Posted by David Sherman [108.162.245.112] on Tuesday, January 02, 2024 at 20:11:37 :
In Reply to: Re: A handy gadget posted by Keith In Washington [172.71.147.144] on Tuesday, January 02, 2024 at 11:49:20 :
Fortunately I'd already verified that it had spark, but I re-checked coil voltage with points opened and closed just to be sure. The M37 that stays out at the cabin all winter often needs its points sanded in the spring.
The fuel pump is a total mess and will probably need to be replaced. I'm disappointed because I put in a rebuild kit 15 years ago or so that was supposed to be "ethanol resistant" but it clearly is not. Lots of crud, but also the rubber was already turning to crumbly mush. I got oil onto the piston in 2 cylinders, but would have had to take off the hydraulic tank to get to the others. After some more futzing I did get it to run briefly with gas poured down the carb, so the engine is basically okay. If the weather is good tomorrow I may try to gravity-feed the carb and see if it will warm up and keep running. I see fuel pump kits are up to about $55 now, and if they're not really ethanol-resistant, I'm not keen on rebuilding it again. But just on principle I don't want an electric fuel pump, so I will probably rebuild it or put on whatever RockAuto sells even though the connections are all in different places (only $35) vs $55 for the kit.
Anyway, thanks for the good ideas. It does have a new coil. Once it's running good, I'll change out the plug wires too, because the originals are pretty hard. Would be nice to have it running and put back together by the time the snow arrives later this week.