Take the simple step first. On the bottom of the carb bowl there is probably a screw coming out at a 45 degree angle. Loosen it and drain all the gas. It helps to empty the tank as much as possible first. If that screw doesn't come out, then loosen the bolt on the very bottom, but don't remove it, just loosen a few turns.

When the gas is gone, then put some fresh gas in the tank and let it bleed through to the carb and drain off about an ounce and tighten everything back up. Check the plug and replace if it's wet and start it up. Replace the air filter if it appears wet or very dirty.

By the way, if you have a fuel pump, you may have to turn the key a second or two. You might also have a solenoid that has to be removed on the bowl.

Thanks baymee, I'm going to work on that tomorrow.

I also noticed yesterday that there are 2 hoses connected to the top of the carb. One of them goes to the fuel filter...the other one was not connected to anything on the other end and I can't tell what it should be connected to. It's connected to the top of the carb and runs down in the engine somewhere. Any ideas on where the other end goes?? Could this be my problem?

Thanks

The second hose likely runs from the air filter base to the crank case breather on the block.

One end of the hose connects right next to where the fuel line connects to the carb. The connections are right beside each other, I just don't know where the other end goes.....

A picture would be helpful. Is it maybe the overflow or drain hose from the carb? If so, it just hangs down like the battery breather hose.

That's probably what it is. That would explain why it was hanging loose on the other end. I'm going to drain all the old gas out today and see what happens! At the moment, if I put a shot of gas directly in the carb, it starts for a couple of seconds. So I assume it's not getting gas for some reason.....

Alot of times, that is because the main jet is varnished or there is old/bad fuel in the bowl.

The second host not connected to anything might be there just for maintenance, so you can manually drain fuel out of the carb bowl. My Yamaha generator has a hose just like that on the carburettor.

When you say main jet, do you mean the port where the fuel hose connects to the carb? If it is varnished, how do I clean it? Spray carb cleaner into the port hole??

Ok, I took a picture of my engine so we can see what I am talking about but I don't know how to post it here.....can someone help with this? I tried something new today, if I run the fuel line directly into the throat of the carb, it starts right up....however as soon as I take the line out of the throat and attach it to the connector on top of the carb where it should go, it shuts down. I sprayed carb cleaner in the hole of the connection but it all squirts back out.

From what you have described (about a shot of fuel bringing it to life, albeit briefly) I agree with baymee. Your main jet is likely varnish plugged, or if the carb has a fuel solenoid in the bowl, the solenoid plunger valve might be varnish stuck. In lieu of removing the carb for cleaning, you can try this technique. It will usually open a jet up and/or unstick the a solenoid. First of all, you need to drain the old fuel from the float bowl. One of the methods cited near the top of this thread should get you through that. You could find that there is no old gas remaining in the bowl, having completely evapaorated already. Anyway, after you drain the bowl, close it back up (whatever you did to drain it, reverse that). Take the fuel line loose from the carburetor. If you have some safety goggles, put them on now. Using an aerosol can of carb cleaner (Gumout, Carb Medic or the like), with the nozzle extension straw in place, insert the straw into the fuel hose fitting on the carb. If you can wrap a small scrap of cloth around the fitting and the straw to minimize back flow, that's better. Press lightly on the nozzle so the carb cleaner goes in slowly. Dispense the carb cleaner until it flows back out of the hose fitting (this is why it helps to wrap that scrap of cloth around the straw and fitting). When it flows back out the hose fitting, the bowl has filled up and the needle valve has closed. Let the bowl sit full of the cleaner for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then reconnect the fuel hose and see if the engine will start. No need to drain the carb cleaner from the bowl first, the carb cleaner will burn as well or better than gasoline.

