# Honda GX200 what now?



## Minreg

Have a Honda GX200 pressure washer that will not stay running under load unless half choked. It backfires and runs rough fully choked, then when you put a load on it, it shuts down. Pump seems to operate fine.

Washer is about 3-4 years old. Used 3-4 times. It is running better after... Removing and cleaning carb, cleaning out the bowl of glue like residue, new gas, half bottle sea foam, new spark plug, clean air filter, oil change, clean muffler mesh thing.

But still shuts down under load. The only thing I can think of that I did not do is remove the gasket on the back of the carb. Maybe there was some holes under the gasket to clean??? Reason I did not take it off cause I did not want to rip it.

Anybody want to guess what I should do or check next. Maybe clean the carb again. I was pretty thorough I thought. The bowl was terrible the float not to bad and the main jet was a little crusty. Last time I took anything to a shop they kept it for months.


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## 30yearTech

When you cleaned out the carburetor, did you remove the main jet and nozzle assembly to make sure they were clean and all the orifices were open?


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## Minreg

I removed the brass screw with a hole in it. Cleaned it and where it came out of. 
Assembly and open orifices not sure what you mean.

The idle mixture screw I believe, only turns like 1/4 turn cause there is a tab attached to the outside of the screw that keeps you from turning any more. I seen the needle on the inside and cleaner coming out.


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## 30yearTech

I don't have any pictures of the carburetor used on the GX, but here are some from a similar carburetor used on the GC series. The nozzle looks pretty much the same and must be clean for the carburetor to work properly.


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## Minreg

Oh shoot. 
There is a nozzle after you unscrew the jet...
Your right, the diagram does show it.
Any idea how to remove the nozzle?
Thanks, there is hope yet.


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## 30yearTech

Minreg said:


> Any idea how to remove the nozzle?
> Thanks, there is hope yet.


Well if the carburetor is clean, they will generally just fall out when you remove the jet. On a dirty carburetor, you will need to push down on the nozzle from the venturi area of the carburetor. I usually spray some carburetor cleaner in there to loosen it up and push on the nozzle with a screw driver. I also have a pick with a 90 degree bend on it, that I sometime use to push on it once it's flush with the carburetor casting inside the venturi.


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## Minreg

Thanks for your help. Give another try this weekend.
No, it did not fall out on its own. Will be careful getting it out. 
Could have power washed the whole house by now.

You think using Sea Foam and running empty would keep this from happening again? 
Someone told me of a gas station in my area that sells sportsman gas. 
Guess its a gas without the 10% ethanol.


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## 30yearTech

Minreg said:


> Thanks for your help. Give another try this weekend.
> No, it did not fall out on its own. Will be careful getting it out.
> Could have power washed the whole house by now.
> 
> You think using Sea Foam and running empty would keep this from happening again?
> Someone told me of a gas station in my area that sells sportsman gas.
> Guess its a gas without the 10% ethanol.


It might work, I think your best bet would be to drain the fuel and run the carburetor dry before storing.


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## dj722000

OK, two more things for ya. These little guys are nortorious for sucking water in while running.

1st, when your done running, there is a fuel shut off on the carb itself. I believe it is a blackish lever. Move this to the closed position, then shut engine down.

2nd, on the bowl you will see two screws. One holds the bowl on and the second is a drain. When engine cools, remove the one that drains, it'll be at an angle. Get that gas and junk out of there. Specially if it has to sit for any length of time.

These are great little engines but have to be maintained properly.


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## Minreg

Cleaned it all up again and seems to be working fine. 
Trying to do the right thing by turning off the gas and run it dry...
I noticed that it just keeps running with the gas turned off. 
After like 10 minutes running half throttle with the gas off I just shut it down.
What could be happening here? I'm ruling out I'm going crazy but ...


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## 30yearTech

An engine will usually run for several minutes once the fuel is turned off, especially if it's running with no load. Somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes is what I would expect. My Yamaha generator run's right at 10 minutes before it dies after I shut of the fuel, but it's a fairly small engine, larger engines will run a shorter time. You should make sure the cut off valve is stopping fuel flow.


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## ytre

Hello all
Im having the same problem with my gx200, ive took the main jet out and cleaned it, cant see a nozzle and wondering could it have fallen out at a earlier clean out.
Mine runs for about two mins and then backfires and stops


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## ytre

Ive tried today in vain to get the nozzle out after removing the main jet, is there any way I can get access to it from the top


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## voxmagna

*I solved the same problem*

I have searched high and low for a solution to this. My Clarke pressure washer is 150 Bar driven from the Honda GX200 6.5 h.p.

The washer has had very little use and from new I remember using it at maximum pressure then after a couple of minutes use getting a backfire and the motor would run down and stop with not a hint of ignition. I rarely use the full pressure so I just put this down to an overload problem.

Then matters got worse last week after trying to run full pressure for up to 20 minutes at a time. I could work around the problem by closing off the choke a little. I read all the stuff and checked everything. My motor and pump have only run a few hours - hardly any mileage at all.

Then I got the power/torque curves for the GX200 and thought about pressure washer aplications. When the motor is running with no pressure it is offloaded by the pump water bypass. Even at its preset rpm, you can tell the motor is off load by the lack of blue smoke from the exhaust and the 'groaning' noise it then makes on load. When you turn off the lance trigger, the washer pump momentarily hits the pressure limiter until the water bypass kicks in. I looked at the power/torque curves and did not think the pump was ideally matched for its full load.

I have checked everything obvious and found no faults. Even strobed the ignition looking for no spark as the motor backfired then cut out. There were continuous sparks.

Finally I bit the bullet on carburation. Unfortunately, I didn't write much down but went through my collection of fine printed circuit drills to get the main jet size (I think their code on the jet says something). From memory the main jet hole was just over 0.5mm. I then enlarged it by a teeny 10 microns up on the stock size and re-assembled the carb. On full power test for 5 minutes, the motor stumbled a lot less. I then went back and increased the main jet size another 10 microns (20 microns total) and that is where I left it, with no more cutting out problems running full power for 20 minutes on open choke. I suspect Honda will sell those main jets in larger sizes so worth trying.

As for removing the atomiser tube, once the main jet is unscrewed with a slightly shaped and ground screwdriver blade, the atomiser tube should fall out. If not, look through the air inlet barrel and carefully tap or press the brass part you see sticking up in the center. That is the top of the atomiser tube. Incidentally, the holes in it are not all the same diameter!

Hope this helps somebody fix this nasty problem.


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## ytre

Im distraught with this problem. Ive tried everything possible, then sometimes it'll run fine but its seldom.
might have to buy new jets and atomiser tube and see what happens


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