On 7 Mar 2005, nevermore2005 wrote:
BTW, 2 hours to remove and clean a Honda carb on a 20 HP? Find a new
tech. That should only take one hour, in my experience.

After looking at the shop manual, I was thinking the same thing. Might
take me 2 hours the first time but after that, unless there's
something I'm not seeing in the manual, and hour looks about right.
Problem is, I haven't HAD an hour (much less two) lately.

Do you have an air compressor?

Nope

How about carb cleaner, "Gunk".

Yep. Plenty of it.

Dismantle it, soak it in GUNK, wash it clean in gas or varsol, clean
all your circuits (idle, off idle) using a thin wire to snake through
the circuits. Blow it all clean with compressed air. A new kit, I am
guessing, should be about $20.00.

How's about I just open the bowl, remove the jet, jet nozzle, main
nozzel and spray THEM down with carb cleaner. Then stick it back
together without a kit. I mean the carb is practically brand new. I'm
thinkin' I can save the gaskets unless they're glued in there with
something..

Yeah, and a service manual will save
you hours of guess work. I'd get one.

Got one.

Also, I am not sure what your tech is talking about, but if you
stabilize the fuel in the winter, spring start up and run should be a
breeze and this should not be occurring yearly.

I hope you're right.
Another thing, the tech hasn't seen the engine. He's just guessing
from the symptoms I described. It seemed odd to me because the engine
will crank up and run fine for a couple of minutes, the suddenly try
to shut down, popping on about every 40th revolution until it finally
just quits. But then it will immediately crank right back up and run
fine for another couple of minutes. Over and over again like that.
Tech says it's running on a special "start up" circuit for the first
couple of minutes but then switches to the main jet and that's what's
clogged, so it shuts down. One pull though and it starts right back up
on the "start up" cirguit. I guess that makes sense but ... well,
we'll see... when I get a spare hour or so.
Thanks for the response.
Rick

lid wrote

How's about I just open the bowl, remove the jet, jet nozzle, main
nozzel and spray THEM down with carb cleaner. Then stick it back
together without a kit. I mean the carb is practically brand new. I'm
thinkin' I can save the gaskets unless they're glued in there with
something..

Nope, do the entire carb, as I suggested. You need to examine and clean
that carb thoroughly. Otherwise it could be a no go. And old gaskets?
In my opinion, no. And you need to ream out all the circuits with thin
wire. Spraying carb cleaner is not a cure-all. That's like the guy who
figures he can fix everything with WD40. It won't work. But once you
wire clean the circuits, you can spray the carb cleaner or WD40 through
the circuits to make sure they are clear. It's easy to do.

I hope you're right.
Another thing, the tech hasn't seen the engine. He's just guessing
from the symptoms I described.

OK, now you have a whole new set of items to explore. Do the carb
first. Then if that doesn't work, refer to the trouble shooting section
in your service manual. And work through the steps. If you have not got
the correct testing equipment, take it in to see a qualified tech. One
shop hour should properly diagnose that powerhead. And it will cost you
about 75 dollars.

It seemed odd to me because the engine
will crank up and run fine for a couple of minutes, the suddenly try
to shut down, popping on about every 40th revolution until it finally
just quits. But then it will immediately crank right back up and run
fine for another couple of minutes. Over and over again like that.
Tech says it's running on a special "start up" circuit for the first
couple of minutes but then switches to the main jet and that's what's
clogged, so it shuts down. One pull though and it starts right back
up
on the "start up" cirguit. I guess that makes sense but ... well,
we'll see... when I get a spare hour or so.
Thanks for the response.
Rick