Case 1816C idling problem

[Rlachermeier]

Hi everyone, newbie here. I recently purchased an 1816C at an estate auction this last weekend. The owners son said they only used it once a year to remove the septic cover from their tank. When I started it up at the auction it ran great and idled fine. After I got it home and used it for a couple hours I noticed at idle it surges or pulses. At full throttle it runs great. It also stalled on me and when I tried to start it there was nothing there. I put a charger on it and left it sit for awhile and it would start and run for awhile. Also took the battery to a local parts store where they tested it and said it was fine. This happened several times. I thought maybe I had an electrical problem so I checked all the wires and everything seemed OK. The next time it started to stall I played with the choke and it seemed to fix the problem. Then I started thinking it might be a fuel problem. After I played with the choke it started running good and ran well the rest of the day. Back to my original question is the pulsing at idle normal? Or does it sound like it may need a carb rebuild or at least a good cleaning. The reason I'm thinking that is they didn't use it that often. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pogo]

I would check the carb, maybe just an idle mixture adjustment..If that doesn't correct then clean and rebuild if you fee necessaryl...With todays gasoline anything can happen..Engine is an Onan?

 

[Rlachermeier]

I would check the carb, maybe just an idle mixture adjustment..If that doesn't correct then clean and rebuild if you fee necessaryl...With todays gasoline anything can happen..Engine is an Onan?

Thanks. Yes the engine is an Onan. Is that good or bad thing? Never owned one before. My son is pretty good at cleaning and rebuilding carbs. He's done it several times on his ATV's. Maybe I can talk hm into it. At the very least it should be done just because of how sparingly the previous owners used it. I probably should have drained the old gas prior to using it the first time. After looking it over there are several things I need to do including replacing the spark plug wires etc. The list will start soon. Luckily it's a machine I can tinker on seeing as how I only need it every once and awhile.