5 h.p. Briggs wont rev up

[Richard W.]

Ive got an old go cart the kids ride in the yard.Has an old 5 h.p. briggs engine on it.Yesterday it started acting up it will idle perfect but try to give it some throttle and acts like its running out of gas.Choke it and it starts right back up.This is engine with carb mounted to top of gas tank.Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.Im new to small engines.Im pretty good on auto engines but never had any experience with these.

Thanks Richard

 

[blownengine]

Clean the tank and carb. The carb is always a huge problem.
And make sure you have a clean air filter. If no air gets through the engine will run horribly.

 

[GTO]

These carbs are actually very relable and simple!

Check with air cleaner off....


Then Check the tank for rust, take carb off of tank, check screen at the bottom of the stem screen for debris, take the diaphragm off the side of the carb and spray out all holes with carb cleaner and blast of air, replace with new tank gasket and diaphram if needed.

Change your oil while your at it. (a killer of engines is old or dirty oil)

 

[blownengine]

I didnt mean anything bad against Briggs I was just saying carbs in general can get dirty real easy

 

[Richard W.]

Thank you both for your help.I took air filter off but no difference.Ill take carb apart this weekend and clean it.Thanks again for your help.


Richard

 

[5 Horse Fan]

I had alot of used 5hps, years ago, that had that very same problem. It could be any number of things: Low compression, No air cleaner, clogged fuel pickup lines/filters, defective Carburetor diaphragm/spring.

I had many Extra parts, so fixing a problem was like putting together a puzzle correctly.