OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Honda Engines Honda wont start

Hi all

Picked up an HRU 19r, it has spark, compression and fuel but won't fire, even with starter fluid. I thought I heard a few light popping noises like a light backfire ? oil level is ok. Anyone struck this before ?

Cheers
wce

Hi wce,
Never a good sign that you don't get a pop with starter fluid but I have struck it before. First I would check the float bowl, I had one that did this a few years ago and it had been filled with ethanol and the carb was rusted solid. The other problem with them not starting is the choke not closing fully but a bit of starter fluid fixes that

Hi wce, Hru19r is a gcv, an engine which I am not a major fan of. I would wager either marginally stuck valve through fuel varnish or carbon, or slightly off valve clearances.

They seem t be so much more finicky and pedantic than a gxv - plus they are hard to decarbonise since you have to split the case. All you can really do is take the filter out and spray something like threebond carbon clean spray down it whilst revving it hard

The decks are great though, I have a V40 Victa engined one

G'day WCE Norm and Tyler

Normally with a mower like this I would want to check the timing ,is the key broken on the flywheel or load test
the coil ,is the coil working to generate a spark with the plug in .

I did have one the same as this and a rocker post had come loose and one valve was not opening fully ,just
had to remove the rocker cover tighten the post ,set the clearance and then it ran fine.


Cheers
Max.

Have you tried a known good spark plug? Just because sparks outside the engine doesn't mean it is good nor using one those spark testers with the plug in the engine. The plug could be shorted or just failing under the compression load.

Thanks gent's

Plenty to look into, will keep you posted.

Cheers
wce

Morning all

Checked the coil, cleaned magnets etc and re gapped, decided to check the plug again, plug not sparking when earthed externally but has been fine before, tried it on the lead of another mower and spark is fine, tried it on the Honda again, nothing, good call AVB. Found another long reach plug, put that in and she fired up but blowing loads of blue smoke, changed the oil and let it run for a while but still smoky, runs great at revs but at low speed backfires through the exhaust with flame as well.

Cheers
wce

Have you checked the valve clearance and flywheel key? Backfiring means timing is off for some reason. Also worth checking while doing the valves is the valve timing. I have had a very neglected gcv engine skip a tooth on the timing belt before.