Just passing on a lesson learned. Reworked the carbs last spring (2009) and had the old girl running great. In past few months she was getting harder to start. She’d spin fast and with a little choke she’d fire and spit a couple of times and then die. She’ll do that eight or ten times and just not quite pick up and run. I reworked sync and timing, have clean/recent filters, and thought I was starting to have carb problems again. I could reach the key and the carb linkage at the same time and she would start immediately if I turned the key and opened the carbs as soon as she fired. Then, I actually stopped and thought about it for a few minutes. (Amazing what thinking will do.) I realized that my original squeeze bulb might be the problem. It would get fuel in the bulb and I thought the bulb was getting firm. But, it occurred to me that if the bulb was not actually pushing fuel into thecarb bowls, it should cause the behavior I wa seeing. So, $14 and 20 minutes later, with a truly firm new bulb and full carb bowls, the old girl fired and roared to life on the first revolution.
So, if she fires and spits a couple of times and then dies, repeatedly the primer bulb may be the culprit.
17’ Henry O Hornet
26’ Palmer Scott