More 3.5 4 stroke idling

[oldtimer]

I have read a lot about the idling problems with 3.5 HP 4 stroke engines. The consensus is that the carburetor jets are gummed up. To access the pilot jet, do you need to remove the tamper proof cover? If so How? Do you just access the pilot jet adjusting screw? Doo the tamper proof seals need to be re-installed for the engine to run properly?

Thanks.

[Ski]

I think you would be better off just replacing the carb, sounds excessive but you'll drive yourself nuts trying to get it to run right. Most of these carbs do not have adjusters anymore like the old days. After may attempts at disassembling the carb and running thru a sonic, caustic bath they still never worked as well. Now the new practice is throw the motor in the test tank and if it can kept running with ether than the carb gets replaced. In the long run it's cheaper. My two cents.

[oldtimer]

Carb Cleaning

I took apart the carburetor and cleaned it. I removed the tamper proof plug over the idle mixture adjustment, and cleaned out that passage as well. It seems to be running well now, but I still want to know about replacing the pilot jet. What about it's cover?

I have read dozens of posts about these carburetors and some people claim great success with cleaning and others claim no success at all. It can become pretty expensive to replace the carb every time there is a problem.

[oldtimer]

idle/slow jet replacement

Can anyone give me a little hint on replacing the idle/slow jet for the 3.5? The parts drawings I have seem to show the idle jet in the wrong position. In addition, it appears that the only place for the idle jet that seems to make sense is covered with a cap. I cannot see a way to remove the cap without destroying it. The parts people sent me the jet, but no cap and do not list the cap.

Am I missing something here? Help!

[Ski]

I've seen silicone gasket maker over the adjustment screws that were hidden under caps, I'm not sure if that will work.