Dirty filters 90% of small engine trouble?

[crosscanadarider]

We can get dirty gasoline every time we fill up. Dirty fuel filters either will or may cause the engine and/or fuel pump to heat up, and also can starve the carb of gas causing the engine to be underpowered or finally quit. On shutting down, the engine will cool down, and enough gas might trickle through the filters to refill the carb, allowing for quick startup and good operation for a few miles before the engine heats up and carb again starves for fuel. When this happened to me on my moped my centrifugal-clutch-operated two speed tranny would not get into second gear so I thought I had a tranny problem, so I took the engine apart and as an amateur mechanic caused myself many problems. A dirty fuel filter will not always be obvious as enough gas might get through the filter to make a person think he has fuel flow. Also, a dirty air filter will throw off the air-fuel mixture. In my opinion, dirty filters account for 90% of small engine trouble, and they should be cleaned before doing any other attempt at repair or adjustment.

[BlueRidgeRuckRider]

No way......I'm using a dirty sock as a fuel filter and my Ruck does 83mph !!!! ;D ;D

[skuuter]

In actuality, the Ruckus has never really been too "tempormental" about clean/dirty filters. I owned several and each one had several thousand miles on em'. I only replaced one, and that was from gettin' wet (as in SOAKED)....."Too Much Air" as in opening up the Air Box too much has a much more dire affect on them...been there too..... ;D