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Black smoke from Vanguard

16 years ago

I have an '05 Regent with an 18 HP Vanguard engine. Lately the engine has had some black smoke coming out of the exhaust upon start-up and the under load (mower deck engaging). As the engine runs, I have a nasty smell of heavy exhaust coming from the engine as I cut the grass. It's almost to the point of making me ill as I ride. The plugs are coated with black carbon deposits (and I mean coated). I'm still under warranty, so I took it to the dealership. They replaced the carb, and returned the tractor to me. I'm still having the problem. Anyone have any ideas? I'm going to take it back to the dealer, but I wanted someone else's thoughts on the problem. (the engine only has 27 hours on it)

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Comments (11)

walt2002
16 years ago
Is the choke linkage and butterfly working freely, choke opens fully when released?

Walt Conner
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butchs_hobby
16 years ago
Black smoke means it's too rich, choke and/or linkage would be the first place I looked.
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Its running 'rich' (too much fuel being delivered to the combustion chamber) which is very bad for the engine. It dilutes the oil on the cylinder wall causing excessive wear. The float in the carburetor is probably stuck. Pick up the carb side of the mower and drop it from about 6" and see if it clears up. Use some kind of fuel system treatment like 'Seafoam' or 'Marvel Mystery Oil' to clean the system and keep the float free. Otherwise there may be a problem with the choking system, leaving the choke on all the time.
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lawnjockey
Original Author
16 years ago
It looks as if the choke is working properly and in the correct position. That's one of the first things I checked before going to the dealer. I agree with your thoughts in that it's running too rich. It may be my imagination, but I think I may have a new knock/rattle in the engine. I'm still trying to nail that one down. It could just be something lose on the exterior. I don't know if that has anything to do with my problem or if it's just coincidence.
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rcmoser
16 years ago
Air Filter
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bill_kapaun
16 years ago
Just for curiosity, take a whiff of the oil and see if you smell gasoline. A carb needle/seat could be leaking through.
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lawnjockey
Original Author
16 years ago
Air filter is brand new and oil smells OK.
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larryf
16 years ago
(1) Run the engine with the air filter removed to see if there is a change. If the problem clears up, try replacing the air filter with a filter from Briggs. There was previous discussion on this topic. The aftermarket air filters have more resistance to air flow than the filter sold by Briggs.

Remove the breather hose from the air filter housing. Run the engine to see if there is a change. A failed vacuum operated fuel pump may be allowing fuel fumes to enter the crankcase. The fumes are then expelled through the breather into the intake area of the engine. There may be some oil dilution that is difficult to detect. Could this be the cause of increased noise in the engine? My experience is the fuel pumps supplied by Mikuni are not as reliable as previous pumps made by Briggs.
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vangellis
16 years ago
I replied to the previous thread about the Vanguard air filter problem. My dealer wasn't even aware of this until he picked up my machine to see what was causing it to run rich. I have a 20hp Vanguard on a 2005 Simplicity Conquest. Early last season I bought a replacement filter at the dealers. His counter guy gave me one that had a blue gasket. Worked but towards the end of the season it went downhill fast. Dealer found out it gets a less dense filter with a BLACK gasket. Check into it. I think it's the filter also. Let us know what happens.

Thanks, Kevin
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engine_tech
16 years ago
Make sure that your carb bowl vent tube is not getting cooling air blown into it. That will pressurize the bowl and cause extra fuel to go up the jets. Position the tube out of the air blast. JD had this a few years ago on Vanguards.
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otsego
16 years ago
As it happens, although I am a regular reader of this board I found this posting because I was having exactly the same trouble with my 16hp Vanguard. I was out cutting an area of my property that only gets cut once a year, so it was pretty heavy and slow mowing. I noticed that the tractor was bogging down and starting to blow black smoke while it was under load, it also was running roughly at idle and seemed to be missing on one cylinder. I quickly brought the tractor in and turned the motor off. It was so quick and there was so much smoke I thought I had damaged the rings or the valves on the engine. As a previous poster had mentioned I tried running the engine with and without the air filter. As soon as I took the filter off the engine stopped smoking and ran smoothly. This is probably the cause of some fuel delivery problems I was having earlier this summer as well. The interesting thing to me is that this is a new filter, installed in June and is one of the genuine Briggs "Black" gasket filters. I will buy a new filter from a different source this week and hope it clears up the problem.
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lawnjockey
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Guys

I've been out of town, so I haven't tried your suggestions. The air filter suggestion seems viable. I don't remember if I have a Briggs filter in or not - I think I do. I was having the problem prior to changing the air filter mid-summer. I did start the tractor up on Sunday and I'm having a secodary problem. The engine seems to be missing or fouling out - it has a terrible lack of power. I will be taking the tractor back to the dealer and having them recheck the engine. Just for chuckles I will take out the air filter for a test prior to taking it in just to see if it solves the problem.
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