small engine issue and the fix

Sunday I was splitting wood and my splitter ran fine then ran out of gas.

I filled it up and then I just could not keep it running for more than 4-5 minutes

no I am very picky about my fuel and this was fresh 91 ethanol free and since I rotate it often I just use my 2 stroke mix in my splitter if I haven't used it in a month I put it in the truck and get fresh.

this stuff was good and running fine in the chain saw only a week old

Monday I had drained the carb bowl to see if I had water or junk it , and really not much of anything hardly even any gas and it just barely trickled out a little bit then a few seconds then a little bit.

well that fits , I am not getting fuel into the bowl , if I wait 5 minutes I get enough to run for a few minutes then it dies just like when I turn on the fuel

last night I get to taking the air cleaner and assembly off so I can see the fuel line thinking well maybe they hid a filter in there and it is plugged , seeing no filter and good looking fuel line on a very short run over from the tank and still having the drain plug on the carb bowl out I was flipping the fuel shut of back and forth , when off I got no gas when on I got a little piddle then nothing then a little piddle.
so I opened the gas cap and a steady piddle of gas now ran out

ah ha , my vented gas cap stopped being vented and when I put it on tight I vapor locked the gas tank and it had to burp air back up the fuel line to get any more down.
put cap back on an back it off a half turn and finished my splitting

of course I started this at dark and then it started raining just as I got it apart so I finished in the rain almost back together it started pouring rain. just glad I found the issue and it is easily worked around open the gas cap a half turn.

I dislike this gas cap and tank design I have a nearly identical Kohler on my rototiller with a much better tank design even if it is plastic and this one is metal.

Thank you for the story, Green county Pete.

Kohler. Just had the same problem on mine. We took the cap apart and tossed the filter. No more problems. Or you can buy a new cap for $40

$40 for a gas cap? I will just use the cap off a Yoo-Who bottle instead.

Does the gas get to the float bowl via gravity, or by some sort of pump (diaphragm, vacuum, mechanical, etc.)?

If there is any suction involved, check the fuel pickup line in the fuel tank.

I had an identical situation once with a chain saw, and have seen it develop in a snowmachine once. What happens is the fuel line in the tank deteriorates and gets soft, then when vacuum is applied the line collapses on itself either totally or partially cutting off the fuel supply. When you inspect the line it looks fine since it has sprung back to it's original form and will suck the gas up for a short period of time before the machine then dies.

This condition happens even easier if there is one of those little fuel filters on the end of the fuel pickup line; the filter causes a little resistance all it's own (especially if it is a little dirty) which causes the line to collapse even easier.

I had the same problem with my riding lawn mower. I just drilled some small holes through the cap the vent air into the tank and have not had the problem since.

good to know it is not just me

for the others here is what the cap looks like


like I said I dislike the design it could have been much simpler , easier , heck probably cheaper and worked better at being a gas cap and fuel tank

it is a log splitter which means it gets used in the cold and snow a bunch but the tank collects snow and doesn't get it away from the opening well
it also collects debris and again doesn't get it away from the fill hole
you can see ice next to the hole that froze there since last night
I covered it with a tarp when I was done using it but it was raining that hard last night.

40 dollars for a gas cap is also rediculous for 129 I could put a new Predator engine on it

like useless gas cans I would guess this is a similar trying to meet epa BS those gas cans spill more gas than evaporated in the old ones

gravity only , the carb had the fuel shutoff built in to the side of it , just 1/4 inch hose from the bottom of the tank to the carb about 7-8 inches total with the bends and 2-3 inch drop

Looks like gravity fed fuel system. I assume you've checked the fuel filter?

Put a sealed cap on and hook up to an outboard tank. Never have to open again, or pour gas

Fixed two saws by taking vent apart and cleaning.
Diagnosed by loosening cap and they ran.
It's a dirty world.

yup no in line filter.
there is a screen that drops in the fill hole that is the only filter I could find I assume because they realized the top of the tank design sucked and it would get junk in it easy.

