The proprietor took a carburetor just like mine, opened up the access to the pilot jet, and reamed the ethanol crud out with a 0.013″ wire gauge drill bit.
It’s so simple a swing voter could do it.
I ordered the drill bits he recommended, and today I spent 10 or 15 easy minutes opening up my pilot jet.
Now my engine doesn’t surge at all. The next time I use the pressure washer, I’ll actually know what to expect from one second to the next.
Here’s another one of his videos. This one got the pressure washer running. The one about surging made it run correctly.
Ethanol is so destructive; why doesn’t everyone know about wire gauge drill bits? I’ve thrown out a number of Harley jets I could have saved, had I known what to use.
You always hear people say you should use carb cleaner or Sea Foam to fix clogged jets. That stuff never works. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t, anyway. I don’t think I’ve ever seen carb cleaner fix a carburetor. I put Sea Foam in some tools with clogged carbs, and while it improved things, it didn’t solve my problems. A mechanical device like a drill bit gets in there and gets it DONE. It doesn’t make excuses.
I have a generator which is acting up. You better believe I’m going to yank the carb. I’m positive I can fix it. Once I get that done, I can MIG weld again. I’d like to build a mobile base for my giant table saw, but I can’t do it without MIG.
If I had known about wire gauge bits, I would have used them to fix my Echo CS-590 chainsaw instead of wrecking it and then paying a repair shop $135.
The outside of my buildings should be pretty clean 7 days from now. It’s a dream come true.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
That about sums it up.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:46 AM
Yes, ethanol is a giant pain for small engines. It eats the fuel lines on my saw inside of a year. I finally found some line the correct size that claims to be ethanol proof. I’ll know this fall.
My dad owned a LP gas company once and was licensed to transport fuel and install and repair LP products. After he passed I inherited his tools or what was left of them. In that stuff was a complete set of orifice bits. They have come in handy for cleaning the crud from the jets on the small engines we have here. You are correct, the additives generally don’t work, I think if the goop has hardened the only fix is to mechanically remove it.
Good luck with the power washing.