25 hp Kawasaki skipping

[44DCNF]

You might try running some seafoam through the tank first before opening the carb. It works well at clearing restricted carb circuits. See that your choke is opening fully in the full throttle/no choke postion, opening fully in the idle position, and closing fully in the choke position. I did not see an adjustment for that in the manual I linked to but I only looked briefly. My 12.5 came out of adjustment and acted similar to what you describe with puffs of smoke at start and sputtering at full throttle, difficult to start while choked. Dig deeper into the manual to see if there is a choke adjustment procedure listed. I noticed a speed setting adjustment and that may automatically set the choke. Slapper will likely know or RestroRob if he tunes in.
Other causes could be blown head gasket or loose spark plug.
Personally, I would not use starting fluid in a small engine. No offense Herler, just a matter of opinion. Good advise on checking the plug wires and caps.
Also see if there is an in tank screen ahead of the fuel filter and that it is not restricted with debris from the bottom of tank.
Good Luck!

[arl250]

Thanks for the manual and the good advice hopefully I will get time tonight to work on it
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[arl250]

Ok so I finally got time to mess with it tonight and I cleaned the carb and so far it runs good I did see some trash in the carb not much tho I will post more after I run it awhile
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[khutch]

[QUOTE=44DCNF;4560398]
Personally, I would not use starting fluid in a small engine. No offense Herler, just a matter of opinion.
Good Luck!

What are the potential problems of starter fluid on small engines? I have done it from time to time but won't in the future if I am asking for problems...

[44DCNF]

For someone experienced with it's proper use and knowledgeable in what a quick burst means, it may not be as great a problem. Never a good idea to keep an engine running past a couple cycles by using starting fluid, if fuel delivery is not there.

The issue with it can come in a couple ways. With it's use you wash the lubrication off of the cylinder walls which can lead to ring damage and cylinder scoring. As well, too big a shot can cause such pressure upon ignition it can do mechanical damage, bend a rod or valve, destroy a head gasket or other gaskets by way of it's entering the crankcase past the rings, etc. It is never good to use it in a two stroke engine since it is their fuel that is delivering the lubrication, not splash or pressurized oil flow from the cranckcase. Starting fluid will not fix an engine problem, and there are better ways of going about diagnosing one.

You also run the risk of an external fire from a stray spark or heat source, or gathered vapors igniting if you do eventually obtain ignition. I've just seen too many people damage too much equipment by it's improper use, and even at minimal doses it is still washing lubrication from the cylinder walls. As the posters in some of the following links say, a drop or two of premix oil/fresh gas is better used for this purpose.

A few links from searching dangers of using starting fluid:

http://www.arcticchat.com/forum/vint...ing-fluid.html

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2250

http://www.minitune.com/helpful-tips.html

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/carb...id-189347.html