# Gummed up carburetor in Honda mower?



## Rudy (Jun 14, 2006)

My dad had both a snowblower (HS521) and a mower (HR214), and they sat for years in the garage with gas in the tank. (It was after he had his stroke, so these things were furthest from his mind at the time.)

A few years ago, I was able to get the mower running, although it took some gumout and running it choked for awhile to get it to clear up. It's still not 100% though. The snowblower ran only when it had the choke most of the way on; last winter, it wouldn't even start. (I gave both of these to my ex, since I already have a Honda mower and snowblower...although I kept them at Dad's house until I sold it back in 2005.)

For the carburetors, is there any good way to clean them out? I used Gumout in both, followed by some compressed air, which got them running. If not, is there a rebuild kit? Or do we have to spend $60+ each for new carburetors? 

They're otherwise in nice condition, so I don't want to think of her putting these out at the curb on garbage night, only to replace them with cheap junk from Lowes or Home Depot.  To be honest, I'd rather spend $60 on a carb for a Honda, than to buy a new $150 mower and have it be junk in two years.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

If the carburetors are gummed up pretty good, then they should be disassembled completely and soaked in a bath type carburetor cleaner. You will probably need a new float bowl gasket, bowl nut gasket, and an inlet or float needle. 

You might want to check out the parts prices, as they can be almost as much as a new carburetor, and in some cases more then a new carburetor. When you factor in your time and the cost of the chemicals to clean the carburetors, it may just be worth it to replace them and be done with it.

Best of Luck... :thumbsup:


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## Rudy (Jun 14, 2006)

30yearTech said:


> If the carburetors are gummed up pretty good, then they should be disassembled completely and soaked in a bath type carburetor cleaner.


The only thing I've ever bought is Gumout. Is there any good brand I should look for? Would an auto parts store have it, or would I be better off at a good mower repair shop?

Once I soak the carb, I'd blow out the passages with compressed air to get any gunk out. Do I have to run a wire or anything else through the passages once I'm done?



30yearTech said:


> You will probably need a new float bowl gasket, bowl nut gasket, and an inlet or float needle.


Those gaskets seemed OK the last time I had these carbs off, but that was also a few years ago. Good point on parts prices, though--I know how these things can add up.

Thanks much!


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

I like chemtool but most any brand will work. 

If you can remove the gaskets from the carburetor with no damage, then you may be able to reuse them. The bath type cleaner is very aggressive and will destroy gaskets, and rubber seals or O-Rings. The pilot jet, main jet and nozzle need to be removed from the carburetor and cleaned, you may need to run a small wire through them to clean out all the passages.

A small can of carburetor cleaner can run around $40.00 or more. This is not the spray cleaner but rather a bath or soak type cleaner.


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## Rudy (Jun 14, 2006)

I had a feeling you'd say that: the harsher cleaner I know would destroy the gaskets and rubber. I'd definitely try to get them out of there first if I could.

$40 seems a little steep, but if I could clean both carbs with it, it would be worth it. 

Thanks much!


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## bc11 (Jul 14, 2009)

The gallon can of Berrymans Chemtool I bought last year was just over $20. It has a tray inside for a parts dipper. Most of the autoparts stores carry it.

Contact your local mower repair shop and they may have a kit for under $10. You can order them online and pay shipping as well.

I've got a little Poulan 31cc 2 cycle trimmer that I'm getting ready to order a new carb on. Soak it a few times and blow it out with air compressor and still no go. 

I use the cheap walmart carb cleaner. I can go through a can or two just cleaning up around the engine and carb to get it off. Carb cleaner is very hard on soft rubber like diaphrams. It will also make old rotten primer bulbs and lines crumble. Sometimes these primer rubbers and lines will rot and pieces get blown into the carb so new primer bulbs and lines may be in order as well.


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## Rudy (Jun 14, 2006)

$20 for a gallon is NOT bad--I'll look for that. 

The Ryobi trimmer also had a 31cc engine, and the buyer just picked it up. It is not impossible to start, but it is one of those where you have to prime it several times and monkey around with the choke to get it to start. But once it is going, it runs strong. Got my asking price for it ($25), so we're happy.  I did tell him about starting it that way, but he works for a landscaping company--he's probably used to tempermental engines.

I'm always careful with the Gumout--like you say, I've heard of it being tough on rubber and gaskets. For a cleaner/degreaser, though, the best I've used was made by LPS. (When I worked for another industrial distributor many years ago, I used to buy LPS products at 10% above cost--an employee perk.) They even had some "plastic safe" cleaners that were aircraft approved by Boeing. They made great products, but they are not cheap!


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## bc11 (Jul 14, 2009)

Guess mine was a ryobi, not poulan. They are all made by the same company, american yard products, so it doesn't matter. They usually look alike except a different color and name. I sprayed straight carb cleaner into the empty gas tank to clean the carb. It ran for a little bit but the lines and primer bulb just crumbled. I shut it off cause I didn't want to run it long on carb cleaner. After having the carb apart and cleaned a few times, the best it would do is start and run for a few seconds and quit. One chain saw repair place said he gets too many call backs with trying to clean them and put in a kit. He just orders a new one. I told him then I could do that. I have over $20 in parts in it now. Not sure what to do. It has the changable end on it to go to a tiller, etc. I'm tempted to buy a new 4 cyl one but I don't really need another trimmer head.

Berrymans was about $22 at autozone I believe. I left a carb in for 3 days and it took the silver coating/paint off of the the body. Left it with a rough feel. 

I ran out of carb cleaner a while back and picked up a can of brake cleaner sitting there. Didn't do anything for the oil & dirt but sure made the paint soften and bubble where it dripped on the mower deck.


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## JEJ (Apr 24, 2009)

Rudy said:


> My dad had both a snowblower (HS521) and a mower (HR214), and they sat for years in the garage with gas in the tank. (It was after he had his stroke, so these things were furthest from his mind at the time.)
> 
> A few years ago, I was able to get the mower running, although it took some gumout and running it choked for awhile to get it to clear up. It's still not 100% though. The snowblower ran only when it had the choke most of the way on; last winter, it wouldn't even start. (I gave both of these to my ex, since I already have a Honda mower and snowblower...although I kept them at Dad's house until I sold it back in 2005.)
> 
> ...


Several years ago I purchased a carb for a Honda HR21 from a parts place in Plano TX. Don't remember the name of the lace but they specialized in repair parts for old Hondas. Think the carb cost like $50. Do a web search.


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## Canwoodsman (Aug 13, 2009)

I just recently got an old Honda generator that had sat for years. The carb. bowl & float were gummed up bad. Also the fuel shutoff valve/fuel filter was plugged. Fuel tank also had dirt in it. Cleaned these & the motor ran like a charm. the carb. itself was fine.

Rick


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