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So I thought this installed the other way, which is why I was confused. Like with the 'head' inside the tank not the line. This should be easy enough to reinstall, assuming it doesn't break :D

Finally posted the full repair video. The whole repair kind of turned into a mess but I think I was able to squeeze out a decent enough video. I will be glad when this lawnmower sells and is out of my life :D

Yikes, I can't imagine I can swap that without destroying it, but we'll see . . .

So I disconnected the fuel line on this GVC 190 motor and it was kinda stuck. So I pulled harder and this was the result. I assume the orange thing is part of a fuel filter? If so, how do you install it? And why didn't it slide out of the fuel line when I was pulling on it? And even if it HAD...

Looks like this may be the answer to my own question. I'll have to take a closer look next time I'm near the machine https://engines.honda.com/support-and-service/serial-number-locator

I have a craftsman mower with a Honda GVC190 motor. Anyone know where they hide the motor model number on these things? Its about 15 years old, and I was able to find the body model label easy enough. But nothing for the motor.

Ok heres the final repair. It doesn't run truly perfect but its absolutely good enough for me. Its on craigslist and fb marketplace right now, and I'll be mowing with it with my seafoam gas every week until it sells, which is hopefully soon. This project took way longer than expected...

Yup the gasket was blocking the..... primer's airhole, I guess you'd call it? I used a different gasket with a hole there, it needed some minor mods but now everything is lined up and its 3am so I can't test it now but I suspect just like a healthy snowblower, three primes and it will be good...

I started it up again during the daytime this time and it definitely runs way way better than before. The plan is still to mow the lawn with it friday. But in the meantime, its still really hard to start. It came with a new primer bulb, which I installed. But even after priming, I have to pull...

Carb #3 is very promising! I only ran a short test because it was 930pm :) But it seemed to be running MUCH smoother. Not perfect, but pretty good. I'll do a full lawn mow with it next week and then I think I'm going to finally call this one done.

I didn't like the adhesive strip options at the hardware store, but its a very thin gap so a layer or two of gorilla tape should fix this problem and not even be noticeable.

This is actually the FIRST mulching mower I've ever owned that needed a plug. They are crazy expensive. Thats too bad, I could probably build one out of scrap wood and prime and paint it. But all things considered, I think my best bet is to just use some kind of adhesive foam to make a little...

Ahhh I think that might be it! And at $50 each, guess who's NOT buying one! lol

So I used this machine for the first time yesterday and it has some weird grass behavior. All that grass around the motor, it does that very quickly. With the rear flap closed, as shown, most of the grass shoots out the bottom of the flap, but some of it shoots out the top, right under the...

So, the recent developments above have me leaning towards the new carb just being bad. With that in mind, today I just had a few minutes to work on the machine but I really had to get my lawn mowed today. So I figured F-it. I took the new carb off, I cleaned the old carb for the 3rd time, poking...

I may have missed something. And that something is that while both carbs surge in a similar way, one dies when you manually choke it (the new one) while the original one does have a spot where it smooths out, when almost totally choked, right before you kill it. I re-cleaned the original one and...

Before I do that, I'm going to disconnect the governor from the throttle and carefully start up the machine and see if it runs smooth with no influence from the governor at all.

If by bowl jet, you are referring to the bolt/jet that holes the bowl on, then yeah i already tried swapping the original over, and that after soaking it in acetone for a week or more and cleaning it like I was sending it into space. No difference. But if you're referring to another part other...

Welp, "shockingly" the new coil had no change. So does replacing the coil and spark plug negate the need to get a gap tester since thats basically everything in the ignition system? I also re-did the compression test with my drill to bypass the compression release and got around 95 to 100psi...

Well, the current coil looks perfectly lined up. And the flywheel key looks perfectly aligned too. So I've got a new coil on the way. Fingers crossed. I know many think its a fuel issue, I guess we'll see.

QUESTION: I've removed the flywheels on many snowblowers but never a lawnmower. Does the same trick work? Unbolt it, wedge a flathead screwdriver under it, and give it a decent tap with a hammer to pop it free? Is it there a different/better way to do it with lawnmowers? I haven't actually...

So I may have the 'wrong' type of spark tester, but thats all I have so I figured all this talk of spark, let me run the machine for a few minutes off the spark tester and take a close look at it. THEN i ran my perfectly running honda mower off the spark tester too, to compare. The orange bulb...

Engine doesn't smooth out per say. It does get smoother at higher RPMs but it still surges a bit. OP didn't ignore the suggesting to set the revs to 3600, OP asked how you do that on a carb with no adjustment, and OP was ignored. I have inadvertantly drained the tank when I took the carb off...

I've done both of these things and it had zero effect I did the choke on the video I posed, you could see all it did was start to kill the engine.

Ok how can I test that out to prove its a fuel or intake leak issue?

