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Here's a nicely detailed how-to guide for cleaning a Honda mower carburetor. Modern fuel mixtures aren't so great for small gas engines, and if you're having trouble with rough running, only running on CHOKE, or poor idle, there's a good chance the carburetor has some slime, gunk or debris somewhere inside.

This guide will show you how to properly inspect and clean the carburetor on most small Honda OHV engines. DIY and save some money and time.

 

[Wayne195]

Good info Robert, thanks! It seems like most carburators are different and it is rather critical that they are properly cleaned.

I'm going to 'stick' this here in the Honda forum; I'm sure it will be helpful to many folks around here!

 

[bwdbrn1]

Yep, thanks Robert! Thanks for making it a sticky Wayne.

 

[Austen]

Good stuff! :cool

 

[Mark / Ohio]

Thanks Robert and Wayne! :cool


Question Robert,

The carb on my EU3000ISAN generator has a fuel drain and what I believe to be overflow (bowl vent) line out of it. Is it basically the same carb as those shown or is there something different about it from the other engines? Anything special I need to be concerned about with it?

It's always since new seemed to run a tiny bit lean with low to medium load. It will lope a little in rpm. But idle on the ECO setting with no load is smooth as silk and it smooths out toward full load. Figured it was probably a combination of the EPA requirements and the fuel additive (Stabil) that I put in it trying to keep the fuel from going stale too quick.

(BTW this past week used it for 26 hours after a storm outage keeping the fridge cold, running a fan, light, microwave and TV. I was really impressed how little fuel it burned compared to others running non-inverter 3600 rpm screamers. Unless you happen to have a fuel depot tank in the backyard that's a pretty darn good thing when over 3/4 of the gas stations in town are also without power! )

 

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Thanks Robert and Wayne! :cool

Question Robert,

The carb on my EU3000ISAN generator has a fuel drain and what I believe to be overflow (bowl vent) line out of it. Is it basically the same carb as those shown or is there something different about it from the other engines? Anything special I need to be concerned about with it?

When I am back in the office and can get to all the service materials, I'll see what I can pull up on that carb. I know it is controlled by a stepper motor, but is otherwise a standard design carb. You are correct about the lean-running; to meet EPA and CARB emissions standards, most small gas engines are tuned to run a bit lean.

Unless you use it regularly, I'd suggest keeping the fuel tank and carb fully drained to eliminate any possible way for the fuel to go stale and foul the carb. I keep a battery tender on my 3k generator and only use it when power goes out. I have a 5-gallon tank for the mower's fuel, and dump it into a car tank very 60 days or so.

 

[Mark / Ohio]

Thanks Robert,

I try to run it once a month for about a half hour with a ceramic space heater or my electric barbeque grill connected to it. I do have a battery tender that I thought about hooking up to it and emptying out the fuel like you suggested. But I've had mixed results running engines dry in the past thus why I went the route of running it monthly, adding some fresh fuel with stabilizer each time. But this is the first engine I've had with a carb bowl drain. Running an engine out of fuel seemed to leave a tiny bit in the carb which dried into powder which then caused problems for me a couple of times. Perhaps unwarranted but I've always worried about seals going dry and internal condensation from temperature swings over time without use as well.

Funny thing was the week before our power outage I decided it was time I completely drained the old fuel out and started over with fresh. If I would have waited just one more week I could have saved trouble and burned it out instead.

Any additional information you find in the books is appreciated. Before buying it I asked one of the local dealers if they had any repeat problems with these that they had noted. His reply was other then bad fuel, not really.