OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Honda Engines HONDA GCV160 Choke won't close

Well, I have this Greenfields mower with a Honda GCV160 engine. The carburetor and choke rod were missing but I had both in my box of spares. Anyway, I have put it together but I can't get the choke to close. The choke rod may not be the correct one but it was from a chonda of the same type. I have bent the tang that pushes the choke lever as far as it will go and the throttle cable adjustment is as far as it will go too (not shown in photo). Is there any other way to adjust the travel of the choke lever? I really would appreciate help with this as I am not very good with this stuff. The vocational school guys back in the 60"s told me not to mess around with anything mechanical!

With the Chondas, the Chinese only faithfully copy the core of the engine.

They do their own [i.e. cheap-out to the max] thing with the peripheral bits, and those are the weak points on those engines. However, the Chinese Ruixing carbies are fairly faithful copies of the Keihin's that Honda fits, at least externally.

So you'd do best to order a genuine Honda rod/link, to get the right length, I'd say.

There are US websites like ereplacementparts.com where you can look up the part number/s, and they often have actual pics of the parts.
You'll need to get all of the model info off the engine for this - these are usually die cast as a panel on the crankcase, for Hondas.

Hi Sparker, at a glance it looks as if the choke shaft needs to be rotated 180 degrees. Pull out the butterfly, rotate the shaft and refit the butterfly, it should then work. Or, put the linkage in the other hole on the plastic shaft, either way it appears as if the shaft is at full extension at the moment, and i'm pretty sure the shaft needs to rotate counter clockwise when engaging the choke.
Cheers, Ted

You're the man, Big Ted!

Changing the hole did the trick. I never thought of trying that and, of course, my mind would never comprehend how that could possibly make such a difference. Just blinded by usual habits and solutions that didn't work this time.

Thanks to you and Gadge for help.