OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Honda Engines GCV160 - Carby and air filter soaked with fuel

HI all,

I took apart the carby on a GCV160 to clean it as it was running rough. Once fitted back onto the machine it fired first go and now runs beatifully, however I left the fuel tap open for about an hour and the carby and entire air filter box were soaked in fuel.

Did i miss putting something back together? I did not touch the float etc..

Any help would be great!

Cheers

It sounds as if it is flooding. Most likely either the float is not moving completely freely on its pivot, or there is now dirt lodged between the needle and seat. I suggest you try the easiest cure first. Turn off fuel, remove float bowl, disconnect fuel hose at carburetor end, and blast some carburetor cleaner through the tubular connection to the carburetor where the fuel hose normally attaches. Then reinstall float bowl, reconnect fuel hose, and see if the problem is fixed. If it is just a bit of dirt under the needle, it should be.

Thanks Grumpy. I will try this and report back with the results.

G'day luvpsi and Grumpy, I have had this happen to me several times and it nearly always was the float sticking and holding it open to flood. Pulled the bowel off and centred the float pin, gently lifted the float up and down a couple of times while running fuel through to make sure eveything was ok before I put the bowl back on.

Thanks Rob, that was going to be the second thing I suggested.

I haven't encountered a sticking float on a Honda carburetor yet, but obviously it could happen - it certainly happens to other carburetors. Perhaps it is associated with not using the engine for a long time, allowing time for gum to form on the float lever pivot.

The main thing is to do the diagnosis in the simplest way, and the way that we personally prefer, so for me, step one is to clean the needle and seat, because you can easily do that without removing the carburetor from the engine. If necessary you can dismantle and clean the float pivot without removing the carburetor, but it would be awkward, and personally I'd rather not work on the float mechanism if there's a good chance it's just some dirt I can blow out without much effort. If I distrust the float mechanism, I'd rather remove the carburetor and clean the whole of it properly - but that is a bigger job than just blowing some carb cleaner into the intake pipe.

I'm surprised to hear that you've been finding sticky float pivots, and I'm glad you posted to report it - that is yet another of the interesting issues that you have found and reported. You have worked on far more Hondas and chondas than I have at this point. Your reports and tips have become a key source of information for me, and I'm sure for others.

Your right Grumpy it is a bit to much of a shortcut that I have suggested. I assumed that luvpsi has cleaned the carby already and was to quick to say a sticky float.
Now I always pull the whole carby off and check gaskets as it is much more thorough and I am much more happier with the job knowing it has been fully cleaned.

Your system is what I like to do when I get hold of an engine or mower I like Rob: make myself comfortable with it. For me, that means going over the external adjustments and getting a feel for how much work it's done and how well it's been cared for. One thing that annoys me with Hondas is at least on the older ones, the carburetor insulator gaskets always split, and they cost a couple of dollars each, so I tend to hope I won't have to remove the carburetor. However if I find the cooling fins are full of grass or there's water or sediment in the float bowl, the choke isn't closing, the spark plug gap is wrong, the oil is dirty, or there's garbage in the bottom of the fuel tank, I have to break out the spanners and do it your way.

On Hondas, the best I can hope for is that the carburetor has never been touched, because everything amateurs do to them is for the worse.

I know you are usually working on mowers that belong to someone else, and you therefore make sure they are returned well set up for the long haul Rob. It's only possible to do it that way because you enjoy the work and don't charge much: no mower shop could approach a mower tidy-up job the way you do, because the customers wouldn't be prepared to pay what they'd charge. Your customers are very fortunate.

The gcv carburettors are somewhat painful to say the least, the carby is held on by 2 long 10mm bolts (BOLTS not nuts on studs), that go through the air filter housing, gaskets, carby, insulator and more. but sometimes theres no choice but to remove them, thats my findings on several early ones, newer ones might be a different story.