So the more I research this online, the more it really does not look like a fuel issue, the more it looks like either some kind of governor issue or an ignition issue. Assuming that is true, and ignoring the carb for now, what are some ways I can test and diagnose this, other than buying...

Pictures of what exactly? I'm not really sure what you're saying or suggesting here. Also to all who suggest drilling the jet, I swapped with the jet from the old carb and the behavior is unchanged. And I know that jet doesn't need to be drilled out, and I know its clean.

How are you suggesting I "set it at 3600rpm"? In the video I did it by pushing on the return spring on the governor. Someone suggested bending the linkage a little bit, I may try that and see how it goes. The numbers are posted in a previous post. This model has a primer and no choke. 120602...

I went with .005" for both. And how? I loosened the bolt, adjusted the gap, and tightened it back down again. Is that what you're asking?

The spring you can see here? https://www.lawnmowerforum.com/threads/surging-motor-on-new-carb.81359/post-529414 Its there, and it looks..... right?

I did that today too. One was good, one was a tiny bit loose. Got them both to around 0.005". Had no effect. I feel like everything is pointing to that governor spring, but I just kind of doubt that's the problem.

So what if its something I already ruled out? What if the spark plug looks ok but just... is bad. Or if the ignition coil is giving spark but just not ENOGUH spark. Would those problems match the symptoms I'm having? How can I test them? I did use a spark tester on this thing early on and it...

So what is causing the throttle to open and close then? If I manually open it, it revs up and runs better. So what is pulling it closed?

I hate to admit it but I just had a chat with chatgpt about all my symptoms and the model of my motor and it "confidently thinks" that the problem is just that the governor return spring is too weak. It looks ok visually but the machine does run much better if i put even a little extra pressure...

Also I did put the O ring in there between the carb and the block. It made no difference. I checked the valve spacing, it seemed pretty good. One was a tiny bit loose, I tightened it up, no change.

The thing is, the original carb was doing the exact same thing. Also Im looking at the old carb now, I don't see an idel screw or an air bleed jet? Are you sure this carb has those?

Here's a video of the current state: It runs, but poorly. I push on the spring to open the throttle (not WOT i don't think) and it runs much better. Then I let go and it runs like poop again. A broken governor inside the crank case? Throttle return spring thats too weak? Its outside...

Ok I'm outside working on it right now, here are some updates. I took the air filter and airbox off and it started up and did NOT die. Now its running and it still surges every few seconds but not bad any more, not like its going to die. But its not running smooth thats for sure. Ran with no...

The tank looked very clean, though I didn't remove it and actually clean it. So I suppose its possible. The line and carb are new brand new so the tank is the only place dirt could have come from.

So I'm looking through the footage I shot yesterday and at one point, before it started dying, I had the airbox off so you could look right into the carb. You can see the fuel being sucked up and going in, which is pretty cool. But you can also see that the throttle isn't opening. The machine is...

This is the new carb: https://www.ebay.com/itm/196279304487 Doesn't look like it has any adjustments. Or an idle jet, right? Just one jet for full throttle running? It looks absolutely spotless, so I would be surprised if there was some kind of dirt clogging it up. But I guess I can't know...

So I let it sit for a while, and the behavior is a little different now. Now when I start it, it runs great for a few seconds, then just dies. It will start right back up, run great for a few more seconds, then just dies. These carbs only have one spot for the linkage to connect to.

Fixing up an old yardman mower. I filled it up with gas and started it and it ran... not perfect, but it ran ok. However it was leaking fuel everywhere. The fuel line had turned to dust, and the needle seat had as well. So gas was leaking everywhere. So I replaced the fuel line and tried to...

I'm not sure if it worked or not. The carb did leak, but it stopped after a few minutes and didn't seem to start up again. But the machine ran poorly, surging a lot. In the end, I just ordered a carb for it and hopefully that fixes it. Ironically, the carb was $10 and the needle seat was $13...

So reddit told me to just get a new carb. Given that, I figured I might as well see what I can do, since worst case is I'd still need a new carb. So I got a large drill bit, the largest one I could fit down in the hole. And I put a small vice grip on the end and started twisting it by hand. A...

Welp, more problems, which is the way these things always seem to go. I just spent half an hour trying to install the new needle seat. It looks like it goes in right. But when I reassemble the float, the float hangs down so low you can't even put the bowl back on. Here it is with the new seat...

This one seemed kind of stuck so I'm not sure if compressed air would have worked. Something to try next time I suppose.

Well I felt pretty dumb for not lifting up the rear flap! But in always mulch these days, I literally never use my bag. But alas, I'm not THAT dumb because there was nothing there. The two numbers ILENGINE came up with.... those machines have I guess what I would call, kind of odd...

120602 0131 E1 990820 FA You can read the imprinted numbers with your own eyes, no need to do the paint trick like I had to years ago :D

Yeah I could have used one of those. Mine did not come out easy and ended up in a million tiny pieces.