Honda GC160 engine drowning...

 I've got a pressure washer that was given to me that has a Honda GC160
(cheap line) engine that seems to be drowning in gas. If I disconnect
the crankcase pressure pulse hose to the fuel pump after the carb bowl
is filled it will run seemingly ok until the fuel in the bowl is
exhausted. If I leave the fuel pump drive line connected it will flood
to the point of hydro-lock if you keep trying to start it.

I pulled the carb and ran it through the ultrasonic cleaner on the
theory that perhaps some junk or varnish was preventing the float valve
from seating, but it didn't solve the problem. I'm rather suspicious of
the float as it is a single piece molded plastic piece with no
adjustability. If I manually lift the float the valve does seem to
close, but I can't tell if it would be at the correct level.

Anyone have experience with these engines and know what might be the
problem? Anyone know a better group to post this to?

 

Post it here: http://www.perr.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2

Lots of small engine mechanics there.

Vaughn

 Vaughn Simon wrote:

That looks like it might be a good place... If they'd ever approve my
registration so I could post the dang question :(

 

I have a GC135 that had what sounds like the same problem.  I have several
small engines so it's difficult to remember specifics but I *think* the
problem on my GC was the carb float was stuck in the down position.  What I
usually do is remove the float and sand the edges with some fine sandpaper
(320 or 400) very slightly on the sides where it fits between the pivots
(holder).  I also clean the pivot pin with carb cleaner and lube it with a
little WD-40.  I assume the gasoline will remove the WD-40 but it still
seems to help.  It sounds like you already cleaned it thoroughly.  I
generally remove the main jet and clean that too while I'm at it.

On my GC135 it would run fine then if I shut it off and tried to start it
again it would be flooded and I'd have to remove the spark plug, crank the
engine several times, let the plug dry, and then it would start when I put
it back together.  Before I solved the problem I would, after shutting it
down, pull the starter rope until I felt resistance, thus closing the
valves.  That seemed to help a little.

There's a home repair news group but this one seems to be as good as any
I've found for small engine help.  I've not been to the forum that Vaughn
Simon suggested.  I'll have to take a look.

 Ulysses wrote:

I pulled the carb apart again and checked the float and it seems to be
fine. No binding I can see and I can hear it clunk back and forth when I
turn the carb over. I took the blowgun to it at full pressure and
blasted out all the passages I could access. A bit of gunk or perhaps
bug remains came out of the bowl vent, so perhaps that was airlocking
the float, keeping it from rising to shut off the fuel, while the fuel
pump kept pumping fuel in and forcing it out the jets under pressure. At
any rate, I just reassembled and tried it again and it seems to be
running ok now.


I tried the home repair group, but no responses.