honda GCV 160 surging

cuzihavto

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Hi. I'm a newbie here. Engine wouldn't start- probably because I over filled with oil and it ran into cylinder and then into carb-jet-fuel bowl.
I took off carb, flushed out oil, but now engine surges, however NOT if the choke is held in (this engine has spring to open choke).
Looks like governor rod is hooked up correctly.
Do I have a dirty/fouled jet, or is it something else?
PS last year same engine wouldnt run without the choke and I took it to small engine guy who simply replaced the carb- I thought that was pretty crude but they are $35 from Sears.
Thanks
 

SONOFADOCKER

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Half choke - you need to clean rebuild the carb . Gasoline left in the carb is a no no now . Put on a black and red plastic fuel shut off in the fuel line .
Your oil bath into the carb now has it messed up .
 

pugaltitude

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I thought that might be it. Do you always get new gaskets when the carb comes off?

Only if they rip when you take the carb off.
Remember to remove and clean under the philips screw on top of the carb and the mixture screw
as well.
 

jms2k

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Didn't know if I should just create a new thread or not, but I have the same engine with this carb:
Plano Power Equipment Online Store - Honda 16100-Z0L-871 Carburetor Assembly.

When I was mowing under a tree today, I got caught on some stray young branches. Ever since then, the engine continually surges when running, unless the choke is on.

I've been mowing all spring without any problems, fresh tank of new gas, etc. I winterize after the last mow in the fall. Any ideas of what I need to be looking for? Thanks!
 

cuzihavto

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When I was mowing under a tree today, I got caught on some stray young branches. Ever since then, the engine continually surges when running, unless the choke is on.

I've been mowing all spring without any problems, fresh tank of new gas, etc. I winterize after the last mow in the fall. Any ideas of what I need to be looking for? Thanks![/QUOTE]

Hi, JMS2k-

It sounds like the problem I had, My engine has auto throttle and surged without load, less so when under load. You could see the governor going back and forth as the surging occurred, with a period I would guess at 3 seconds or so.
I discovered oily gas in the carb bowl, due to overfilling of the oil sump. I flushed it thoroughly, but without disassembly of the carb, the surging continued. This was thought to be due to plugging of one of the jets. I don't have a carb cleaner kit, etc.
A new carb from Sears pars direct cost around $20 or less as I recall and solved the problem. Of course I'd check the air filter, which you probably did.

Hope that helps.

Frank
I still plan to disassemble the old carb when I have time. Mostly I am stingier with the oil.
 

jms2k

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jms2k said:
When I was mowing under a tree today, I got caught on some stray young branches. Ever since then, the engine continually surges when running, unless the choke is on.

I've been mowing all spring without any problems, fresh tank of new gas, etc. I winterize after the last mow in the fall. Any ideas of what I need to be looking for? Thanks!

Hi, JMS2k-

It sounds like the problem I had, My engine has auto throttle and surged without load, less so when under load. You could see the governor going back and forth as the surging occurred, with a period I would guess at 3 seconds or so.
I discovered oily gas in the carb bowl, due to overfilling of the oil sump. I flushed it thoroughly, but without disassembly of the carb, the surging continued. This was thought to be due to plugging of one of the jets. I don't have a carb cleaner kit, etc.
A new carb from Sears pars direct cost around $20 or less as I recall and solved the problem. Of course I'd check the air filter, which you probably did.

Hope that helps.

Frank
I still plan to disassemble the old carb when I have time. Mostly I am stingier with the oil.
I took the carb out about 2 years ago, replaced gaskets, cleaned everything out, etc. It was a pain in the butt to put back together though because of the plastics. I'm hoping to avoid that again. That time it was because I had accidentally overfilled the oil, but this time, it has been running fine (and with proper oil amount). I just got tangled in some shrubbery and then the surge began.
 

cuzihavto

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I just got tangled in some shrubbery and then the surge began.[/QUOTE]

The only parts I can think of that are potentially able to be damaged by a lot of shrubs, etc, on the left side of my mower(where the carb is) are the governor arm, with its spring at the lower end, the linkage rod at the upper end-this has a small spring around it and both have separate holes in the throttle plate arm. There was also an air line from the filtered air to the carb as well but that was right behind the black plastic air filter holder and would have been hard to dislodge. You have to really get down and look at the linkage and compare to a diagram to be sure everything is in place.
It sounds like the shrubs dislodged one of these items.
Frank
 
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