I have sprayed and sprayed...I removed the bowl and cleaned it good. The float set moves freely. I put the bowl back on. I removed the fuel line from the carb fitting and sprayed the cleaner into the carb fitting. I replaced the fuel line....it started just long enough to burn the cleaner then immediately shut down. If I run the fuel line into the throat of the carb, it runs for just a little bit then stops....Is it possible that the fuel pump is not pumping enough gas through the fuel line?? Can the fuel pump get clogged or go bad and cause this? The engine has a solenoid but it enters the bowl from the outside as opposed to being inside the bowl...I really don't want to call a repair center to fix this but I'm not sure what else to do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Honda Engine

A little backround info....my tractor started running rough and then quit. I checked the fuel level and all that stuff. After a couple of frustrating days of troubleshooting, I just now realized I have been using gas out of a can that has been sitting since last summer. It ran fine the first couple of times I cut the grass. But the last time is when it quit. The fuel filter was full of debris so I had to order one since Sears doesn't carry it in the store. I cleaned and sprayed everything from the fuel filter to the carb with carb cleaner. I went out today and bought a "universal" fuel filter while I wait for mine to come in. I installed it and it still wouldn't start. I tried several times over the course of today, still no luck. Then I happened to look at the newly installed fuel filter and IT now has a lot of "stuff" in it!! I'm thinking I need to drain all of the gas out of the tank and maybe replace the fuel line that runs from the tank to the filter. There must be a lot of junk in the tank and/or line that is keeping the engine from getting gas. What is the best way to drain the gas tank and to make sure all sediment is out of it? Thank you for your help!!!

this is going to sound AWFUL, but the best way to clean the tank is to remove the tank, drain it and flush it out several times with clean fuel. it is not the easiest, but it is the best. as for the carb, i believe that the main jet is plugged. on most small engine carbs, the main jet is direcrly upwards of the bolt that holds the float bowl on. the jet is usually made of brass and usually requires a large slotted screwdriver to remove. if you can find it, remove it and spray it from the backside with your carb cleaner. when you are done, you WILL be able to see a pinhole of daylight through it. replace it and the bowl and try that, it should get you running again. now, the cheaters way to clean the tank, IF YOU DO THIS, YOU ARE DOING SO AT YOUR OWN RISK! IT CAN BE DONE SAFELY, BUT IT IS UP TO YOU TO DECIDE IF YOU ARE QUALLIFIED TO DO THIS! DO NOT HOLD ME RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS. drain ALL the old fuel out of it and dispose of it propperly. remove the fuel lines (REPLACE THEM WITH NEW WHEN YOU ARE DONE) and fill the tank with soapy water,HOT IF YOU CAN. use the garden hose and aggitate the he11 out of it with the spray nozel. do this a couple of times untill all you get is pure, clean water. then go to the pharmacy/ or auto store and buy AT LEAST 6 BOTTLES of dry gas OT 2 QUARTS of isopropyl alcohol FROM THE PHARMACY and flush them through the tank one can( 1/3 quart) at a time allowing as much liquid as you can shake from it at a time. once you have done that. you can use an air compressor or your shop vac IN REVERSE ONLY!!!!! (AIR MUST BLOW OUT OF THE HOSE!) (IF YOU SUCK THE FUMES OUT OF THE TANK INTO THE SHOP VAC IN NORMAL POSITION YOU MAY HAVE AN EXPLOSION!!!!to blow air through the tank untill it is dry. IF THIS SOUND WAY TO COMPLICATED, OR DANGEROUS, CALL A PROFESSIONAL REPAIR PERSON! IF YOU MESS UP, THE MONEY YOU WILL BE TRYING TO SAVE MAY BE A DROP IN THE BUCKET COMPARED TO THE HOSPITAL BILLS / TIME OFF WORK// OR FUNERAL EXPENSES!

Go the a home improvement store and buy a one quart container of methanol alcohol (sometimes called "denatured" alcohol) to purge the traces of water after your soapy cleaning. Methanol is the main ingredient of "dry gas" type products but much less costly in the paint department aisle. The purest isopropyl alcohol you can buy in the pharmacy is 91% alcohol and 9% water, some brands have as little as 28% alcohol with the average being 70%. You can toss in some clean nuts and bolts with your soapy water and shake the tank in all directions by hand so that you will get some real scrubbing action. If your tank has a plain cap, use it to plug the filler hole. If your cap has a built-in gas gauge, use the palm of your hand to plug the filler hole. Just fill the tank half full of soapy water for the agitation phase of the cleaning. After that, get all the nuts and bolts out (just let them dry and they're still good) and rinse the tank with clear water. Do the alcohol last. Don't pour the whole quart is at once. Pour in about half a pint, shake it up, pour it out. Repeat till you run out of alcohol and there won't be any water left in the tank.

