Honda 2.3hp - fuel issue

fastjedi

fastjedi

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2005 Honda 2.3hp owned by me from new.
- I always run it dry and empty the tank for the winter
- Running fine this year on fresh fuel

On Saturday it started and then cut out after about 15 - 20 seconds
- I checked it had a spark
- Poured a bit of fuel down the plug hole ... It ran for a few seconds and stopped

Today I have stripped the carb .... float bowl, float, main jet, lid
- It all looks very clean
- Everything has been blown through with an air line
.... several times to be sure, but no change in behavior.

Does anyone have any futher suggestions
- Definately no problem with fuel supply, plenty of fuel getting to the float bowl
- I'm reluctant to buy a s/h carb on ebay when the one I have looks fine

Any suggestions?
 
Spark will jump good part of a centimetre ??

Tried new plug ??

Personally I would clean jets carefully with a piece of soft copper wire.
 
fastjedi said:
- Poured a bit of fuel down the plug hole ... It ran for a few seconds and stopped


- Definately no problem with fuel supply, plenty of fuel getting to the float bowl
- I'm reluctant to buy a s/h carb on ebay when the one I have looks fine

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Did you mean carburetor throat ?
As it ran with some fuel I would concentrate on a lack of fuel. You say the fuel is getting to the float chamber, but are you sure the needle valve isn't jamming once the float has lifted it into it's seat? I had this on a Yamaha once. The tip of the needle was rubber coated and had worn a groove. A new needle valve (£25!) sorted it.
I have had it since on another engines and solved the problem by nipping the tip of the needle between thumb and finger holding some wet'ndry paper (about 800 grade) and twisting it to clean up the needle tip. If it works, good. If not, on to Plan B and buy a new needle valve.
 
I once had a somewhat similar problem which turned out to be the fuel line to the carb which had collapsed, reducing the fuel flow to a trickle sufficient to fill the carb after a while, but not sufficient for sustained running. Fuel line was maybe a tad short, so going through a bend under some tension caused the collapse. Fiddling around with the pipe succeeded in giving a cure.
 
To clarify, the plug is dry and it makes not attempt to fire, start or run.

Looking at another thread on here, I haven't pulled the black plastic "jet" out of the body yet (I did have a little tug but wasn't confident it was meant to be removed last night)
I'll give that a try this evening ... although I get the impression it would run on choke if that was blocked.
 
fastjedi said:
To clarify, the plug is dry and it makes not attempt to fire, start or run.

Looking at another thread on here, I haven't pulled the black plastic "jet" out of the body yet (I did have a little tug but wasn't confident it was meant to be removed last night)
I'll give that a try this evening ... although I get the impression it would run on choke if that was blocked.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling something breaks and you have to replace it. I have a step by step fault finding pdf at home and I'm sure it talks about something that breaks and must be replaced.
 
fastjedi said:
To clarify, the plug is dry and it makes not attempt to fire, start or run.

Looking at another thread on here, I haven't pulled the black plastic "jet" out of the body yet (I did have a little tug but wasn't confident it was meant to be removed last night)
I'll give that a try this evening ... although I get the impression it would run on choke if that was blocked.
Click to expand...

Firm grip with pliers and pull vertically. The 'jet' is (I think!) .4mm and plastic so best to unblock with a bristle. Poke upwards from below and you'll see the bristle appear in the horizontal hole. This should make sense when you've got the thing out.

But, you're right, the engine should start with the choke out. The main jet is implicated if it starts with choke and stops as soon as the choke is closed. But don't take my word for it! There's an excellent PDF on the Honda web site with an 'exploded' diagram and a series of problem solving steps. Can anyone find it?! It's not outboard specific.

Long shot. Are you sure you have enough fuel in the tank? Daft question I know but this has caught me out before. I was putting just a splash in the tank so that it didn't stink the car out. But the pipe in the tank is from a tube above the bottom to avoid drawing crud. It was drawing air!
 
Plenty fuel in the tank ... despite losing a bit each time I pull the pipe off the carb for yet another strip down!
Latest strip included removing cleaning and replacing the plastic jet

I nearly always run the carb dry at the end of the weekend so its like new inside .... always a possibility of a bit stuck in a jet .... but not anymore

This is very silly now.

