[Jim Waugh(Albright & Shiny)]

Peeps. I bought a second hand 13hp 21 l/m petrol Pressure washer a while back. Been using it for the odd small patio and it worked a treat..

Today I fire it up to do a large car park and start ito it..

Suddenly the engine died..

Thought it had overheated so I let it cool a while..

Fired it up again , and as soon as I pressed the trigger the Engine instantly died..

Every time I let it sit a few minutes, fire up the engine and it will run quite sweetly, open the trigger and instantly it dies..

Does it sound like the pump has seized?

[Smudger]

Have you checked the oil level ? Assuming it's a Honda engine

Darran

[Jim Waugh(Albright & Shiny)]

Have you checked the oil level ? Assuming it's a Honda engine

Darran

Would that produce this kind of Symptom?

[Mike Halliday]

As soon as the engine runs so does the pump, the pump has'nt seized.

The engines basically ok, it's just when it's put under load it dies. On the uploader Turn down the pressure to nothing then try it, make sure it is bypassing back into the tank,

Does it have a rev governer that increase  the revs when you start?

Just thinking aloud  but.....Fuel mixture not correct?? Choke stuck??

[Smudger]

If oil is low there is a switch will cut out the engine.

Darran

[johnny bravo]

same happened to me,  oil levels ok,    i did leave fuel in till i last used it,  , when i put it away last year,  around 6 months.   it may have been my pld fuel mixing with the new.        a few days later all was fine.
 
these things happen when you dont want them too

[Kenny83]

Disconnect the yellow lead that runs from your on off switch (if 2 wire) to your engine, there is only one yellow wire so you can't go wrong, then try it, as mentioned its the low oil float switch but can very often play up, even if full of oil, just try it to see what happens... if not then you need to be looking towards the carb, I would just get a new carb thrown on it, they're only 20 quid and literally a five minute job

[Jim Waugh(Albright & Shiny)]

Thanks peeps. Im off out to give it a try..
Interesting what you say about fuel. apart from a couple of small patios its been pretty much laid up in the lockup all winter.. Today I mixed some new fuel into it,, It did run for the best part of an hour before it started playing up. Ill try all that has been suggested so far and report back.. I really can't justify buying a new washer for the sake of a couple of small car parks..

[chris scott]

Throttle venturi is stuck shut.

[BDCS]

It could be the butterfly in the carb but does it rev when off load ? It could be carp in the main jet. It could also be a blocked nozzle in the gun. Is the oil in the engine high ? does it have an auto rev fitted ?

[Jim Waugh(Albright & Shiny)]

Had a good play with it and tried all that you suggested .. definitely seems to be carb issue..  Got it running pump is clearly good. Turning down the pressure helps it however as the pump works harder the more likely the engine is to cut out..

Taking it up to my local small engine / mower bloke and getting a new carb thrown on it..

Once upon a time I would have spent three days taking it to bits rebuilding and gaffing around but these days DownTime is money.... just replace the whole thing.

Thanks for the guidance peeps..

Im just so glad its not a write-off..  

[Kenny83]

I had a guy bring a generator to me that would run for a while and then cut out.... usually about 10 mins, then wouldn't start for a while... similar to what your saying.... turns out it was the fuel cap air inlet was blocked... they have one in to let the fuel go out and fill the tank with air, otherwise a vacumm is created and fuel will not drop into the carb. Try running it with the fuel cap off, worth a try