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OT Honda lawn mower engine surges

I

INCase

Well-known Member
Have push mower with a Honda GVC160 (maybe GCV160??) engine. THey put these on alot of mowers for various companies.

mine started surging engine speed really badly the other day such that it slows down so much is almost stops and sometimes does.

from what i've read it could be the idle jet

i looked around and you can buy them for $15-25 so its hardly worth tearing apart so i ordered a new one. I put it on and there is absolutely NO change in the surging

if you choke or partially choke it is levels out but spits and sputters quite a bit. holding the govenor revs it up but it sputters more.

it is one of those fixed throttle engines so it runs full speed all the time

any thoughts on what i'm missing? i know the new carb could be defective as well but probably not too likely i would hope
 
I bought a $15 carb for generator. Best ever. New carb wasn't California compliant. It has a fuel mixture adjustment.

Next to impossible to clean idle jets on the California carbs.
 
It sounds to me like the gas flow is restricted, most likely from debris in the tank or a collapsed gas line. Those are both easy things to check, anyway.
 
I thought of that and i took the lines apart at each point (carb, pre filter, post filter, pre valve post valve and have good flow in all cases

does kinda seem to act like its not getting enough gas there is plenty of flow. enough flow for engines 2X the size
 
Probably from junk partially plugging the main jet. Check your gas can for junk in the bottom. Should be an easy fix by taking the nut off of the bowl and putting a bread wrapper tie wire through the jet to unplug it.
 
Should be an easy fix? Not when small idle circuit is blocked. Tried cleaning. Doesn't work all the time.
 
I just put on eBay carb($15) on my power washer-it has the same Honda engine. It works great.
 
Just to say you did it, replace the plug. I chased a Kawasaki mower engine doing just that, spent money and time needlessly! Plug fixed it.

I don't think that carb has an idle circuit. If it does it should be a jet screwed in from the top/side.

But I suspect either a vacuum leak, tight valve lash, or the new carb is jetted too lean.

If the new plug, adjusting the valves, and checking for vacuum leaks don't fix it, compare the main jet (screwed into the stem on bottom of the carb) size to the original. Or take the original carb apart and thoroughly clean the main jet, scrape it clean with a stiff wire. Spraying and blowing won't remove dried ethanol deposits.

You now have a spare jet to experiment with, but you'll have to invest in a set of jet drills. They are not expensive.
 
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