ice auger idle?

[chuckwagon]

I have a strike master 2 horse power head that i bought new last year ... this season when I went to get it ready to drill holes it does not want to idle at start or when it is warmed up. I have hold the throttle open just a little so it will stay running to warm up but as soon as i let off it dies? I am thinking it's the carb that is gummed with old gas? I thought I ran it dry but I am not sure anymore with the problems I am having? Anyone have any ideas or a good place to get it looked at, I live in chaska mn the SW metro. I did open the carb up a little and sprayed it with cleaner but did not get the jets taken out ... i seem to never get things back together right when i break the carb all the way down!

[Far-I]

did u try opening up the low speed sdjustment screw at all. Problem could be its running to lean to idle? That was the problem with my jiffy earlier this year abyways. Not familiar with SM but that could be a simple fix.

[Christopher Quast]

Hey chuck I believe I know exactly what your problem is because mine was doing the same thing as you described, mine was that the throttle cable cut it's way through the plastic handle. Not sure what style of throttle lever yours has though.

If that is the problem (causes idle to drop) mine has the plastic lever that is mounted to handle with one screw through the handle to attach it, if you further questions or just dont quite understand what I am talking about email me and you will give you my phone # to better explain how I remedied it.

[RedDB76]

My Strikemaster is a bear to start for the first time every year.

I had a similar problem a few years ago, and it was the carb. I fixed it by running some Sea Foam through it until it would idle, then just let it sit outside running (it was running kind of rough yet) to let the Sea Foam work. It worked, and has worked since then.

I am now very careful about always using fuel stabilizer, and a shot of sea foam in every gas tank. I also leave the fuel in it (not run it dry) over the summer. I have better success this way, and I have some friends that have had similar experience. Someone told me that with ethanol blended gas, you are better to leave it in the tank (with stabilizer) than run it dry. Not sure why, but it works for me.