# cub cadet 528 hunting idle



## stephenbacak (Feb 19, 2017)

Hello everyone:

My neighbor has a less than 1 year old cub cadet 528 and has less than 1 hour of use on it. It did sit over the summer with no gas in carb. It is now hunting for idle. When the governor is pushed over it runs fine on high. Changed out plug and no change. Is there an idle mixture adjustment on it? We did change out the gas and ran gum cutter through the valve cover tube and air intake. No change. Or any other ideas other than running it back to the shop where it was bought. Next I was going to use some sea foam in the gas. We appreciate any input on this specific model. Thank you.

Update: Drained gas again added a full can of sea foam with a splash of gas. Ran it again and going to let it soak for a week. I think i found the idle mixture screw which faces up next to the black plastic screw which i think is the idle speed. Looks like the best way to get to idle mixture screw is with a 90 degree screwdriver. 

Any other ideas for suggestion are appreciated. thanks!


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## jrscpu2004 (Feb 19, 2017)

I had a similar problem with my older Cub Cadet 930SWE. At the end of each season, I would put some Gas Stabilizer and then run the motor for awhile. Then I would let the engine cool and then empty the gas tank via removing the gas hose that's at its bottom of the gas tank. Once done, I reconnected the hose and then restarted the motor. I would allow it to run until
the engine would stall out from the lack of gas. On the 5th year of service(also out of the warranty period), the next winter I couldn't get the motor to idle correctly. I did the same things
you did and got no results too. I started looking on line and there are many You Tube videos on how to rebuild the carb. The videos are great and I was about to order a rebuild kit. While talking to the Cub Cadet Parts Department representative, I asked if they still offered a whole new carb and to my surprise she said yes. I was told it was about $90 and I went with a new
carb instead. Once I got it, I waited for a warmer day and I first used a digital camera to take pictures of all the moving parts as how the carb attached to the motor. I highly suggest you do the same if you go my route too. Once I was done, I refilled the gas tank and started up the motor. My wife could also hear the motor from inside our house and told me should could hear 
that the motor was back to original strong self again. The improvement was dramatic and obvious. 
My suggestion is to find out if Cub Cadet has a new carb for your model too. Putting in a new carb is a bit challenging but takes much less time than doing a whole rebuild. Then of course if you do the rebuild method, there is no way to know you are going to be successful that way.
I think what caused my problem was that my model doesn't have a fuel filter. I always use premium gas too but I was always doing the right end-of-season steps but still ended up
having to replace the carb. Good luck.


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## stephenbacak (Feb 19, 2017)

thanks --- buttoned it up and it is back at the dealer for a warranty repair.


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## Vermont007 (Mar 29, 2015)

If that's the non-adjustable carburetor, and you left gas in it for an extended length of time, consider cleaning the *Idle Restrictor Screw* as described in this video:


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