Honda HRR2169VLA with GCV160 - I miss my manual choke

bxg

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  • / Honda HRR2169VLA with GCV160 - I miss my manual choke
So, I have read a bunch of threads in these forums, and I THINK I have convinced myself that I just need to learn to live with my automatic choke, but posting in case I am missing something.
Symptoms:
- mower starts with no problem - turns right over
- mower hunts when first started (high idle, low idle, high idle about 1 cycle per every 2 seconds)
- after mower warms up it runs decently
- if I make the mistake and turn off the mower in the first 5 minutes or so, it won't start again (unless I reach down and pull back on a linkage, which I presume is tied to the choke)

- I am about 5500' above sea level
- I only use gas with no ethanol (a little hard to find, and pricey, but heard it helps prevent gumming up the carb)

Question #1 - is this "normal" behavior for the auto choke on the GCV160?
Question #2 - would changing the jet size make any difference? And, do I want to go a size smaller to lean it out?
I should be smart enough to figure it out but the brain is not cooperating. Higher altitude means less air to fuel mixture (so it is running too rich with the factory jet?), but I have heard that fuels for high altitude are made to compensate for this (so maybe it is not running too rich and jet is OK). Guy at the local mower repair shop said basically the factory jet is fine for up to 6000' or so - but he didn't seem like he maybe knew what he was talking about, and I was surprised he didn't try to sell me a service job

Again, it runs fine when warm, so I am just curious whether I can solve the "hunting" when it first starts, but not if that will make it run worse once it is hot, which is more important.

Question #3 - does Honda make a conversion kit to switch back to manual choke cable?
Question #4 - and this is my biggest question - are there really people out there that are not smart enough to know to choke an engine when starting, then let off on the choke as it warms up. Or did Honda just think this was a cool, whiz bang feature :laughing:

Any thoughts or ruminations would be appreciated!
Come to think of it, my sears snow blower also hunts until it warms up. maybe the same thing going on here ...
 
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