Small Honda engine (single stage snowblower) issue

[GimmeTorq]

Hello,

I owned a Honda HS520 single stage snowblower and looks like I'm having a fuel supply issue with the engine. Here are the symptoms:
1. Whe cold, enging starts fine with choke rod pulled out all the way (Expected behavior)
2. As the engine warms up, I need to adjust the choke rod so engine runs smooth. I believe this is expected behavior also.
3. With the engine fully warmed up, I can start the engine with the choke rod pushed in all the way but the engine starts to cycle rpms up and down and sometimes it stalls under load. To smooth the engine out, I need to pull the choke rod out some.

Does this means the engine is running lean when the choke is pushed in all the way? Is it time for a carb cleaning or new carb?

Thanks!

 

[Warstud]

Your in luck if it's running. All you may need to do is run some fuel system cleaner thru it. Techron...Sea Foam...Berrymans.

 

[mechtech2]

Right - it is lean.
This is more common nowadays. BTW, in Summer, it may be fine, but cold dense air may really show this up.
An in tank cleaner may help.
I'd do it manually, though.

 

[eljefino]

Has it always done this or is it recent? Do you have E10 gas?

I had to redrill some fixed main jets by a couple bit sizes to get my snowblowers running well. They are, in a word, awesome now. I put up with the surge when they were new and under warranty but got sick of it.

Choking makes it run better but the choke is like a throttle plate and limits your top HP. Drill, baby, drill!

But seriously you can get an extra jet or even an extra carb for pretty cheap money if you want to tinker.

 

[GimmeTorq]

It did not do it when new (about 9 years ago). I live in the Midwest so yes, we have reformulated gas with up to 10% ethanol. I've used Seafoam as a fuel stabilizer/cleaner in this snowblower since new, as well as in my riding lawnmower and carbureted motorcycle and never had issues before. And I have always drained the carbs for storage. I'm suspecting maybe debris getting to the carb via the fuel system. The fuel filter in these units is a joke...
Seems these carbs go for about $25 so maybe I will just pull the trigger and get a new carb if I cannot get it fixed with some Techron/MMO in the gas.

 

[GimmeTorq]

Well, nicer weather is here and I had a chance to look at this. The idle was still jumpy after some Techron treatment in the past weeks, so I removed the fuel line at the gas tank to check the inline filter. Sure enough I found some crud blocking it. Dropped the filter in some seafoam, and checked it for damage. It looked good so put it back after giving the gas tank a cleaning. Issue is gone, so I think the problem was a partially blocked filter. I need to be more careful when fueling this thing. Just got me a small funnel and some coffee filters and I'm planning to use them to filter the gas as I refuel it to prevent this in the future.

 

[Doog]

Install an in-line fuel filter. easy to do and will prevent this issue.