# Sears Suburban SS16 W/Onan 16HP



## dparry20

Engine will only run for a short while then stall. I have checked fuel and vent in fuel tank to see if it was clogged, but this didn't help. Engine is getting fuel to start than dies ? has carburetor MS/2379B can anyone help me out with this ?


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## GreenFlyer

It is not getting enough fuel or air, or both. If it runs for a while and then cuts off, it has to be one or the other. Does it quit right away? Or does it sound like it is choking itself to a stop?


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## dparry20

engine quits right away after starting. I thought maybe it would be a fuel pump in the carb ? Is that a possibility ?


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## GreenFlyer

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1_fGPQn-ic&feature=related]YouTube - Sears SS16 lawn tractor Onan carb trouble.wmv[/ame] I found this great video about the carb/fuel pump. Enjoy!


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## dparry20

Hello Greenflyer and thanks for the video ! I'll try doing the same thing and see what happens. I hope it will work for me.


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## dangeroustoys56

My GTII 18HP craftsman is seriously cold blooded - ive tweeked and adjusted it , rebuilt the carb and i still need the choke on for a couple minutes while it warms up. I chalk that up to being an old an ornery engine.

I have a 20HP onan horizontal - cranks, has fuel but no spark- i bot some new wires, ill get a condensor for it, im hoping it isnt the coil. Since its a 90's, im pretty sure it doesnt have points . The starter solenoid is also worn out ( its attached to the starter motor) i have to jump the terminals to crank it. When i have time ill look at it again- im almost curious if i can get a couple car coils and bypass the expensive stock coil if it turns out to be bad.

Might just see what i can get for it as a trade in for another briggs opposed horizontal.


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## Mickey

Couple comments. The fuel pump does not operate off vacuum, it operates off the changing/pulsing crankcase pressure, both positive and negative. If you're not getting any fuel to the carb, don't overlook the possibility of cracks in the supply line. This is something that can get overlooked especially if you have a rear fuel tank and the supply line is long and hid under the sheet metal. Had to replace the supply line on my Cub a couple yrs ago. Had a least a doz major cracks. Jacket was some kind of plastic and not rubber.


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## dparry20

OK thanks Mickey I'll take a look a the fuel line. Thank you for your reply !


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## Hoodoo Valley

Put some gas in a milk jug or something and feed it through a hose from an elevated position above the carb, and this will rule out the fuel delivery to the carb or point the finger!


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## dangeroustoys56

Thats a good test TB - i replaced ALL the rubber gas lines/vacuum lines when i had my GTII apart for repainting- and used hose clamps to hole em on. I figured after 24 years, itd be a good thing.


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## TeamCheap

OHH boy....some of the problems I've had with my old onan powered SS16 and SS18.

The SS18 just wouldnt get fuel and one time I found the fuel line coming from the bottom of the tank at the fitting kinked.
The pump was a mess but a decent repair kit from EBAY solved that.

The tractor would run on the choke but didnt have any power and throttle response was nill.
The real problem was the float sticking but having a new float needle and seat fro m the kit I found out that the float itself (plastic/composite float) sticks to the sides and would keep the fuel blocked off(common problem I hear)... not totally just enough to drive me nutz.

I now have the copper float in mine and it runs much much better although I believe it could run a bit smoother it is just to cold to go out and mess with it right now.


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## GreenFlyer

Re the 'gas in a milk jug' thing. Won't the gas eat the plastic? I put gas in a plastic milk jug once and after about 2 minutes the bottom of the jug disintegrated. ???


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## dangeroustoys56

Gas holds well in the newer style plastic coffee cans - i had stale gas in one for little over a week and it never ate the plastic. An old 2 galon gas can 'modifed' with a drain in the bottom would work good as well.


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## Hoodoo Valley

we always used to mix chainsaw gas in them and they worked well, but then maybe these days the plastic is different. I was just meaning that if you put gas in anything and get it to flow down a hose to the carb while keeping it elevated above the tractor, it would tell you if the fuel pump or the tractors tank was the culprit pretty quickly.


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## TeamCheap

tractor beam said:


> we always used to mix chainsaw gas in them and they worked well, but then maybe these days the plastic is different. I was just meaning that if you put gas in anything and get it to flow down a hose to the carb while keeping it elevated above the tractor, it would tell you if the fuel pump or the tractors tank was the culprit pretty quickly.


That is a good way to test for various things like a plugged air vent on fuel cap or bad fuel pump or plugged/kinked fuel line.I usually dont go through all that I prefer to stay frustrated as long as possible.:lmao:
I do have several extra tanks around here that would make an easy auxillary fuel supply for testing.(I really should set one up)

I just pull the fuel line apart before the filter and lower it enough to see a steady stream of fuel then go on from there.

From what I have learned is the plastic/composite floats in these are a well known/common problem and I now know from first hand experience that my SS18 was fuel starved and everything else was fine(after looking it all over several times).
When I took the carb top off it had just a small amount of fuel in the bottom of the bowl.

My SS16 still has the plastic float but it runs great so some work some dont.


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## lynnzo6

*ss16 fan*

sounds exactly what I just went through ,honest check that damn little condenser


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