I can live with turn on fuel , choke on , open cap 1/4 to 1/2 turn wait a few seconds , pull it over and she pops as the start up procedure

shut down procedure turn off fuel , close gas cap tight let it runout of gas

That is the exact motor on my splitter. It has a black filter in that cap. Go on YouTube and find a video to dissemble it.

Yes that cap is $40

since it seems everyone was trying to rip off honda , it looks a lot like a honda cap on the underside the old 90s ones any way
https://www.amazon.com/Ketofa-Gener...hy=9018876&hvtargid=pla-607544296029

not sure if one would fit but if any one had one of each it might be worth trying and see how close they coppied the honda

There's a chrome non EPA cap you can buy. It's listed in the parts diagram for that engine. I was splitting wood when mine broke down and couldn't afford to have it sit for a few days waiting on parts.


Since you have the same engine as I do I have a question for you. The motor mounts on mine are constantly breaking. They are just bolts, and I have tried everything I can think of. Is this a problem you have also?

not really any issue with anything breaking

in 9 years other than fluids and filters the only things I have replaced is a lovejoy coupler , starter rope , and I broke the low pressure feed line to the pump seen on the left side of the picture , I hit frozen rut.

when I trailer it farther than a few miles I put it on my utility trailer for highway speeds.

more fuel issues on this Sunday.

I went out to split clear sunny morning about 20 good splitting weather it will start but not stay running.

pull the drain plug on carb and it isn't getting hardly any gas , loosen the cap , still the tiniest trickle stop trickle stop even with the cap all the way off.

ended up pulling the gas tank 1 Allen between the muffler and air filter and 2 10mm nuts on the other side
pulled the gas line and still hardly a trickle

there is a plastic Jag that threads in the bottom of the tank 12mm and it has a screen , pulled that and gas runs out ok , put that back in and it runs out ok for a little then stops to almost nothing again , well I better drain the whole tank , did that and found I had a big ice ball in the tank

so the cap stops air but passes water , great

got that melted and tank cleaned out , the fuel line was weathered and cracked when I pulled it off the tank.

I got some 3/16 fuel line yesterday but it was raining all day and night , I have a tub over the engine to keep it dry and I think that is going to be an all the time thing as soon as the exhaust cools put a tub over it to keep weather off the engine and gas tank.

hopefully get it back together tonight

I have a load of maple to split , when it isn't a soupy mess in the yard probably Sunday again, it is looking like it will freeze up again the end of the week.

Had a similar problem with mine. Did all that and still nothing, finally took a screwdriver and turned the jet screw back and forth a couple times. It fired right up. lol “Do the easiest thing first.”

Water gets in the tank from several things - first is ethanol in the fuel. The ethanol draws moisture from the air like a sponge, if you put some gas with ethanol in it in a glass jar and leave it outside on a humid day within about half an hour it will be cloudy like milk - then put an airtight lid on the jar and the ethanol and water will settle to the bottom.This happens day after day and over time you have alot of water in the tank. The next way water gets in the tank is condensation. Your machine sets outside all night and everything gets cold - then morning comes and the sun comes up and quickly warms the fuel tank up and condensation forms inside the tank and runs down the walls of the tank to collect in the bottom - again day after day of this occurring accumulates alot of water in the bottom of the tank. To stop this from happening keep the fuel tank filled to the top when not in use so there is no room for condensation to happen in the tank. The same goes with gas cans - keep them full.

it is back together and running now
new fuel line

this was about a softball chunk of ice , I had run the tank empty last month

the tank was mostly full I had filled it a month ago and only ran it 20-30 minutes after

I only run 91 no E and I try and get fresh every month so this seems like a lot of water.

probably just better to cover it anyway I had a tarp on it but that blew off in some of the days of wind and rain.

yes it sits out next to my wood shed , I wish I had made the shed much bigger and have 3 bays with a years wood each and one for storing tools in.

The source of water could have been at the pump where you bought it. An automobile would probably have just sputtered a bit from that amount of water, but your little engine which just sips gas in comparison, and with gravity feed is doomed to fail with water in the tank, including a soft ball of ice.