An option to the nuts & bolts could be a small bag of aquarium gravel/stones.Just make SURE that you get them all out when you're done. I think they give a better "scrubbing" action.

I would not use soapy water. What will they come up with next?
Shampoo?

You can probably disconnect the fuel line coming out of the tank and let it run out by gravity. Or suck the rest of the rotten gas out with a turkey baster. Then fashion a mop out of a coat hanger with a
small piece of white cloth tied on it. Slide the mop in the
tank and run it all around the bottom. Replace it with a clean
piece of cloth if you brink up sediment. Use fresh from the
gas pump gas carried home in a new gas can. Your gas can
maybe the contamination source.

You might need to get a carb rebuild kit and soak your
plugged up main jet in a pan of carburetor cleaner.

I finally got it running.....but it will only run with the choke pulled all the way out. The second I push the choke control in, it shuts down. When it does run, it's not running as strong as normal...any thoughts?

Sea Foam. You can get it at Wally World, K-Mart or any car parts place. Mix it according to the instructions and run it in your tank. You should notice the difference within a tank or two, depending how gummed up your carb is.

Can you post a picture of the carb or your engine?

I posted a link to the engine in an earlier post. When I get home, I'll post a picture I took of the engine.

The problem with using the sea foam is that it's not running well enough to go through a tank or two of gas....

Thanks!

I had an under seat tank which got contaminated when the cap was accidentally left off. Taking the molded under-seat tank out was not a good option. Therefore, I followed someone else's recommendation who had a similar issue. I simply removed the fuel line from the fuel filter and drained the tank. Then I got the garden hose and some Dawn detergent out, filled up the tank with soapy water, swished it around and then ran the garden hose until the water came out of the fuel line clear. To dry the tank I blew it out in reverse (I put my air compressor blow fitting into the fuel line behind the fuel filter headed toward the tank). Lastly, I put some gas and a bottle of Heat in the tank, let it sit for a while, and then drained that out. This cleaned the tank and the long fuel line (from the rear tank to the fuel filter) without having to disassemble the chassis to get the fuel tank out.

As far as that Carb, I would loosen the set screw next to the fuel-line solenoid on the carb. That will drain the gas out of the bowl from the bottom, where there is usually a clear hose connected. Then fill the carb bowl with carb cleaner and let it set a while...and see if that cleans the jets.

If that doesn't work it might be easier to simply purchase a new carb from a Honda power eqip. dealer or from Sears for about a hundred bucks or so. Replacing that is much easier than messing with the little jets, unless you are familiar with rebuilding small engine carbs.

As far as the hose you found not connected on one end, that hose just stays unconnected.

Finally, that Honda engine has a very large air filter. Take that off completely while you are evaluating performance and get a new filter and prefilter if you find that they are dirty and restricting air intake.

Change the plugs, and then I think you will be good to go.

before you take it for service, try this old hillbilly mechanic trick. remove the carb. then go find yourself a large steel coffee can with a plastic lid that seals tightly to keep the coffee fresh. empty the can, and put your carb into it. then fill the can with high test, or 93 octane pump gas. put on the lid, and let it sit for two days. go out and give it a shake a couple times a day. after you take it out and bolt it back on, it should be free of all varnish and gum. it takes time to turn to varnish over the winter, and it takes time to remove it sometimes. I would also try this with the tank by filling the tank with high test and giving it a shake as well for a couple days. also, it might have a fuel shutoff switch on the tank that the gas line hooks to. try to see if it is a model that you can take apart and clean, if not, put the carb hose on it and plug up the other end of hose with a bolt or screw or something, then switch it between reserve and open and shut a few times during the two days. if it runs with choke on, it must have some kind of a restricted fuel flow. make sure the tank is full as well when you are running it, the weight of the fuel itself might help free up a clog in the shutoff valve. hope this helps

Here is a link that may help identify the parts easier.
It is a color pdf file so it may take a few seconds to download.

Here is a link that might be useful: Honda carb

kachinee, where did you come across that link? It is incredibly helpful in my trying to learn how this thing actually works!! If I can figure out how to take the carb off, I think I'll try soaking it in high test for a couple of days.....I had to use my push mower yesterday!

