For the Canadians here, there IS such a thing as Fix in a Bottle: Canadian Tire Small Engine Tuneup. Festive green colour stocked beside the fuel stabilizer. My aunt has a 20 yr old craftsman rider with a single cylinder 12hp Briggs. Uncle passed away and the neglect began. This past spring, the fuel tank had year old fuel in it that had been topped off with year old+ fuel that was being stored in a fuel container with no cap. mmmmm mmmmm good. This chit smelled absolutely awful coming out the exhaust. The engine would only run WOT, midrange was surge city and forget about idle. Was ready to take the carb off and schlep it over to the small engine shop for clean and rebuild, but before I did, I spotted a bottle of this stuff and remember a friend mentioning how well it worked. $5, why not? Bought fresh fuel and dosed it with the tuneup. Fired up the tractor and while running WOT, poured a good dose of it undiluted down the throat of the carb until the engine stalled out. Let sit for 15 minutes. Repeated 4x. The immeditate result was that I got midrange back, with a surgy idle. After 4 uses with the dosed fuel, smooth idle was back and the machine hasn't skipped a beat this summer. Auntie has learned about the importance of fuel, stabilizer and checking and topping off the oil. Now that the machine doesn't intimidate her, she actually enjoys using it. Not bad for a 75 year old lady. Anyway, this stuff works and works well. I now add it at the recommended amount to the witch's brew that I use for my OPE. This stuff works.

OK, tackled the beast, found the bowl free of sediment and crap, what I expected due to running it dry, etc. The main jet seemed to be partially plugged, so I gently reamed it with a very fine gauge wire. Now I could see through it, before, not so well. Sprayed everything well with carb and choke cleaner. Also gave a few shots down the throat while the air cleaner was off. Reassembled, drug outside in the rain and it started right up. Smoked billowed, due to the carb cleaner then it settled down. Seems to have much more power at full throttle now, so that's a good thing. Still hunts, and now only wants about quarter choke to idle. From what I can discern from the Briggs diagram, the idle jet is inaccessible. I'm suspecting that it's partially clogged. While apart, looked for a good place to put an inline fuel filter. I have two types in my stock. One is about the size of a golf ball with long barbs, the other is about the size of ...three fifty cent pieces together with short barbs. The way the fuel line runs, neither would work. If I get ambitious, I could reroute the line out the right side of the carb (viewed from the rear) and put whatever I want there. That's a big IF.... :-) Mike, intriguing idea, I don't have any MMO in my barn, don't know why, have everything else. Going in town tomorrow and will pick some up. So, in conclusion, I learned more about this "EPA blessed Carb" and based on the way it acts now, the main jet was partially plugged. Still wants to be choked to be happy. Guess I can live with that, when I'm doing heavy tilling. For the light stuff, have a Mantis and a 10 year old Sears 2cycle which I can't seem to kill. Thanks for all the good input!!! Ev

Well, I thought this problem had solved itself. The thing started well most of last year and until this week. I thought it had a stuck ring or valve, or a little bit of varnish from the modern gasoline. Anyway, I installed two champion CJ8 s, gapped to .025. And it started right off. Changing from NGK BMR4As Lot's of good comments on this thread. It's a little over my head. I'm assuming that if the composite camshaft gear breaks, it's definitely not going to run, correct? And further regarding this thing, is this gear failure always a fairly benign thing? That is nothing else gets bent or damaged when this thing goes? I had the case cover off to repair the inner gasket to prevent water from leaking into the crankcase, actually I don't think it ever went into the crankcase, but it eventually would not hold water even to mow the yard once. I then, wasn't aware of this issue with the composite gear and I'm not totally sure if it has the composite or not. I seem to remember looking at a brown fiber gear-looking thing. But I'm not sure. Thanks for all the comments, and I think it's just the spark plugs causing this problem. Although I'm not sure why long cranking worked to get it to start. Anyway...Cheers!

Great forum here and a great education! I just picked up a Homelite 150 Automatic model UT 104324, serial number 380600059. It appears to have had little use, is completely old-school as far as safety brake and that sort of stuff, but I put a tank of 50:1 regular gas in it and it fired right up, idled just fine, and cut as well as its not-so-sharp chain could be expected to do. I have a couple of questions as I get to know and trust the saw, and any input is greatly appreciated. 1. Did I injure the engine with a short run of 50:1 fuel, and should the octane be higher than regular fuel? Should I definitely be using a 32:1 mix? 2. How do I know if the automatic oiler is oiling? The oil tank had oil in it, and I topped it off with bar and chain oil: how much oil residue should I see on the bar? 3. Does the safety tip wheel fit onto the roller tip bar on this saw, and can Bill Walcott send me one? 4. Is there a retro-fit toothy-poker plate available to mount on the engine face like more modern saws use? That seems like a good stabilizing/safety device. 5. Is the Oregon 72 the proper chain? The bar protrudes 16 inches past the engine face. Thank you all so much for what you have created here: this has been a great tool! Glen Moore, Seattle WA