Any Suggestions; 3112 running with choke on

[joelk]

My poor 3112 (original 12 hp briggs) has been relegated to the outdoors and used sporadically.  I can always get it to start, but lately I am having trouble getting gas to the engine.  Once started, I have the choke almost all the way on to keep it running.  Any suggestions to clean out the carb ( I check flow through my gas line and filter and it flows at a good clip when disconnected).  I did put some sea foam in the gas, but probably not getting enough run time to work its magic.  

[MARK (LI)]

I would change the fuel lines and if it has a filter change that too...and empty out the tank and give it a rinse

[Brettw]

Pull the needle, clean it and take the tube on the carb cleaner and give every orifice the ol' 1-2.  And as Mark said clean the tank and a new filter.  I would start with that stuff, it's fairly easy stuff and good maintenance anyway.

[dhoadley]

I've been getting good results with my ultrasonic cleaner. I remove the carb from the engine, dismantle it, fill with water and a SMALL dash of liquid dish soap. Blow dry with compressed air and reassemble. My wife had a small one for jewelry, but the carb pieces didn't fit well (and she caught me) so I got this at HF.

https://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-63256.html

[fishnwiz]

15 hours ago, dhoadley said:

My wife had a small one for jewelry, but the carb pieces didn't fit well (and she caught me) so I got this at HF.

That is HILARIOUS.  LMAO. .

[ShaunE]

X 2 on the ultrasonic cleaner.  I pre-soak for a day or two before hand to remove the big chunks. 

[Johnrenk]

I also use an ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Fright .  Use hot water and simple green for most jobs. Do not Soake in simple green dulls aluminum. 4, four minute cycles 90% successful . 2 cycle carbs are the tricky ones to clean. Not sure this will apply to your problem it did for me on a wood chipper carb. Had a long syphon tube, at the very bass was a Teflon seal, some how it grew and covered a tinny hole in the tube. Trimmed to uncover hole and is runs great  . 

[joelk]

Well, great suggestions.  Turns out I am an idiot.  I had taken the needle out a while back to clean it and see if I had fuel flow (another tip from this site).  Apparently, I didn't take the time to get the needle adjusted properly.  All I had to do was back it out about 3/4 of a turn and bango  I don't think it ran any better than the day it rolled off the line in 1969.  Amazing how well these engines run.  Thanks again for your help.