Doug from Ohio
Member
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2021
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 18
NOTE: after reading this let me know if you suspect the governor arm or the carburetor.
Three weeks ago I picked up a rescue Honda GVC160 a homeowner had set out for parts. HRR2169VKA serial # MZCG—9371568. I adopted it as a “project mower“ so here’s what I have done so far. 1. Fixed the bent shaft and banged back into tolerable vibration. 2. Checked shear pins on the blade end. No damage. 3. Pulled carb and cleaned thoroughly. 4. Changed spark plug and set gap to specs. Hunting and surging, black smoke, and a backfire or two. 5. Changed thermowax. 6. Pulled carb and cleaned it AGAIN this time with torch tips. 7. Removed flywheel and checked shear pin. Perfect working order 8. Reset the air gap. 9. Adjusted valves. 10. Sprayed carb cleaner into carb inlet while running…engine sputtered and died. Then it ran perfect. Hooray! Victory…the let it sit for 60 mins then went to restart and same black smoke from exhaust and sputtering. I manually pumped the governor arm to full throttle a couple times to prod it along and it finally cleared its throat and ran perfect. What could it be that this thing is so finicky that it runs great one second and barely starts the next??? I have tried almost everything except replacing the carb but that might be next. Could it be governor arm? Any ideas are welcomed.
Three weeks ago I picked up a rescue Honda GVC160 a homeowner had set out for parts. HRR2169VKA serial # MZCG—9371568. I adopted it as a “project mower“ so here’s what I have done so far. 1. Fixed the bent shaft and banged back into tolerable vibration. 2. Checked shear pins on the blade end. No damage. 3. Pulled carb and cleaned thoroughly. 4. Changed spark plug and set gap to specs. Hunting and surging, black smoke, and a backfire or two. 5. Changed thermowax. 6. Pulled carb and cleaned it AGAIN this time with torch tips. 7. Removed flywheel and checked shear pin. Perfect working order 8. Reset the air gap. 9. Adjusted valves. 10. Sprayed carb cleaner into carb inlet while running…engine sputtered and died. Then it ran perfect. Hooray! Victory…the let it sit for 60 mins then went to restart and same black smoke from exhaust and sputtering. I manually pumped the governor arm to full throttle a couple times to prod it along and it finally cleared its throat and ran perfect. What could it be that this thing is so finicky that it runs great one second and barely starts the next??? I have tried almost everything except replacing the carb but that might be next. Could it be governor arm? Any ideas are welcomed.
Last edited: