First time seagull owner, Kingfisher wont quite start.

[danielrjansen]

deleted

[danielrjansen]

SO I've been tring to get it to run... The prices for shipping from the UK make me want to get it to run BEFORE i start ordering every little part. Many things seem wrong or missing. Here is the situation so far:

Cleaned out the tank and pump, but instead I bypassed the pump and tried gravity feed.

I cleaned the tank with detergent then solvents then fuel. re-cleaned the carburetor. Fuel tap is not a seagull part but does seem to work.

Removed flywheel because the kill / stop switch was not original and was loose. found only the ground lead connected to the switch and no other connections. I could not Identify any other connection points on the coil.

When testing for spark I got nothing at low speeds / slow pull of the cord but got consistent spark at speeds normal for trying to start. ( FAQ metions spinning the flywheel with the "flat of your hand" which would not produce a spark for me)

Choke / snorkel / whatever is missing. fabricated a choke for testing purposes

flywheel was on 102cc position.

Carburetor:
Somebody carved into the notch for the valve on the float and the valve needle is shorter than original. I used wire to connect it to the top of the float and now have a functioning float valve.

While the tickler works without the bowl installed it does nothing or little with the the bowl installed. If I loosen the bowl the carb floods easily. otherwise it takes 30 seconds or else it never happens. Pressure ?

The kingfisher fairly consistently ALMOST started but never took off. tried alternating mixture choke throttle position but without success. (gas is new) Tends to cough and backfire and prefers the carb absolutely flooded and choked with a rag before a good pull. DId much better the more I tried and as the cylinder temperature rose.

[danielrjansen]

By the way, I need this motor to move a boat asap, and while I find these engines very interesting and endearing I don't have time for an engine that wont work or another hobby. So if you can help me I would greatly appreciate it.

[AusOB_Collector]

Daniel

have you taken compression readings on both your seagulls?

You mentioned that you were having trouble with fuel... when you turn the motor over by hand can you hear a pop/thunk sound just after the compression stroke. I am getting at the crankcase pressure may be low/non existent so not drawing enough fuel mixture into the motor.
You say that the kingfisher was hard to start, but it did better the more you tried.
Does that run properly now?

Please upload some pics of the seagulls so we can have a closer look, we all like pics.

Whereabouts in the world are you?

Cheers
BP