New pressure washer engine stalls...replacement does too! Help!!

[Ben]

I just bought a Troy Bilt model 020344 pressure washer and pulled it out to clean the siding on my house. I followed all the steps and it started on the first pull. However, after a minute or two, the engine started pulsing and then stalled. I could get it started again, but it would basically die again right away.

Since I just bought it, I brought the unit back, returned it, and got another one. The new one showed the same behavior! Am I doing something wrong? What would account for this symptom in two new units?

Here are the steps I followed: check oil and gas, run water through the hose for 30 second, connect water hose and high pressure hose to the washer, turn on water, pull trigger on spray gun until water comes through steadily, turn on engine switch, open fuel valve, pull out choke, start, and push in choke.

Help!!

[J.H. Holliday]

Are you using the same gas from the same gas can on the new unit? If yes, maybe it's bad and the culprit....

[Ben]

That's a good idea---I'll try new gas (although the can was filled 1 wk ago).

Also, if the gas were bad, would the engine run for a couple of minutes before stalling? Weird...

[Nate Nagel]

Loosen the gas cap. If the tank isn't vented properly it'll starve for fuel

nate

[ransley]

..

de quoted text -

Defects run in batches. Like an unhappy employee screwed the Co. or drank Tequlia. I never rebuy my return from a same batch .......Alot of chinese shit is sold here everyday

[Ben]

..

This seems to have worked! I started it again and it conked out after a couple of minutes. I then loosened the gas cap...same thing. I then took the cap off altogether and everything seemed to run fine! It continued to work after I put the cap back on. Strange! I hope I don't have to do such nonsense every time...

[Nate Nagel]

Well, now you need to find out why the tank isn't venting so you don't have to do this. Does it appear that the gas cap should be vented, or is there a seperate vent?

nate

[Ralph Mowery]

Glad that worked. I was going to say that it might be the gas shut off valve. I bought a tiller that would run for about 30 seconds and stop. After the first 3 times I looked and found I was turning the gas cut off valve the wrong way.

[SteveB]

My power washer has always been hard to start after I stop it to refill the gas tank. I would pull for five minutes, then let it^H^Hme rest for five, then *maybe* it would start. (This is not impressive for customers who are paying by the hour.)

I recently discovered that if I turn the water off at the faucet and relieve the pressure in the hose, it starts right up. Apparantly the motor doesn't have enough power to get up to steady state if it's simultaneously trying to pump water into a closed hose.

[Ben]

m...

or fuel

I'll take a look to see what I can find out. But I did put the cap back on and it continued to work, so it must have been venting appropriately at that point. Maybe it was vapor locking somehow...after all, it was about 94 degrees outside here today.

[Steve Barker DLT]

Sounds to me like it's just a little cold blooded. Perhaps a bit of choke after it's running will help. Although my troy bilt does not even have a choke.

s

This seems to have worked! I started it again and it conked out after a couple of minutes. I then loosened the gas cap...same thing. I then took the cap off altogether and everything seemed to run fine! It continued to work after I put the cap back on. Strange! I hope I don't have to do such nonsense every time...

[Ben]

Good thought, but it's hard to reconcile with the fact that it ran for a couple of minutes just fine before stalling.

[Ben]

Well, I couldn't get the darn thing to work no matter what I tried--- fresh gas, loosening the gas cap. Every time both the original and the replacement would stall after a couple of minutes of use. I'm returning the thing and looking for a different model! Any recommendations? This is mostly for cleaning vinyl siding on a raised ranch (max height about 20').

-Ben

[SteveBell]

Vinyl siding is pretty light work. If that's all you'll ever use it for, get an electric model.

Mine is an Excel, and it works OK. I finally learned to turn off the water at the tap and release the pressure in the hose before restarting.

Your problem sounds like the choke is not turning off after the engine warms up. Does yours have an automatic choke?

[ransley]

Does it have a low oil cutoff switch, if so try overfilling it a few ounces, or pull plug wire to see if its got spark just after it dies. Are you sure the choke actualy comes off since its after it is warmed it dies, You have to remove the air filter to look at the choke, if I choke motors they die when hot. If you get a new one it will likely be the same batch, If you have a little squirt bottle after it dies squirt in gas to see if its a gas issue. Its gas or ignition, To die when hot also indicates a bad ignition module.

[Bob]

big soft bristle brush on a pole. spray orange cleaner on with a hose end sprayer. let sit for 5 pr 10. don't let dry. scrub lightly with brush in several directions if possible. let sit a while longer adding solution if needed to keep wet. rinse.

[KPLLOYD]

KP I found that depressing the trigger helps for restarting the engine