Troublesome Honda Tiller

[GrahamGKD]

Hi Folks,

This tiller was last used in anger about 15 years ago and it was working fine then. We recently cleared out my mum's place and I brought the tiller home thinking to sell it on ebay. Unfortunately, though, I just can't get it to run properly. It starts reasonably well but seems to take a good while before it will run without choke, following that it runs quite fast for a few seconds and then stops. There is evidence that the governor is trying to give it more throttle before it dies. I have put fresh fuel in it and have had the carb apart several times and flushed it out with carb cleaner and compressed air. I tried swapping the plug with the new one in my brush cutter. Any ideas please? I can take more pictures if needs be - these ones were just in the hope that someone would recognise the model.

 

[GrahamGKD]

Did you try the throttle/governor spring?

Hi pdg,
I did remember that you mentioned that when you picked up the grinder so I had a good look at the governor earlier and it does seem to be working as it should - i.e. when the engine starts to die the governor kicks the throttle open as you would expect. There is nothing obviously wrong with the spring but not being able to compare one which runs well with mine it is hard to be sure. I don't really want to start tweaking the spring without firm evidence that that is the problem as I can't see why the spring would have changed after a period of not being used - the spring is not under tension when the machine is at rest.

 

[pedrobedro]

It sounds like the jets are still blocked at least partially. Get some fine wire to clean them out with, something like wire brush bristles. I know it's not recommended to poke stuff in them but sometimes if they've been stood with old fuel in for a long time it's the only way.

 

[p0689109]

Generally when that happens you generally have to get the carb sonic cleaned. I have had to do it on a couple of my garden machines and no amount of stripping and cleaning with solvent and air lines does the job. Sonic clean and bingo. Something about the ali being porous and mucking up the flows that only sonic cleaning will clear. There are different fluids for different cleaning jobs. I got mine done at a local garden tools dealer come workshop.

 

[GrahamGKD]

Thanks for those suggestions - I'll have a poke about first and if that doesn't work I'll get a quote for sonic cleaning then. I don't want to spend too much on it in case it doesn't fetch much when I sell it. It does seem to be better than when I started out with it so maybe I'm clearing a bit of the gunk each time I strip it?

 

[GrahamGKD]

How long have you had it running for? Sometimes (rarely) these things just like to be used...

Interesting you should say that - I do feel that if I had a decent sized piece of ground to go at and I flushed a few tanks of fuel through it that it might improve. Unfortunately I don't really have anywhere I can put it to work.

 

[the snooper]

looking at that carb its just a case of remove the float bowl and the main jet is smack bang in the middle and if its one central bolt to attach the float bowl that's where the jet Is straight above

edit just seen its a Honda the above will be the case

 

[gerrymoore]

Might be easier/cheaper getting a chinese copy carb for a tenner off Ebay...I've bought two in the last few months and they work perfectly on my Honda engines.....

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Might be easier/cheaper getting a chinese copy carb for a tenner off Ebay...I've bought two in the last few months and they work perfectly on my Honda engines.....

I agree, I bought a replacement Walbro copy carb for my Father In Laws strimmer for less than a tenner delivered from China. I find it easier to find that sort of thing on eBay.com and when you click Buy It Now it automatically takes you to the eBay.co.uk site to log in.

 

[GrahamGKD]

looking at that carb its just a case of remove the float bowl and the main jet is smack bang in the middle and if its one central bolt to attach the float bowl that's where the jet Is straight above

edit just seen its a Honda the above will be the case

Yes, that's where the main jet is, although the hole through there seems relatively large and clear. There are various other apertures which are much smaller and also there may be a drilling somewhere I have not yet found?

 

[GrahamGKD]

There must be an allotment near you - go and hang around looking suspicious and ask if anyone wants their plot turning over

Hmmm, I wondered about just driving out into the country and having a go at a field ;-)

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Hmmm, I wondered about just driving out into the country and having a go at a field ;-)

Use it as an excuse to get an allotment!

 

[the snooper]

Yes, that's where the main jet is, although the hole through there seems relatively large and clear. There are various other apertures which are much smaller and also there may be a drilling somewhere I have not yet found?

ive never had a problem just blowing them out after initially clearing the main jet, there isn't much more to them apart from slow running jets

 

[GrahamGKD]

ive never had a problem just blowing them out after initially clearing the main jet, there isn't much more to them apart from slow running jets

OK, thanks to pedrobedro's suggestion I have given the main jet a good 'reaming' with some strands off a bike brake cable - that has improved things a lot.

The remaining issue seems to be slow running - it just about keeps ticking over once warm but it is pretty lumpy and doesn't respond to the airscrew (i.e. the airscrew doesn't seem to make any difference)?

Where do I find the slow running jets please?

 

[the snooper]

OK, thanks to pedrobedro's suggestion I have given the main jet a good 'reaming' with some strands off a bike brake cable - that has improved things a lot.

The remaining issue seems to be slow running - it just about keeps ticking over once warm but it is pretty lumpy and doesn't respond to the airscrew (i.e. the airscrew doesn't seem to make any difference)?

Where do I find the slow running jets please?

i think that airscrew may need the anti tamper plastic cover removing

 

[GrahamGKD]

i think that airscrew may need the anti tamper plastic cover removing

The black plastic thing half way between the air filter and the engine is the throttle stop. What I have taken to be the airscrew (has a tapered needle and a spring underneath it so it can be set to any position) is right up against the engine side. clearly visible in my lower carb picture and almost obscured in the upper one. What I am not sure of is what channels / jets there are in the carb than need to be cleared for it to work?

 

[the snooper]

ahh couldn't see it very well, pull out the screw and give it a blast of compressed air

 

[GrahamGKD]

.... pull out the screw and give it a blast of compressed air

...I've tried that several times already. I reckon there must be a wee passage somewhere I haven't found yet?

 

[Wendelspanswick]

...I've tried that several times already. I reckon there must be a wee passage somewhere I haven't found yet?

Urethra?

 

[GrahamGKD]

Starting to get frustrated with this thing now - just had the carb off again (umpteenth time) - ran a bit of wire through the passage for the air screw and that seems clear. It runs reasonably under load but tends to spit and die when the throttle is released. On tick-over it tends to run fast and strong for a few seconds and then slows down and runs lumpy. Usually after a while of running lumpy it spits and dies. I have just been trying it with the new plug from my brushcutter so it's not the plug.

Help please someone - or this thing might well be headed for the tip!