This is my 14 year old Honda Harmony 215 mulching mower, subject of an older post in July when we were in a serious drought condition. Three weekends ago it just quit running, so I let it sit, thinking it was just something minor. I knew it needed a new air filter, as I had been mowing over a lot of dust and dirt this year.
Two weekends ago, I started up my 26 year old Snapper and mowed the wild garden. I was pretty amazed that it started, because I don't think I used it last year. But as I was finishing up the 3rd tank of gas, it, too, died and wouldn't start again. A friend came over and put in a new spark plug in the Snapper, but to no avail. He tried to start the Honda but broke the cord. Still two mowers down.
Last weekend I worked on both mowers, draining the old gas, refilling with new gas, and installing a new pull cord, new spark plug and new air filter in the Honda. Both mowers eventually started and ran for about 5 minutes. That was it. I decided that I would take the Honda in for service, as it's my main mower, but the man I had been using wasn't in business anymore. Plus, there's the problem of living alone and not being able to lift the mower into my car.
I couldn't find the Honda manual, so I did some internet research and convinced myself that the carburetor was messed up from using old gas (plus I had to take the Honda in for service twice in the past for the same reason). Dummy me, when will I ever learn? One situation that I uncovered in my internet research involved oil getting into the carburetor from tipping the mower too far onto the carburetor side or upside down. I knew this had been done while emptying the old gas, so I tried not to worry, and I approached the problem from the simplest solution to the most complicated solution.
Today I bought gas stabilizer, oil, and yet another spark plug in case I had ruined one last weekend. I had found the Honda manual during the week, so I decided to drain the carburetor before I did anything else. You're supposed to do this before storing the mower for the winter, and I had NEVER done this. I figured it was a good first step.
This is what came out, a dirty mixture of water and gas and gunk. The drain bolt is only partially loosened.
This is what the carburetor looks like with the drain bolt removed. It looks clean inside. All the linkages were working properly. I flooded the chamber under the carb with gas to flush it out, and more rusty gunk drained out. I put the mower back together and put in today's new spark plug, but it still wouldn't start. I was so frustrated by this development that I finally decided to take the carb off and clean it. After all, I'm at least as smart as the average guy.
It was hard to get the carb off the mower, because the linkage controlling the throttle wouldn't come loose easily. I couldn't find any info about removing the linkage, so I finally resorted to using needlenose pliers to twist it, and it worked.
This is what the mower looks like without the carburetor. I looked inside the engine, and there was no oil up near the carburetor. What a relief.
This is what came out of the carburetor, more rusty-looking gunk. Click to zoom on any of these photos.
When I removed the bottom chamber (on the right) and took it off the carburetor, here's what I found. It was filthy inside, and more water/old gunky gas came out. The orange plastic thing on the left is the float mechanism that keeps the gas at the correct level in the chamber. The tube projecting out is the main nozzle that delivers the gas to the carb. It has a tiny pinhole passage into the carb itself.
I proceeded to clean the gunk with gasoline, because that's what I had on hand. Everything I read said to buy special carb cleaner, but I had grown up watching my dad work on old jalopies, and he always cleaned parts in gasoline. Guess if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for me. I know it's not a smart move, but I worked outside and worked carefully. I used long wooden cotton swabs to scrape and clean the gunk, and I used a syringe to squirt it all down.
Here's the cleaned carb. It's not perfect, but compared to what it looked like when I took it apart, it's clean. I also used a very fine gauge nichrome wire to probe the nozzle leading up to the carb, and there was no obstruction. For good measure, I used the wire in every opening I could see, and on the bigger openings I used a 24 gauge copper wire.
Here's the evidence of the cleaning. Nasty, huh?
This shows mounting the carb back on the threaded posts and reconnecting the three linkages.
Next the air filter housing got reinstalled. I used a 10 mm socket. Honda is nice to design things so that you can use a 10 mm wrench for all the bolts and a standard spark plug wrench on the spark plug.
Next goes the air filter.
Then, the air filter cover.
Last but not least, the sweet sound of success!!! Put on choke to fill the chamber with gas, pull gently, and voila! It runs like new.
Was it worth it? Yes, on sheer principle. It took about 3 hours, and part of this time I was on the computer finding information. I learned something new today, got a valuable lesson in self-sufficiency, and saved myself about $150 in service charges, plus the inconvenience of having to take it in and wait a couple of weeks. I really impressed myself. Is there an award for this? Hit me up, someone!
I'm giving myself a gold star, and tomorrow I'm changing the oil.
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