I have an old Craftsman 6HP vertical shaft chipper/shredder that is giving me trouble. The engine idles great, but at any higher speed, runs really rich, making black smoke, and even spitting gas out the carb if I take the air cleaner off. It does not rev properly in the process, except when it first starts or as it runs out of gas.
The diaphram in the carb looks excellent. It looks new. I might have replaced it a couple years ago when I acquired this unit used. The gas valve it operates seems to operate also. If I blow into the fuel inlet, no air passes until I push up on the needle that opens the fuel flow. I even tried installing a layer of plastic from a bag "outside" of the diaphram (between it and the cover) to eliminate the possibility of any leaks through the diaphram, with no effect.
Would a bad diaphram allow the idle to work great, while higher speeds are all super rich?
The idle needle adjustment works properly. The high speed needle adjustment seems to have no effect, other than if I remove it completely, at which point the engine will quickly speed up like it should work for a few seconds before it then dies.
Any ideas? Is there something I haven't thought of that could be repaired on this carb/engine?