at least for me, everybody else probably knew this.
The D7 3T pony (crank start) was hard starting and when started on ether only ran on ether or a little bit after that, not enough to start the diesel. Obviously not getting gas.
I took the top of the carb off, and sure enough, nothing in the float bowl. And no gas coming through the float valve.. disassembled, cleaned and blew out the upper carb, which looked clean already and should be since I had thoroughly cleaned the whole carb when I got the machine a few years ago, still nothing. Unhooked the hose at the carb, just a dribble of gas. bad valve? unlooked it ahead of the valve, just a dribble. .plugged filter? unhooked ahead of the filter, still just a dribble. unhooked at the tank, still just a dribble.the tank is gunked up already? I had thoroughly cleaned it when I got the machine. started to take off the filler cap to look in and as soon as I cracked it the gas came gushing out. So it was just a tight cap with no venting. what an easy fix! now I just crack the cap and the pony starts and runs like new. next time that will be the first thing I look at, not the last.

Neil wrote:

greengiant, you're in good company, plenty of us have found this the same way : ) I looked at the cap on the Twenty-Two - it has a small hole in the cap itself, and then a gasket arrangement that stops the gas from sloshing out the top. Cleaned that all up and it was good to go

None of my machines has even a pretend vent hole. they're all just the standard plumbing black pipe caps. this is the only one that sealed so tight that it didn't vent at all. At least I think. next time one is hard starting, or even just as a routine, I will crack the cap.

i would never use ether on a gasoline engine! a squirt of gasoline is much easier....

-no wonder we have so many pony threads

our d4 is the same. if you loosen the cap it will start easier. those little vent holes do block up from mud wasps and the like. if you make them bigger the fuel evaporates more quickly.