sa200 carb problems maybe?

[Scrapman Industries]

Yeah i was wondering if anyone could help me out with my sa200. it's around and 81 model year i believe, blackface. it welds and what not, the problem I have with it is sometimes it gets vapor locked. like you'll go to start it and it won't be getting fuel. so i gotta pull the hose off the filter and then when fuel spills out, plug it back in and its good to go. then sometimes it dies while idling because of the vapor lock issue. same deal just pull the hose off and plug it back in. Id rather not have to keep doing that as i'm trying to start up repairing backhoes and other heavy equipment with it here soon. I was thinking it might be something in the carb. thats gummed up. would that have anything to do with it getting vapor locked? I also had a problem the one day when i left the fuel shut off open for a few weeks when i was away, the fuel drained out into the oil bath. thats kinda why i was thinking it might be the carb causing the vapor lock. some background on the machine, it used to be "on a service truck" from what i was told and then some younger like 19-20 year old kid had it as his back up rig for the pipelines, then i got it to practice on and now that i'm somewhat more practiced on it i'm trying to start welding heavy machinery. wondering if the sitting around as that guys backup rig caused something to gum up in the carbs. i just suck at pulling carbs apart so i haven't done it yet. trying to see what yall think could cause the vapor lock before i start loosing carb parts trying to rebuild it myself.

[MarshallPowerGen]

Have you tried taking the fuel fill cap off when it starves of fuel? Could be something as simple as the cap vent is clogged.

[smithdoor]

If been outside it may rust in tank that will plug port and tubing.

I would pull the plug on the carb an see if getting fuel.

This give some idea what going on with fuel

Dave

Yeah i was wondering if anyone could help me out with my sa200. it's around and 81 model year i believe, blackface. it welds and what not, the problem I have with it is sometimes it gets vapor locked. like you'll go to start it and it won't be getting fuel. so i gotta pull the hose off the filter and then when fuel spills out, plug it back in and its good to go. then sometimes it dies while idling because of the vapor lock issue. same deal just pull the hose off and plug it back in. Id rather not have to keep doing that as i'm trying to start up repairing backhoes and other heavy equipment with it here soon. I was thinking it might be something in the carb. thats gummed up. would that have anything to do with it getting vapor locked? I also had a problem the one day when i left the fuel shut off open for a few weeks when i was away, the fuel drained out into the oil bath. thats kinda why i was thinking it might be the carb causing the vapor lock. some background on the machine, it used to be "on a service truck" from what i was told and then some younger like 19-20 year old kid had it as his back up rig for the pipelines, then i got it to practice on and now that i'm somewhat more practiced on it i'm trying to start welding heavy machinery. wondering if the sitting around as that guys backup rig caused something to gum up in the carbs. i just suck at pulling carbs apart so i haven't done it yet. trying to see what yall think could cause the vapor lock before i start loosing carb parts trying to rebuild it myself.

[BYW200]

like smithdoor said, rust sediment can plug up things. The sediment bowl screen could be plugged up. Take the bowl off and remove the screen and blow back through the fuel line to the tank with compressed air. Make sure that nothing is floating around in the tank that would plug the inlet to. Also if the fuel line is old, they can deteriorate and collapse on the inside blocking the flow of fuel. Sometimes the fuel filter can be plugged up fast if there is enough trash in the tank also. I've had this same scenario happen to me.

[Scrapman Industries]

From the outside the fuel filter does appear to be clean. its one of those clear ones you can see right through. i will try taking the bowls apart and see what i find before digging further i guess. the fuel lines do appear kinda old and i was planning on replacing them before i go full time with this machine anyway might as well change everything i think. guess i'll try that and see if that helps. i don't think i've tried taking the fuel cap off to fix anything but i know i've looked into it the first few times it happened to see if it got fuel so im not sure its anything there but i could be wrong.

[duaneb55]

Make sure the fuel line isn't routed too close to the exhaust manifold steel or rubber. The radiant heat from the manifold can cause a vapor lock condition.

[Scrapman Industries]

Make sure the fuel line isn't routed too close to the exhaust manifold steel or rubber. The radiant heat from the manifold can cause a vapor lock condition.

thanks. that may be the problem. the fuel line goes right next to the manifold.