Honda GCV190 pressure washer engine

C

Cfs

Well-Known Member
Background: I was given a Homelite pressure washer with the above mentioned Honda GCV190 engine. GCV190LQ N5AP T98B. GJAA 2348797
The guy who gave it to me, said the engine ran great but that he had broken off the thermal relief valve that screws into the brass manifold. I got the broken nipple out and scavenged a replacement relief valve off of an old pump. When I went to start it the snap back on the recoil starter about took my arm off. I assumed it pointed to out of adjustment valves since the flywheel and flywheel are both steel and do not shear like a lawnmower engine. When I removed the valve. Cover and set it to TDC Both the intake and the exhaust seemed to have no valve lash ar all! So I set the valves at 008 and .006 re sealed the valve cover with RTV sealant finger tight for half an hour then tightened and let it sit 24 hours to fully cure.
Start it up today for the first time it fires right up on the 1st pull, no snap back, runs strong, great pressure output. No leaks from the vale cover. I started to clean my driveway and after about 5 mins. The engine starts to smoke..white oil smoke. If I let go of the trigger on the spray gun the smoke slowed way down, if I started to spray again it would begin to smoke again. I took the cover off of the air filter and saw that the filter had been sprayed with oil. So I ran it with the cover off and the filter out...when it was under load I could see oil coming from the oil breather being sprayed into the air box and sucked into the carb. I did change the oil prior to testing it 20oz. 10w30 and I do not believe it is over filled with oil. I am not sure what I should check, adjust or replace to stop the oil flow from the breather hose to the carb. if anyone has had a similar problem and has a fix please let me know. Any and all insights welcome
Spit
 
Cfs said:
Background: I was given a Homelite pressure washer with the above mentioned Honda GCV190 engine. GCV190LQ N5AP T98B. GJAA 2348797
The guy who gave it to me, said the engine ran great but that he had broken off the thermal relief valve that screws into the brass manifold. I got the broken nipple out and scavenged a replacement relief valve off of an old pump. When I went to start it the snap back on the recoil starter about took my arm off. I assumed it pointed to out of adjustment valves since the flywheel and flywheel are both steel and do not shear like a lawnmower engine. When I removed the valve. Cover and set it to TDC Both the intake and the exhaust seemed to have no valve lash ar all! So I set the valves at 008 and .006 re sealed the valve cover with RTV sealant finger tight for half an hour then tightened and let it sit 24 hours to fully cure.
Start it up today for the first time it fires right up on the 1st pull, no snap back, runs strong, great pressure output. No leaks from the vale cover. I started to clean my driveway and after about 5 mins. The engine starts to smoke..white oil smoke. If I let go of the trigger on the spray gun the smoke slowed way down, if I started to spray again it would begin to smoke again. I took the cover off of the air filter and saw that the filter had been sprayed with oil. So I ran it with the cover off and the filter out...when it was under load I could see oil coming from the oil breather being sprayed into the air box and sucked into the carb. I did change the oil prior to testing it 20oz. 10w30 and I do not believe it is over filled with oil. I am not sure what I should check, adjust or replace to stop the oil flow from the breather hose to the carb. if anyone has had a similar problem and has a fix please let me know. Any and all insights welcome
Spit
Click to expand...
Too much oil. The GVC190 capacity is a little over 16 Oz (pint).
 
did you check all the cooling tin to be sure it is not plugged with a rodent nest, so mch that it is overheating? Did you check the exhaust and spark screen if it has one to be sure they are not plugged so much that exhaust pressure builds up and pushes oil out thru the breather due to excessive blowby as it fights it?
 
sgkent said:
did you check all the cooling tin to be sure it is not plugged with a rodent nest, so mch that it is overheating? Did you check the exhaust and spark screen if it has one to be sure they are not plugged so much that exhaust pressure builds up and pushes oil out thru the breather due to excessive blowby as it fights it?
Click to expand...
A few ounces of oil aren’t going to cause that much white smoke. Excessive blow by of oil due to worn valve seals and piston rings most likely. If it has enough power, run it and keep an eye on the oil level.
 
I am going to remove several ounces of oil and see what happens. After I posted I, I checked the specs and saw that 18.6 number…if I added 20 and did not get all the old oil out maybe it’s 4-5?oz. overfilled. I will let you know what I find
 
Did you check the oil by screwing IN the oil dip stick?

Below is the proper way. Do NOT screw the dip stick in while checking level.

Mover needs to be on the same cutting height on all four wheels and on LEVEL ground.

Lastly check both sides of the dip stick for proper level checking.

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Thanks to everyone who replied to my pleas for info. I went ahead and drained the oil from the engine again and did another oil change this time making sure that I only added 18oz of 10w30. The oil that I had just installed less than 30 minutes of operating time was quite dark not a honey color when I drained it. Unfortunately the lower level of fresh oil made no difference. After about 5 minutes of running it began to smoke If I let up on the spray wand the pump goes into bypass and the smoking is greatly reduced but as soon as I start spraying again the smoking starts up. So the oil level is not the issue. I am confident that I got the valves adjusted properly, the pressure washer started on the 1st pull and ran great until it started with the smoking...white smoke no doubt oil. I did not check it this time but what happened earlier was oil being drawn into the carb form the oil breather tube. Whoever suggested that the issue might have to do with valve guide, seal or engine wear is probably on point.
So now I am asking what steps I should take to troubleshoot and repair this issue. Yes I know about not screwing I the dipstick on Honda engines. This one has the small plastic dipstick that screws in at the base of the engine. It has a mark about half way up that is the full mark and after adding g 18 oz and reading the dipstick with it just placed on the tube (not screwed in) it is right at the full line.
Again any and all input welcome
Spit
 
No gas smell. Could I have done something wrong on the valve adjustment? That would cause the oil to get into the breather? Does anyone know if a Breather on GCV190 can get plugged up and if there is anyway to check and clean it?

How would I best verify if it’s oil leaking past a valve?

In the IPL I see an oil seal for the intake valve I am wondering how to check it for proper functionality
 
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