Honda GCV160 Engine wont run when choke is off?

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kyoshofan1

Member
Hello all!!

I have a Honda GCV160 engine on my Husqvarna 21" mower. When I choke it to start the mower the engine will run until the choke is shut off and then it dies. I have removed the carb and completely cleaned it- removed main jet and venturi tube, ect. What the heck am I missing here? Any suggestions would be appreciated-Thanks!!

Chris
 
make sure the linkage is working properly, governor etc.. check that the carb butterflies are working properly as well.
 
This really sounds like a clogged main jet, but you said "I have removed the carb and completely cleaned it- removed main jet and venturi tube" I find it best to run a tag wire up and into the main jet "then" spray some cleaner. The tag wire can remove grit that may be tightly wedged in. Then the spray will wash away the loose remains. You can do this just by removing the float bowl.
 
I've got the same engine and it's doing same thing. I also went through the carb but that didn't help. Bought new carb fron Honda, that didn't help as it does the same thing. I pulled muffler to eliminate it and still will only run with choke on. I even pulled the valve cover and everything in there looks fine. I'm at my witts end with this engine. I don't know what else to do to it. Hopefully Robert will see this and can offer some advise. :confused2:
 
I think I understand this, but read below and tell me if this make sense, or I'm not getting it right:

If the mower only runs with the choke ON and dies with the choke OFF, that usually indicates the air/fuel mixture is too lean (not enough fuel or too much air). In most cases, this is due to a clogged fuel supply, often the main jet or emulsion tube.

So moving the choke to ON reduces the air, and gets the air/fuel mixture to a level where the engine will run.

A carb swap will usually resolve it, if a good cleaning of the old one is not 100% perfect. But, there can be another culprit: a vacuum leak. If there is air being sucked in due to a failed or damaged gasket, the symptoms can be identical to a clogged main jet.

Suggest R&R'ing the two (or maybe three) gaskets on both sides of the carburetor and confirm all other parts are sealed up when installing the 2 main bolts.

If you'll share the serial number off the back of the mower deck, I can get you part numbers for the gaskets.
 
kyoshofan1 said:
Hello all!!

I have a Honda GCV160 engine on my Husqvarna 21" mower. When I choke it to start the mower the engine will run until the choke is shut off and then it dies. I have removed the carb and completely cleaned it- removed main jet and venturi tube, ect. What the heck am I missing here? Any suggestions would be appreciated-Thanks!!

Chris
Click to expand...

Sounds like a fuel starvation problem. I worked on a riding mower last year that would do a similar stunt. Would start and run for a short time, then start cutting out and die unless I put it on 1/2 to 3/4 choke! Turned out to be an obstruction in the carburetor inlet at the needle seat causing the carburetor to starve for fuel. Someone mentioned a vacuum leak. That is equivalent to trying to drink a soda with a hole in the straw. Running the engine on choke would increase vacuum and pull more fuel up out of the carburetor bowl. Assuming the carburetor is in working order, I'd check for 1) fuel flow restriction or blockages and 2) could be some small orifices plugged with varnish that looks good to the eye but needs a fine wire to clean them out , 3) vacuum leaks where the carburetor mounts to the engine. Odd how dq72 new carb replacement had no effect. Got to have 3 things to make an engine run. 1) good compression 2) good spark at the right time and 3) proper fuel/air mixture. Just curious if either one of you have tried running the engine without the air filter to see what it does?
 
I too have a Honda GCV160 engine on my Husqvarna 21" mower. I have a sort of similar problem but not quite. I have had so many problems this season with fuel seeping through the air filter and nearly catching fire and it hydro locking and fuel dispensing in the oil. After several attempts to find what the heck is happening like cleaning the float and pin and carburetor and in the end replacing the carb with a new one, I managed to start it. I was elated. It ran like clockwork. The second time I came to use it not so lucky. It will not start. The choke does not appear to be deploying properly and looks as if it could do with being adjusted. It hardly moves. I did manage to start it for 20 seconds and then it cut out. It has had a new air filter, gaskets, spark plug and carb. I am of the opinion now, that it was the choke after all sticking or certainly not deploying properly. My problem is how do you adjust the damn things. On the diagram that I have that came with the machine it looks, certainly on the Honda GCV135, that there is a spring on the choke lever but I don't appear to have a spring which is rather strange and there doesn't appear to be a place for one to go, so does a Honda GCV160e have a spring on the choke lever positioned just outside of the air filter? Mine is a manual choke and not automatic. I have tried desperately to find a diagram or at least a video to find out how to adjust the choke lever. Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks from an English lady living in France.
 
Digging up this old thread as I have the same problem on my Dad's log splitter. It hadn't been run in a couple years, so I half expected fuel issues. It runs great on full choke, but as soon as I start to inch the choke lever over it starts hunting and will stall well before I got the choke fully disengage.

I removed the bowl and have shot carb cleaner in the 3 orifices. No change.

Did any of you who participated in this thread previously come up with a solution?
 
DPDISXR4Ti said:
Digging up this old thread as I have the same problem on my Dad's log splitter. It hadn't been run in a couple years, so I half expected fuel issues. It runs great on full choke, but as soon as I start to inch the choke lever over it starts hunting and will stall well before I got the choke fully disengage.

I removed the bowl and have shot carb cleaner in the 3 orifices. No change.

Did any of you who participated in this thread previously come up with a solution?
Click to expand...

unfortunately most people are fairly sefish.
They come here with a problem an when they get it solved vanish with not so much as a thank you.

do a lot of these engines fited to fire pumps provided to volunteers with very little training.
They are placed in an enclosed trailer at the end of streets where bushfires break through.
So they sit in a small enclosed steel space all through summer oft with the fuel taps left on.

You will need to unscrew the main jet which is inside the brass tube,
You will also need to push the tube out, from the carb throat into the float chamber and clean out all of the cross drillings.

There are times I have to give the carbs well over 2 hours of ultrasonic cleaning to get them to flow properly as modern fuels leave a tar residue that is very hard to remove.
You should also take the tap apart and clean it and the sediment trap below it out.
There is also a filter in the end of the fuel outlet in the tank that gets clogged so it might need to be removed as well.
 
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