Honda carburettor

[redsturgeon]

OK so I'm stretching things here, it's a Honda lawnmower...not even a sit on so can't really claim it could be transport. However it is an engine story so better here than anywhere else I think.

The Honda started having problems, would start and run on choke fine but would cut out when taken off choke. Seemed like a fuel issue and I tried the obvious like checking the fuel cap vent, taking the cap off didn't solve the problem so on to the next thing. Next tried some carb cleaner down the air intake with engine running, still no joy. So took the carb off and soaked it in the cleaner. Checked the main jet and it seemed fine. Put it back together and still no joy.

Youtube offered no more solutions apart for replacing the whole carb so I decided to have a look at the cost of a new one. Went on eBay and was amazed...carbs for this Honda engine available new from China sell for a price that amazed me. (I will put the price below).

Anyway before buying a new carb decided to take this one apart again to see if the cleaner may have dissolved any blockages and to have a poke about with bits of wire through any hole I could find.

Discovered on close inspection that the main jet had a several tiny bleed holes down the side and holding up to the light I could see some were blocked. I ended up clearing these with a tiny wire unraveled from a cycle brake cable ( about 0.1mm in diameter). After unblocking these and rebuilding and replacing the carb the lawnmower ran like a dream. So well in fact I had to adjust the revs down significantly.

Nice feeling for the rest of the day having fixed the problem and saving the inevitable £100+ cost of taking it to be fixed.

And the cost of a new carburettor, less than a tenner...how do they make them for that?

John

[servodude]

And the cost of a new carburettor, less than a tenner...how do they make them for that?

best not to think about it

at least with the Hondas (GCV series?) you know you can get the parts
- I've had to give up on other no-brand mower engines because of trivial things like the carb gasket being shot and unreplaceable

-sd

[richlist]

I'd have thought that most gaskets could be made/ reproduced without to much effort. Whenever I've needed one I've managed to make something that works.

[bungeejumper]

Thanks for the story, RS, and nicely told.

In my memory, carbs were usually made of metal, but there are all-plastic bodies, such as the one on my old Ryobi strimmer. (Not that that was any particular recommendation - it was a right bogger for uneven running. ) Anyway, well done for seeing it through. There's something particularly satisfying about fixing something like that instead of junking and replacing it. Somewhere between James May and the Repair Shop. Mind you, you've got to have the time to take it on....

I've had to give up on other no-brand mower engines because of trivial things like the carb gasket being shot and unreplaceable.

Yes, that surprised me the last time you mentioned it. You did say that you'd got tired of cutting new gaskets from sheet material. But wouldn't a tube of Gasket Goo (or similar, https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-e ... 99712.html) have made a seal? Used to work on my old motorbikes.

BJ

[servodude]

I'd have thought that most gaskets could be made/ reproduced without to much effort. Whenever I've needed one I've managed to make something that works.

Yes, that surprised me the last time you mentioned it. You did say that you'd got tired of cutting new gaskets from sheet material. But wouldn't a tube of Gasket Goo (or similar, https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-e ... 99712.html) have made a seal? Used to work on my old motorbikes.

Yeah I probably could have tried harder - or come up with some approximation of the fiddly die cut wonder

That said, that's the only thing I identified as obviously wrong with that (awful) cheap mower

The root cause might well have been something akin to the problem John solved.. if the Honda I replaced it with stops firing I'll know where to look

-sd

[bungeejumper]

That said, that's the only thing I identified as obviously wrong with that (awful) cheap mower

I've had one of those. A Chinese-made, self-powered Challenge mower for £99, with a Briggs & Stratton engine. Bargain! What could possibly go wrong?

What went wrong was that they hadn't asked B&S to make the gearbox too. After four months, the thing suddenly stopped working, and for some reason I decided to split the case and investigate. Where the gears ought to have been, there was nothing but a big dollop of sintered bronze mush. Yes, they'd used bronze for the cogs that made it all work, instead of steel. Must have cost them far more to make, and absolutely useless.

Anyway, the retail shed refunded my money, so there was no great harm done apart from wasting the world's resources on this clueless machine and shipping it halfway round the globe.

BJ

[sg31]

And the cost of a new carburettor, less than a tenner...how do they make them for that?

best not to think about it

at least with the Hondas (GCV series?) you know you can get the parts
- I've had to give up on other no-brand mower engines because of trivial things like the carb gasket being shot and unreplaceable

-sd

When I had a yacht with an old engine I got to know a retired Royal Navy engineer who had the boat next to mine, he was a proper old salt and had live around boats all his life. He maintained that while the manufacturers gaskets were the best option, the lack of a gasket was not a problem. He would cut a gasket out of any paper or thin card that was around, heavily smear it with grease then use that as a gasket. It might not last for ever but it would work for a surprisingly long time. When it fails just make a new one.