Options are
1. Buy a s/h carb on ebay ... logically should fix it but nothing wrong with my carb?
2. Buy a complete working Honda 2.3hp and swap bits to isolate fault
3. Get a professional to take a look (i'm not good with this option)
4. Sell on ebay for spares or repairs .... bite the bullet and buy a new DF2.5
 
fastjedi said:
Plenty fuel in the tank ... despite losing a bit each time I pull the pipe off the carb for yet another strip down!
Latest strip included removing cleaning and replacing the plastic jet

I nearly always run the carb dry at the end of the weekend so its like new inside .... always a possibility of a bit stuck in a jet .... but not anymore

This is very silly now.

Options are
1. Buy a s/h carb on ebay ... logically should fix it but nothing wrong with my carb?
2. Buy a complete working Honda 2.3hp and swap bits to isolate fault
3. Get a professional to take a look (i'm not good with this option)
4. Sell on ebay for spares or repairs .... bite the bullet and buy a new DF2.5
Click to expand...

get another gallon of fuel from elsewhere. Your diagnostic is still recycling the same fuel, make sure it has no water in it.
 
fastjedi said:
Plenty fuel in the tank ... despite losing a bit each time I pull the pipe off the carb for yet another strip down!
Latest strip included removing cleaning and replacing the plastic jet

I nearly always run the carb dry at the end of the weekend so its like new inside .... always a possibility of a bit stuck in a jet .... but not anymore

This is very silly now.

Options are
1. Buy a s/h carb on ebay ... logically should fix it but nothing wrong with my carb?
2. Buy a complete working Honda 2.3hp and swap bits to isolate fault
3. Get a professional to take a look (i'm not good with this option)
4. Sell on ebay for spares or repairs .... bite the bullet and buy a new DF2.5
Click to expand...
They are simple little motors. Fuel is not reaching the combustion chamber after a given period. It's to short a period to be breather problems so it's fuel level falling in the float chamber.
Either the needle valve is sticking of the fuel flow to the carb is very restricted. The fact it starts means it is not the jet.

There is a chance the electrics break down after 20 seconds, but that is very slim. Especially as you say the plug is dry.
 
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Its not starting at all ... except when fuel is poured down the plug hole.
- Plenty of fuel flow to the carb
- Lots of fuel in the carb ..... no reason to think the bowl isnt full

I'm beginning to think about an air leak preventing the fuel being puled through?
- There are some strange holes in the back of the carb where it mates to the intake

I wil try alternate fuel tomorrow ... long shot, but agree it needs eliminating
 
Perplexing for sure. What's the compression like? V Unlikely, but low compression would mean the engine would struggle to pull through fuel - but then it probably wouldn't start very well at all.....
 
duncan99210 said:
Have you tried taking the drain plug out of the bottom of the float chamber and turning the fuel on? That's the acid test to see if the float valve is sticking: fuel comes out, float valve ok, no fuel comes out, flat valve sticking. It really sounds as if this is your problem rather than anything more complex.
Click to expand...

You may be lucky to get the drain plug out, mine was corroded in and immoveable, I had to dismantle to get at the float chamber which had a lot of gunge in the bottom, cleaning that out resolved a problem with starting but then stopping or not starting at all.

Had to get a new carburettor next year though.
 
Leighb said:
You may be lucky to get the drain plug out, mine was corroded in and immoveable, I had to dismantle to get at the float chamber which had a lot of gunge in the bottom, cleaning that out resolved a problem with starting but then stopping or not starting at all.

Had to get a new carburettor next year though.
Click to expand...


Correct ... I consider myself lucky I can remove the float bowl and lid. There's no chance of removing the drain plug. I can try new fuel and will leave the float bowl retaining bolt loose to check free flow of fuel.
 
I had a nightmare with my Honda 2.3hp similar to what you describe except I also couldn't make it tick over when it did run. I eventually took it to a Honda dealer as I gave up. However I learnt three things that mean I will be chopping it for something else fairly soonish.

1. The carb has a non-user serviceable main and slow running jet - they have to be drilled out and replaced, which makes them very tricky to clean in situ.
2. Part of my problem turned out to be related to ordinary unleaded fuel. It seems that our unleaded contains a lot of something (ethanol??) that deteriorates quickly dropping to the octane rating quite quickly and the Honda engine doesn't like this at all. I didn't believe this until i tried fresh super unleaded (doesn't contain this additive or not as much) and things improved. I have also had this same problem on another Honda engined strimmer I owned.
3. There are fair too many nuts and bolts on this engine that are not stainless steel, and it is worth replacing them all whilst you have it is bits, as they are a bugger to drill out when the heads have rusted off.

Falling very out of love with this engine, and will be getting either a Yamaha 2hp or one of those new Selva engines that the children can actually start without them having their wrists broken by the strange kick back thing the Honda does...

P
 
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