Re: EF1000 hunts

OK, so I got the service manual.  TS guide suggests air leak or plugged jet on carb.  I sprayed Starting fluid (ether) in spots around carb and when I hit the area of the return spring for the main throttle shaft the engine speed increased.  I pulled off the carb cleaned and and checked the jets and passages - all clean to begin with. But the throttle butterfly shaft has a fair amount of play, like whatever passes for the top bearing for that shaft is gone and air is passing into the carb around the throttle shaft.  The manual and parts breakdown dont detail that area so I am guessing no parts are available such as a seal or bearing and I will have to get another carb to make it right.

Since I had to remove the plastic stop cap off the pilot jet to inspect and clean that out I left it off when reassembling it and adjusted it for a no-load Economy SW ON idle without hunting.  It took about a turn CCW from its original position however something changed sometime during the spray, disassemble, reassemble process.  The engine doesnt want to rev up enough when the throttle control is fully opened and the inverter output drops under high load.  If I spray the ether at the throttle shaft the RPM increases nicely then once the ether is used it drops again.  I tried moving the pilot jet adjustment for that but it had no effect.  Pulling out the choke improves the situation, so it seems to be leaning out under high RPM and load. Hard for me to believe an air leak around the throttle shaft can cause that since it cant possibly account for more than a percent or 2 of the total intake air when the throttle is wide open.