Hi guys, new here! Just found this forum and thought I"d give it a shot. I'm going to look at a old 1979 JLG 40F boom manlift to purchase. It is private owned by a trucking company who has used it for years to wash and service trailers. They recently bought a newer one and have this one for sale cheap,cheap,cheap. They say everything works fine with no major leaks....except.......it will only start and run if you continue to spray ether. It is a gas engine. He told me his mechanic says it needs a new carburetor but he also told me his mechanic is only a parts changer. Sounds to me like not getting fuel. This happened right after they put in a new battery and hooked it up backwards. They had to replace some kind of relay or something so it would crank but now it wont fire without ether. I plan to see if it is delivering fuel to the carburetor but if it is not, is there some kind of safety fuel shutdown solenoid somewhere that could of also been damaged? What else can I look for that is not necessarily obvious to the average mechanic? Also, what engine is used in these and how much does the whole unit weigh? Thank's
Welcome to HEF sawzall5150. :drinkup The JLG 40 had a Wisconsin VH4D engine with a Zenith updraft carburetor. Best I can recall it was an old school carb, didn't have any form of "safety shutdown" like an anti-dieseling solenoid. If you have to keep giving it a shot of starting fluid to make it run it's simply either a fuel delivery problem or a carb problem. Either should be able to be sorted out. BTW, here's a thread on the 40F that has a pile of info. > HeavyEquipmentForums
Thank's a lot for the info and the thread. I'm thinking not getting fuel. Maybe intake gaskets shot and sucking there instead of carburetor, I've ran into that several times on older stuff, Should be pretty easy to figure out if there aren't any electronics involved. It's just strange that it ran [supposedly] before they put the battery in backwards. I've replaced a million batteries and managed to put one in my Cobalt boat backwards about a year ago. It was not pretty. Once you figure out what you did, it's too late and cost you about $500. I'm sure I'll be back in touch.
Hi Wille59, sawzall5150 Just came across this. For a short while VH4D used a Walbro carburetor. Looks identical, designed the same but uses a different design on its float. Look to see if your carb is the Zenith or the Walbro. If it's the Walbro I have one. Wille59, thanks for the plug on my JLG40F Dilemma thread.
Wow, I wasn't expecting to get another reply on such an old post, thank's. I bought the lift without hearing it run and hauled it home. We took the carb apart and cleaned all the rust and junk out, pulled the intake and made some new gaskets to replace the blown out ones and drove it off the trailed in a little over an hour. Runs great! The only thing wrong is that sometimes the steer function and the boom up/down function [or is it the boom in/out] don't always work, but will eventually work perfectly for a while until the quit again randomly. It has been several months since I have fooled with it because I've been too busy. Since they always stop working together, I am assuming they have a common power source, perhaps one of the solenoids under the frame behind the motor? Thanks.