# surging...surging ....and shutting down



## williemyers (Jan 11, 2019)

hey guys, I've got a Craftsman 21/4 model 536.886400, probably about 15 yrs. old, or so. This is the first time I've had to use it on snow - - in the past I've always been able to get it to fire and idle for a few moments, then I'd shut it off.
I put a new plug in it, topped up oil & gas (87 octane). It belches a few puffs of white smoke, then fires and idles smoothly, but it's surging.....then surging....etc. Till finall it shuts itself off. And it seem to do it just as I'm starting out to start a row? Honestly, it's acting as if it had a "kill-switch" that's shutting it down as soon as I start to move it, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a kill-switch.
anyway. thoughts on why it might be surging, then shutting down? I took the fuel cap off, but that didn't make a diff.?


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Carburetor, needs a thorough cleaning or a new one, you can do a minimal cleaning, or a little more, the ultimate using an ultrasonic cleaner, the more you do, the better and more consistent the results are.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

just did an article on this. surging is caused by the engine hunting for gas. 

fuel in tank?
gas valve on?
clogged gas cap......you checked this
gas getting to carb?
flooding?
stuck float?



or bad gas and carburetor may need cleaning.


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## williemyers (Jan 11, 2019)

wow!...great answers!
terrible timing (blizzard coming in a couple of days ), but great answers! 
thanks so much and I'm going to see what I can do about it!
p.s., orangputeh, you said you did an article o this? is it available?


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## groomerz (Feb 7, 2015)

Try to Run it with half choke if you don’t have time to repair


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tadawson (Jan 3, 2018)

At that age, also check for a dying fuel line . . . they can break down and swell internally, cuttng off flow which will allow light loads like idle, but not give adequate flow to keep the bowl full under load.


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

tadawson said:


> At that age, also check for a dying fuel line . . . they can break down and swell internally, cuttngmoff low which will allow light loads like idle, but not give adequate flow to keep the bowl full under load.


That is true about the fuel line swelling internally, and you wouldn't notice it externally. Most people never notice that unless they remove it and blow air through it or stretch it out straight and look through it, then they would see the blockage from the internal swelling.


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