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Gas Power Washer hard starting

R

Rkh

Member
I have a GC160 Honda gas power washer that you have to pull & pull & pull with choke on to start. It used 2 start on second pull. I keep in a heated garage, changed spark plug, cleaned air filter, drained tank & took off & cleaned(there was dirt in plastic tank), & use non ethanol gas. What am I missing?
 
Check that is getting spark consistently. Lay the plug against something metal, pull the starter several times, watch that it gets a good spark.

Is the choke plate fully closing with the choke on?

That the tank had dirt inside, good chance some made it into the carb. The carb is simple, usually will come apart and go back without needing a kit. I believe there is also a jet that comes out under a plug on top. Clean everything, poke out and scrape the inside of each jet.
 
sometimes the valve seats get pushed in to the aluminum block enough to affect compression cuz the valve won't close tight. Pulling on the rip cord will tell you if there's compression. Happened to me on a honda and a tecumseh You have to grind down the stem a little.
 
I have a Honda driven air compressor that will do the same thing if you let it set a long time. If you use it every several days it will start on the first pull. I just spray a little bit of starting fluid in the carb and it will miraculously come alive.
 
Always store single-cylinder four-stroke engines cranked to the compression stroke. That ensures both valves are closed and unlikely to stick open.
 
This may not apply but my honda has a secondary tank built in the main. If it is filled to the top the little tank fills too. If it is low on fuel you have to pull it enough times to get some fuel pumped up to the little tank. The pump is built to function on crankcase pressure differential so it takes a half a dozen pulls. The design is similar to a float in a carb. It allows a constant level of fuel.
 
Agree clean the carb soaking it in carb cleaner after it is apart is even better 2 days to be sure but remove rubber gaskets first
 
I would put some Seafoam in the gas, and after it starts running better then use E-10, it will keep it clean. We have numerous Honda engines some 25 years old, all run great on E10 gas, never had to clean any carburetors.
 
I have a GX 360 on my pressure washer. It was getting so it didn't start also. The carburetor had a plugged main jet. I am putting new rings in it, and not finished yet. I am sure that was the starting problem. Put a small bit of gas in your cylinder to see if it fires, if it has spark. Stan
 
If you can take the air filter off and hold your hand over the air intake of the carb and try to start it. You should get a good suction when you do that and it may even try to start for you. Doing that can sometimes clear a clog out of a carb
 
if it has sat for any time bet your carb is crap don't take long mine was crap instead of messing with it put a 16.00 one from Ebay runs better then new for 16 bucks i was not going to ====== with it
 
A couple things to check:

1 - Fuel pump. The pump operates from crankcase pressure pulses. If it has a vacuum leak it will pump poorly or not pump at all. Also if the pump's internal check valves leak it will "lose prime" when shut down. It takes many pulls of the starter for it to pick up fuel again.

2 - Choke linkage. Make sure the choke plate closes FULLY when the choke rod is pulled. Otherwise the choke is not fully effective during a cold start.
 
Put an electric motor on it. Those little gas engines are just good to through over the side with a rope tied to them while fishing. Weld a loop on the end of the crank tie rope through over go fishing.
 
I got tired of fooling with gas engines (and one of them was Honda engined) on these and transitioned to electric. One of my better decisions.
 
I am not familiar with that motor, but I find this problem a lot on Lawn Boys with plastic carburetors. They suck a lot of air through a warped flange, and are hard to start. Poke Here
 
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