Honda GCV 160 surging on start up

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Anyone have issues with the GCV 160 at least on start up? Starts on the first pull but for at least a minute or two it surges...after that it runs smooth. Its only two years old. Ive heard that the carb has a tiny jet that can get clooged. Ive run MMO and Stabil and it still does it.
 
My GCV runs great, but is used year round.

I dont know how much you mow but have you had the valves adjusted. It maybe time for an adjustment and carb cleaning
 
Sounds like something is restricting the fuel flow until either the engine expands from heat or the restriction is loosened by vibration. Pull your float bowl to look for debris. You might as well check your fuel system too. Right from the vent in the fuel cap down to the fuel line into the carb. Make sure you have good fuel flow.

Check your spark plug too. Make sure the lead is on tight and that the wire isn't compromised. You keep a spare spark plug handy all the time. You never know when the plug will give up the ghost.
 
Might want to check the control base linkages and governor arm for proper movement and adjustment.

The carb pilot and mainjet is really too lean it will clog eventually, buy a wire gauge drill set, learn to clean your carb, this Honda engine will really respond well to proper jetting and cleaning.
 
Mine surged constantly... Cleaned carburator and blew out jets with compressed air and now runs great. You just need new gaskets from your local lawn repair shop. The jets on the Honda carbs are small, and my Troy-Built setup doesn't have a fuel filter. I believe mine was clogged from a contaminated gas can.
 
You have to understand that the 160 is the bottom of the line Honda engine. Also, it, like most others, struggles to get enough gas due to EPA restrictions. Also, I'll bet it has something to do with the workmanship and the Chinese parts that everyone, even Honda, use to make a cheaper product. I wonder if they leave a little burr inside the jet during manufacturing (sometimes) that catches small stuff that would normally pass right through. I have to use miniature drill bits sometimes to get them unblocked. A torch tip cleaner won't touch it.

TIP: Be very careful if you take the carb off and decide to break off the small tab that keeps the air screw from being adjusted. The whole screw can bust off...speaking of Chinese parts.
 
If cleaning doesn't do the trick, GCV160 carbs are about $15-19 US now. They have made them so cheap it's almost not worth the time to tear them apart.
 
Originally Posted By: ARB1977
Ive run MMO and Stabil and it still does it.


What??? You've run MMO and that did not fix the problem? That just can't be...
 
Originally Posted By: ARB1977
Thanks fellas. I havent looked at the manual yet but does it show how to take the carb apart?


For the most part it does. I have a GCV160 shop manual at home. I can scan the carburetor pages if you like.

Does the engine respond (surge go away) if you apply some choke? My GCV160 will surge for a few seconds if I pull the choke off too quickly. It had the automatic choke release system, but I disabled that because I didn't like how soon it pulled the choke off in some situations. If yours has the auto choke and pulls it off too quick, it's easy to disable the automatic choke release.

I've had my GCV160 since 2004. It came on a Craftsman walk-behind. I bought it for the engine; it was about the cheapest mower I could find that had the GCV160 engine. It's since been transplated onto a Lawn-Boy 10330 and runs fantastic. I've never had any problems with the carburetor. I did add a fuel filter to the fuel line (the small red Briggs & Stratton filter that you can find at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc). There is a small screen at the bottom of the tank, but I don't think it's fine enough to catch anything large.

I never drain gas at the end of the season (November). I park the mowers full of Stabil-spiked gas and they're always good when I start them up in late March or early April.
 
My GCV 160 surges also. If I manually override the fixed throttle setting I can about double the rpm and the engine runs smooth. I don't know if this is a California emissions issue or not but I think I'm just going to alter that spring to allow for more throttle. By the way it's a troybilt mower and it's almost brand new.
 
i dont know if this is still true, but a couple yrs ago honda had some epa issues, and their fix was to restrict the carb, alot of their engines surged when not under load. so i guess there probably isnt anything wrong w/your engine
 
Originally Posted By: kcfx4
i dont know if this is still true, but a couple yrs ago honda had some epa issues, and their fix was to restrict the carb, alot of their engines surged when not under load. so i guess there probably isnt anything wrong w/your engine


Good info, I wasn't aware of this. As a matter of fact it does surge alot less when it's under some load and it does a fine job cutting the grass. It's just a little annoying listening to a surging engine. As long as it does the job I guess I'll just leave it alone.
 
As soon as I posted my good experience, with no surging, my Honda GCV160 surged badly on the very next mow. It was the first or second time I had used it this year. Even under load, it was hunting badly, enough for me to detect the speed changes while under self-propel. I cut the front with it and cut the back with the HR215, figuring I'd mess with the GCV engine later. I've since cut with it again and the surging is very much diminished. It may have been a bad spell of fuel (though I've never had that before), I don't know. It seems to have worked through it.
 
Pull the air filter housing off. Don't pull the carb...just reach in and tweak the screw out as far as it will go (until the stopper stops it).

Reassemble and try it. It should be fine (for now). If that doesn't help, you'll need to clean the carb. Removing the carb has it's pratfalls, but isn't so difficult it can't be done.

If you try to defeat the little tab that keeps the screw from opening more (a great idea) and you're not careful, it will break the screw in many cases. You can't man-handle it. Cheap junk! You have to get at it with a dremmel tool and gnaw the tab out of the way with a straight, metal cutting bit.

The things we must do!
 
there sure is alot of jerry-riggin ideas on here about this, once again id bet theres a 9 out of 10 chance theres NOTHING wrong w/your engine, Hondas are notorious for surging, not just the GCV160. but if the surging drives you crazy, please take it to an authorized Honda dealer, before the next persons "advice" involves a sawzall. Speaking from yrs of small engine experience and training, not shade tree rigging
 
I have a GC160 (not the V version) on a pressure washer. It was used commercially and has an unknown number of hours and unknown service history. Runs perfectly smooth and quiet, idle or full speed, full load or no load.

My GXV140 on my lawnmower doesn't surge either. Ever.

Years or training or not, I don't think you can just say all Hondas surge and that's the explanation. The only time I had one of my Hondas do anything funny I found debris in the carb that must have made it's way past the tank screen. After I pulled the plastic debris out of the jet - good as new.
 
Originally Posted By: kcfx4
i had a better/true honda explination, read up a few


I saw about the EPA thing, what year did this become effective. My power washer is an "unknown" and my mower is a 2003. The 2003 definitely runs on the knife's edge of lean and is not adjustable and no richer jets are available. For about the first 15 seconds or so it runs a little dodgy and you have to keep it on the choke a bit and you can stall it by engaging the blade depending on how cold it is, but after that it's good to go. It still doesn't surge, though.
 
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