pen414 13 #1 Posted July 20, 2023 (edited) My beloved 414 with the k321 has been giving me problems and I'm at a loss. About 3 years ago, the original carb finally had gotten enough play around its throttle shaft that I had to replace it. Went to amazon and bought one of the standard cheapy carbs for the k321, put it on and it ran for a champ for about 2 years, I only ever feed it non-ethanol. Last year it started running a bit rough at high rpms and the plug was dirty. Pulled the carb and sprayed it out with cleaner even though it was spotless and went through and put in new points, condenser, coil, wire, etc, simply because they were still the original. All said and done, no improvement. Over the course of the next few mows I had to keep closing down further and further the mix screws on the carb to get it to run halfway decent. It was starting to backfire and leaving some black smoke. Being it was a cheap carb, I figured something had failed and ordered another of the cheapy carbs from Amazon (different brand supposedly) and put it on,,,, same thing, I need to have the mixture screws completely closed to get it to run semi-decently. I'm at a loss on where to go from here. Have pulled the head and checked cylinder, piston, valves and their clearance, etc, all look good. Could it be something other than the carb with these symptoms? I want to blame the cheap carb (and get a better one if there is one available) but this is just strange and want to make sure I'm not missing something before I buy another. I appreciate your thoughts and help. Thanks, pen Edited July 20, 2023 by pen414 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pacer 3,173 #2 Posted July 20, 2023 Hmmm, sure sounds like carb.... the float isnt seating. FWIW, I have bought about 10-12 0f those carbs and the couple times I had a prob with one it was the float, just could not get it to seat. On one the needle would'nt fully seat and another the float just wouldnt seat, period!. Replaced them with another import and problem solved. Its a gamble buying these import products, but I'll keep buying -- the VERY low cost and - in my case - the few problems Ive had overall ... I'll keep using them, Most recent was a carb for a JD 23hp Kaw at $17 - can you imagine what a carb for a JD would be at the dealer would cost?? Another was starter for a small Mitsubishi at $40..... All I could find was import!! Worked great! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 9,761 #3 Posted July 20, 2023 (edited) Return the carb you just ordered off Amazon and give it bad feed back. If both screws are all the way closed it's junk. Do you have the original factory carb you took off. You can clean and rebuilt it. To address the wear at the throttle shaft, there is a recess for a felt seal on the top of the carb that is usually long gone. Take the carb and throttle shaft to your favorite hardware store that has all those small drawers of speciality parts. Find some small brass bushings that fit in the top recess and the throttle shaft (their almost like thick small brass washers. Stack two of them in the recess. If the throttle shaft fits tight take a drill bit and by hand ream the brass washers. Edited July 20, 2023 by oliver2-44 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 17,014 #4 Posted July 20, 2023 It sounds like the float to me too like it's flooding past the float seal. That could certainly explain the closed needle valves and running rich. Try spray cleaning that valve out. Maybe something lodged in there. A couple/few years ago I had good luck with those cheapie epay/amazon carbs but after a couple of horrible experiences with them, never again. Same thing, the floats would not seal. Since then I've bought a few from Isavetractors.com and they all worked perfect. Yes, they are still Asian made but definitely to better specs and with brass floats. Yes they're more expensive around $70 but well worth it to just have it work right the first time. Definitely rebuild the original carbs whenever you can but if you need to buy one, just go there and get one. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pen414 13 #5 Posted July 29, 2023 (edited) Update: I tried adjusting the float on the carb that was giving me trouble, and found improvement, but simply could not get it right. I ordered the isavetractors carb and we are back in business. Couple of screw adjustments and it is spot on. Thanks for giving me the confidence to throw the money for the better carb at this old girl. Edited July 29, 2023 by pen414 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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