The infamous GCV160 AutoChoke

[m00t]

Hey all, great forum here! Thanks for all the info I've learned so far about my mower.

Here's the deal, I bought a new GCV160 powered mower this Spring, it isn't used a lot, I only run non-ethanol fuel in it much like all of my craftsman power equipment. The first time or two I used it, less than 1 hour, it ran fine. After that, the mower would start on first pull, run great for a few minutes, and then as it warmed up, the autochoke starts surging. Being the mower is so new, I took it to the local Honda repair center, they said it was fixed, I brought it home. The mower literally only gets used for trim work where the riding mower can't get to.

Let it sit for about a week before filling it up with new gas, and going about my business. Low and behold, exact same issue, like nothing was fixed at all. It only surges once it's warmed up. I just can't put my finger on what could be wrong, my guess is that they replaced the wax cylinder, but apparently that has had no effect. I read one thread where someone adjusted the autochoke 'rod' but can't find any information anywhere on doing that. All of the posts on here seem to be about starting or surging before it warms up. Mine is the opposite, fine on starting and cold, once it warms up it surges.

Any suggestions? I'd really love not to take it back to the dealer, who is a 45 minute drive each way (x4 to drop it off and pick it up). The mower easily has less than 5 hours runtime on it.

Thanks again!

 

[robert@honda]

Any suggestions? I'd really love not to take it back to the dealer

Surging as you describe is often due to gunk/slime/debris blocking fuel flow, OR if one of the gaskets is fitted incorrectly during re-assembly. A gasket can go on backwards or upside down and either 'wrong' position can induce a vacuum or other problem. Here's a typical GCV160 carb and related parts assembly, as an FYI. Of course, I'd have the dealer make it right, and would not suggest you use this drawing to do any DIY :tongue:

WITH the CONTROL BASE:

WITHOUT the CONTROL BASE:

 

[m00t]

Surging as you describe is often due to gunk/slime/debris blocking fuel flow, OR if one of the gaskets is fitted incorrectly during re-assembly. A gasket can go on backwards or upside down and either 'wrong' position can induce a vacuum or other problem. Here's a typical GCV160 carb and related parts assembly, as an FYI. Of course, I'd have the dealer make it right, and would not suggest you use this drawing to do any DIY :tongue:

WITH the CONTROL BASE:

WITHOUT the CONTROL BASE:

Thanks for the info! I bought a new carb, should be here this week, I'll let you know if that fixes it. $25 for a new carb is much easier than 3 hours of driving.

Cheers!

 

[Jim K]

Hey m00t,

Was reading through this thread because I have the exact same problem with my Honda GCV160 mower that I bought in June 2020. Have only used it for approx. 2 1/2 hrs. because I am still using an old Craftsman mower.
Unfortunately we are almost 5 years down the road from your original post so I don't know if you will ever see this question, but here goes - Did the new carb fix the problem?
I just brought my mower to the shop this morning since it is still under warranty. Have tried other fixes on my own up to this point to no avail and think the problem is most likely carb related or carb and auto choke related.
Let me know, thanks!

 

[TAgrant]

Hey m00t,

Was reading through this thread because I have the exact same problem with my Honda GCV160 mower that I bought in June 2020. Have only used it for approx. 2 1/2 hrs. because I am still using an old Craftsman mower.
Unfortunately we are almost 5 years down the road from your original post so I don't know if you will ever see this question, but here goes - Did the new carb fix the problem?
I just brought my mower to the shop this morning since it is still under warranty. Have tried other fixes on my own up to this point to no avail and think the problem is most likely carb related or carb and auto choke related.
Let me know, thanks!

My lawn mower has the same issue. Did the shop have success fixing it? What ended up being the issue?

 

[breesmom]

Hi, we are replacing the fuel filter and carburetor on the Honda GC160. My question is the hose on the bottom of the carburetor goes where?? We didn't take it apart and can't find any pictures of where to put it.

 

[Jim K]

TAgrant,
Will post the fix once the shop does their thing with it. The shop stated that it was going to take 4 weeks to get to it! Wow! Fortunately I still have my old mower to use in the mean time as my grass keeps growing.
One good thing did happen when I brought it to the shop, the mechanic started the engine and let it run for 1 1/2 minutes, the surging started like clockwork. Was worried that the problem wouldn't replicate itself once the mower was in the shop, it did!

 

[Jim K]

breesmom,
I am by no means a regular mechanic on lawnmower engines, but typically the only hose that feeds into the carburetor is the fuel line that attaches to an input port on the side of the carb. The bottom of the carb is usually a bowl that attaches with a bolt. Refer to the diagram on a previous post above. You also should be able to find a diagram online for your model.

 

[Jim K]

TAgrant,
What a circus this was!

• I brought the mower to a Northern Tool store for repair since they are an authorized dealer and the mower is still under warranty.
• The shop did their thing and stated that the carburetor was just dirty and all they did was clean it - total $75 before tax. All this work is not covered by the warranty.
• I complained since I had cleaned the carb a couple times to no avail, and was never told when I dropped off the mower that this kind of problem typically is not covered by the warranty. If I would have known that, I would have walked out with the mower and just replaced the carburetor myself with a brand new one.
• When I went to go pickup the mower from the shop, I asked them to start the mower and let it run for 3-4 minutes to verify that it wasn't surging anymore. The mower didn't start. The mechanic helping me stated that he knew what the the problem was and would fix it. I never did find out what he did exactly but it had something to do with the auto choke I believe.
• Northern Tool tried to charge me $116 for all the work but I said no way and paid the original $75.

So the end result of this story is that I should have just replaced the carburetor with a brand new one for $20 myself instead of paying $75 for them to 'supposedly' clean the current one. The communication from Northern Tool needs to be better on informing their customers about warranty coverage.

 

[slomo]

Just noticed this post has 50,000 views and 8 replies since 2016. Amazing......

slomo