davem1111 2,030 #1 Posted October 16, 2022 (edited) Maybe this should be in the "repowers" section - move it if you think so, mods. But this *is/was* an official(?) repower option for dealers... Anyway, my GT-1848 has been running really well until recently. It has a Honda GX610 engine and has some odd mods to the wiring, but otherwise doesn't seem to be that unusual. I did some mowing with it recently, and it was very dusty. Took the deck off, hauling some chainsaws and stuff back to the lake dam to clear some trees that shouldn't be there. It died on me a few days ago, and started again after sitting for a few hours. Today, I only got about 1/10 of a mile from the barn, when it just died. Plenty of gas, clean looking gas in the filter. It will fire when choked, but opening the choke causes it to die, and leaving the choke on doesn't get the usual sputtering, it just dies after a few seconds. I just towed it back to the barn with the 312-A (verrrry slowly.... with idler disengaged) and haven't started troubleshooting yet other than checking and cleaning the air filter earlier, which didn't help. Had a lot of dust in it but otherwise not bad, engine does the same thing with the filter out. I'm suspecting either carb crud or a problem with gas flow. Will be checking to see if it continues to spark. I thought I'd post here to see if anyone had specific ideas as to what the cause of this might be, while I'm starting my troubleshooting. Thanks! Edit to add: I thought I clicked "Submit" on this several hours ago, but it didn't show up so I guess I didn't. I did pull the fuel line from the carb and cranked the engine a bit, and there is gas coming out so it must be something inside the carb, right? Unless it's electrical... Edited October 16, 2022 by davem1111 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,833 #2 Posted October 16, 2022 Generally anytime a motor needs choke to run means a dirty carb/plugged passages. Not familiar with many Hondas... any chance thus one has a solenoid under the float bowl? 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,324 #3 Posted October 16, 2022 9 hours ago, davem1111 said: I did pull the fuel line from the carb and cranked the engine a bit, and there is gas coming out so it must be something inside the carb, right? Unless it's electrical.. Don't waste time running down that electrical rabbet hole, you have a fuel starvation related problem. Has this engine been exposed to gas with Ethanol? That junk kills small engine fuel systems. This site will help you find real gasoline in your area. https://www.pure-gas.org/ Look on the internet for information on rebuilding your Honda carburetor, buy the kit and clean it thoroughly, problem solved 1 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill D 1,926 #4 Posted October 16, 2022 Clean and rebuild the carb. If it has solenoid on the bottom of the float bowl make sure it's getting 12 when the key is on, and that it's working properly. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davem1111 2,030 #5 Posted October 17, 2022 On 10/15/2022 at 11:00 PM, WHX?? said: Generally anytime a motor needs choke to run means a dirty carb/plugged passages. Not familiar with many Hondas... any chance thus one has a solenoid under the float bowl? Due to other family commitments, I haven't gotten that far yet. I only got as far as pulling the fuel line from the carb and cranking to see if the fuel pump was working. Can't really see under the carb - it's nestled between the two cylinders. Hopefully soon I'll get deeper into it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davem1111 2,030 #6 Posted October 18, 2022 So, I guess this carb does have a solenoid. Haven't tested it yet. This is a picture of a replacement carb, which isn't too pricey: What is the purpose of the solenoid? Does it open and close the valve to fill the bowl? If so, is that so it doesn't have to be oriented in only one direction to work? Never seen one like this before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,833 #7 Posted October 18, 2022 The solenoid opens on 12 volts when the ig. switch is in start or run. It closes off the main jet or fuel inlet when in off. Some idiots idea to complicate fuel delivery. In case the float stuck open. Some you can pull off and plug some you can't. Generally not much of a problem but usually easy to troubleshoot. If you have to choke it and get some kind of run probably not the issue. Dirty carb and or a hunk of crap in the carb. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 12,237 #8 Posted October 18, 2022 1 hour ago, davem1111 said: What is the purpose of the solenoid? Not only in case of stuck float. It prevents passing unburned fuel through the engine as it continues turning after being shut off. Reduces pollution, prevents "washing" cylinder walls with raw fuel, prevents raw fuel from diluting crankcase oil, lessens chance of 'backfire'. Yep, it improves things on one level but complicates things at another level, as do so many technologies. Earlier a relative texted my wife the contact card of another relative. Wife asks me: how the heck do I get this into my address book? Back whenever, it woulda been a phone call and a pencil in a bound paper address book. Now it's a couple clicks of a mouse and whoosh--email, home and mobile phone, spouse name, home address, and a bunch of other stuff in the phone. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snoopy11 5,714 #9 Posted October 18, 2022 13 hours ago, Handy Don said: It prevents passing unburned fuel through the engine as it continues turning after being shut off. Some manufacturers even term that part "fuel shutoff solenoid" I deleted this solenoid on my Kawasaki because mine was bad and I did not want to pay 200$ for a quality replacement solenoid. The Kawasaki engine did backfire after removing the solenoid... so I outwitted it, removed the restrictive stock muffler that caused the extremely loud pop when the engine was turned off, and went with a Cherry bomb setup, (basically wide open but tuned, mellow sound). It has never popped or given me any issues since. The designers of some genre of engine systems restricted the exhaust so incredibly much which led them to the need to cut fuel (even just an essence of fuel) in the engine at shutdown to avoid the loud pop in the exhaust. They never imagined that anyone would ever figure out a way around their snares.... Don 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,833 #10 Posted October 18, 2022 20 hours ago, Handy Don said: lessens chance of 'backfire'. No worky Don... the missus Toro vertical always back fires when shut down and it's got one ... dogs think it's a gun shot and goes lookin for critters. JD Z turn has one too 24 hp Briggs and same thing... Just for $hits and grins Dave I would try running some seafood... er seafoam, dammed spell checker , through it just for practice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howie 886 #11 Posted October 19, 2022 I am fairly sure at least on the briggs an kohler carbs all that does is shut off the fuel to the main jet. Have had a bunch of those with a bad needle and seat fill the crankcase while they were setting and engine off. I think we were told years ago by briggs service reps they were to help prevent the gas from being ignited in the hot muffler when the owner shut the thing off at wide open throttle! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davem1111 2,030 #12 Posted October 22, 2022 On 10/15/2022 at 11:00 PM, WHX?? said: Generally anytime a motor needs choke to run means a dirty carb/plugged passages. Not familiar with many Hondas... any chance thus one has a solenoid under the float bowl? On 10/17/2022 at 10:44 PM, WHX?? said: The solenoid opens on 12 volts when the ig. switch is in start or run. It closes off the main jet or fuel inlet when in off. Some idiots idea to complicate fuel delivery. In case the float stuck open. Some you can pull off and plug some you can't. Generally not much of a problem but usually easy to troubleshoot. If you have to choke it and get some kind of run probably not the issue. Dirty carb and or a hunk of crap in the carb. Update: Thanks for all the help. Yep, this carb does have a solenoid, which I've never dealt with before. I pulled the carb, tested the solenoid, it works fine. That also explains one of the "extra" toggle switches on this tractor - it's for the solenoid, guess they added that during the re-power work. I didn't tear down the carb all the way. Something was holding the bowl on even after removing the screws, but it opened about a 1/16" gap so I just sprayed a lot of carb cleaner into there and into the throat several times. Put it back together and it runs great now, even better than it did before it started dying off and on. She's due for an oil change so I drained it but realized I didn't have the right filter on hand so I'll pick up one later today. Thanks! 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
