Carburetor issue, I think, what am I missing?

[mwking]

I was working on the 340 Trailfire this afternoon. I have gone through the sled completely and replaced all the bearings, sliders etc. The engine has new gaskets, seals fan belt etc. I put a rebuild kit in the fuel pump, replaced the fuel lines and filters and gave the carbuetor a good cleaning. When I first tried to start it it wasn't getting any gas. There was fuel in carb bowl, but the plugs were dry. I took the carb off and soaked it in pinesol for two days, blew out all the passages and put it through the ultrasonic cleaner. I put it back on this afternoon and it fired right up. The problem after running a few minutes it was bogging and not wanting to idle and finally died. If I hold the throttle open I can get it to fire after a few pulls and eventually it might start and run for a little bit before dieing again. From the wet plugs and the way it is acting I'm sure that it is flooding itself now. The carb has a new choke plunger in it, the float arm is set level, air screw is 1.5 turns out, I turned the carb over and used a piece of fuel line to check the needle valve and it is ok. If it is getting too much fuel I can't figure out where it is coming from. Anyone have any ideas?

[Danzig]

I would triple check the plunger and make sure its seating. Pull up on it while the sled is running if you can, you should have some play in the cable at the carb before you will see the engine load up, if its tight and no play adjust the choke plunger cable.

[mwking]

I was suspicious of the choke plunger too. I had adjusted the cable so I tried loosening it up. The plunger is new but I'm sure I can see a bit of a dent in the rubber where it is seating. I swapped another choke cable on to it, but it was so flooded by that point I'm going to have to wait and try it again later. Typically I have been using a flashlight to adjust the choke plunger so it is half way up at half choke. The tech manual just says the plunger should expose at least half the bore but it's not clear if that is with the choke lever straight up or flipped right over.

[JDT]

Try and get 1/8" of slack in the cable with the choke off.

[Danzig]

choke lever pointed back is half, over half is full choke

[jdrob]

Murray first off before you adjust anything else, unscrew the choke from the dash,lay the cable on top of the engine loosely and see if it makes a difference? I have had simple trouble like this with the trailfire.and sportfire. Even with the dash being propped up or laying down in normal position.
This may sound silly but, It has happened to me a couple times. I seems like the cable is almost to short and whenever you move the dash it will choke itself out and flood.. I hope this helps