No start on your mower with the Honda GCV160 engine?
Honda makes great engines for lawn mowers. That is why so many brands like Troy-Bilt, Lawn Boy, Husqvarna, just to name a few use these very reliable engines. This same engine is used on power washers, and water pumps, not just your lawn mower.
Unfortunately, regardless of the brand, they are all victim to ethanol. Ethanol is not unlike the rubbing alcohol in your medicine cabinet. It is mostly water, and as an additive to gasoline or petrol, soon that ethanol evaporates and what is left is water. Since most of these small engines have no fuel pump, these carburetor systems rely on gravity to feed petrol from the tank into the carburetor. And, since water is heavier than fuel, once even a small amount of water accumulates into the float bowl of the carburetor, it will never start.
This YouTube video will guide you on how to remove, clean and replace that Keihin carburettor on your Honda GCV160 engine. It's a pretty easy job, but there are several gaskets that can tear on disassembly so go slow. Often it is not obvious how they go back together, so take a few photos along the way. It is a fiddly task, but as long as you are methodical in reassembly, you will be successful.
The carburettor in this video sat for a long time with ethanol added fuel, and the water eventually started gelling up and in-turn completely clogged up all the internal passages. Granted, this mower sat for a few years like this, but the tendency to clog up will happen slowly and cumulatively over time, eventually turning into a thick goo.
If feel your carburettor is too far gone a replacement might be the cure: https://amzn.to/2SnuwJB This kit should have all the gaskets as well. If you merely need a few gaskets this kit should cover you as well: https://amzn.to/3wkTpnR I don't often have to replace the fibre bowl gasket, only when they get very dried out: https://amzn.to/3viBqx6 And in the really unfortunate event the auto choke gets broken or damaged, here is a replacement: https://amzn.to/2TYKCtn As always, be sure and double check your model number to make sure you get the correct part.
Ethanol free petrol can often be found near lakes and marinas, to accommodate recreational users. Many local regulations allow non-ethanol fuel only for off road use. In the USA and Canada, check out the website https://www.pure-gas.org/ This is a crowd-based website to help you locate which fuel stations, and more importantly which fuel-pumps at that particular station supplies ethanol-free fuel. Since the site is crowd sourced, it is usually pretty up to date and accurate. It might not be obvious which pump supplies non-ethanol. It might be best to go into the store to enquire, although the price should be a give-away. I always find non-ethanol fuel to be the priciest option.
My best advice, especially if you live in an area where you cannot find ethanol-free fuel is to turn off the fuel tap, and let the mower run dry. This will take a few minutes, but you can be assured the carburetor bowl will not be sitting with ethanol enhanced fuel in the bowl. If you get into this habit, you won't forget at the end of your mowing season. I know I'm always thinking near the end of fall that I might get one more mow in the season. Often I don't and I sure don't think to go out, turn off the tap and let the mower run dry.
I hope these tips and tricks can empower you with oracle like skills to make your small engines run smoothly and consistently.
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Mow Happy!
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Wear your safety glasses, or you'll put your eye out. Try on some gloves. Take off that spark plug boot. Clean your room. Open the windows, those fumes are nasty. Just 'cause I do it, don't think it's the end all, be all solution. There's plenty more ideas out there, I can't take responsibility if you slice off a few fingers after watching my videos. And don't just pour that toxic stuff down the sewer or in the ditch, dispose of waste responsibly. Just be safe, OK?
