Engine trouble again

[Van Chocstraw]

My Vanguard V twin began searching, racing up and coasting down, racing up and coasting down. Like the acceleration jets were fine but the idle jet was plugged. Not so. It has a fuel solenoid on the side of the carb that pulls open when you turn the key on and of course closed when you shut the key off. I guess so it won't diesel or let gas continue to flow while it is coasting off. Apparently when the engine gets hot it gets weak or fails to work. The engine thinks you are shutting it off but is still working so the governor kicks in to bring it back up to speed then dies again and so on. The fix was removing the solenoid cutting the solenoid pin off with dikes and replacing it. Runs like a clock now. Another piece of EPA bull crap defeated. FYI.

[J Burns]

It used to be that one had to remember to shut off the gas or it could seep past the float valve and flood the cylinder and crankcase. The solenoid shuts it off automatically. I think it's a great idea.

After ten years or so, my BIL's riding mower would shut off unpredictably. I found that the solenoid wasn't staying energized. It was a bad connection and easily fixed.

[LSMFT]

In all the years before the EPA I never had or herd of anybody filling their crankcase with gasoline with a faulty needle valve. My gas tank is lower than the engine and there is a fuel pump. It can't flood. I check the wiring before and no problems found.

[J Burns]

Aren't fuel tanks usually higher than carburetors? I've seen several small engines with gas in the crankcase because the valve hadn't been turned off. I seem to have been wrong in assuming that the solenoid was to prevent that.

The mower was a John Deere with a Kohler engine. The Deere manual didn't mention the purpose of the solenoid, but Kohler apparently says a modern engine should be shut of at full throttle, and the solenoid prevents backfiring.

I idled the Deere down before shutting it off, and it normally backfired.

[Bob Villa]

cut wire with diags (slang for diagonal cutting pliers).

"Dikes" is the proper term. Who on earth says "dye/ ags"?

[LSMFT]

He never worked in the REAL world.