After all of the headache I have been through trying as a novice to get through this....I realized that the 3 year extended warranty I bought with the tractor is good until June 14 of this year. I have been thinking all this time that I bought it 4 years ago when actually it was almost 3 years ago. I have an appt for the service guy to come out on June 8. I feel kind of stupid but I wanted to thank everyone for their input and also let you know that these temporary brain farts happen sometimes!

Don't beat yourself up like that. Chances are that carburetor cleaning wouldn't be covered under warranty on a 3 year old machine. If the carb got fouled up early (say in a couple weeks after you bought it and brought it home) and it could be proven that it was because of foreign matter in the tank from the factory or something like that......you MIGHT have a chance at getting warranty consideration. I'll bet that even if that WAS the case, the O.E.M. would weasel out of honoring warranty on the repairs for that by claiming that the purchaser had caused the contamination by fueling from unclean containers. After 3 years......no way. Whoever underwrites an extended warranty would label this as owner neglect or something. So you might be better off in the long run because you DIDN'T take it in expecting it to be covered under warranty. You might have returned to find you had an unexpected bill to pay. Besides, you can't buy an education like you can get from this forum and doing the work yourself.

Well, it is an in-home warranty so when he gets to my house to look at it, I'll tell him it's normal wear and tear. I paid for the warranty so I'm sure going to try and get it covered. I agree with you on the education thing..but for some reason this has really whipped me on top of other stuff I have going on. I'll let you know how I make out.

disney1:
I actually did a search on this web site where someone else posted that exact link.

I posted a while back about the Purolator Pro glass fuel filter with replaceable elements available at Pep Boys. For me it was a nice alternative to the paper/plastic fuel filters.

Regarding this carb, I am curious as to why you had this problem. Did you use any fuel additives like Stabil either for storage or routinely? Did you ever accidentally leave the gas cap off and have anything fly in there? Did you change the air filter? When you store it, do you drain the gas from the carb bowl?
Let us know what the tech guy says, what parts he may decide to replace, or if he is able to simply clean out the jets to resolve this.

disney1 just wondering if you have any update on your engine? thanks.

Update...I have cleaned this thing every way I know how. Now it starts and runs for about 5 seconds with the choke all the way out...then it shuts down. Then I can start it right back up, it runs for about 5 seconds then shuts down.....it will do this as many times as I want it to...

The service tech from Sears came by, determined I had gotten some bad gas and ordered a new carb, fuel filter, fuel pump, air filter. The parts were delivered yesterday and he is coming back next week to install them if I don't install them myself. All of this was done under the warranty that was about to expire. So for those who thought there was no way they would honor the warranty or say it was due to owner neglect!....there is always a way....it never hurts to check it out. All it took was a phone call.

Let us know if the engine runs smoothly after this and that it does not "hunt" (the governor surging the idle up and down) too much.
I was considering a Hustler MiniFastrak with this engine, but I have read others who have had issues with it as well, so I am sticking to a bigger block Honda or Kawasaki next time.

Ok, I'll let you know how it runs...it had started the surging thing prior to quitting on me. It was surging for a mow or two.

Parts-
21 & 22 are Main Jets. They are different sizes, so don't get them mixed up.
23 Pilot (idle) Jets

Those are the parts that need to be cleaned.

Regarding the carb and items 21,22 and 23 in the diagram above - anyone know how to access them? I have this same GXV530 on a Craftsman DLT3000. The engine is hunting at high idle and I suspect that the main and pilot jets are the problem. I also see the same diagram as depicted above in my owner's manual and found a GVX530 carb troubleshooting document from Honda that suggests the inspection and cleaning of the same items. I explored but couldn't find an 'easy' way to get to these jets. Can you only access them after removing the entire carb/float bowl assembly?

Many thanks - I know this is an old thread.

I accessed them from the bottom after taking the carb off and then the float. I accidentally did some damage to some small parts so I ended up replacing the entire carb. After replacing it, the engine still hunted at high idle.

I have spoken with a few people with that engine that have the same problem so I have a feeling there is some other issue with that engine that causes the hunting or surging.
Therefore, I don't recommend messing with those jets unless you really know what you are doing.

I did not stop with the carb in order to find a solution to the surging. In addition to the entire carb, I replaced everything (plugs, air/fuel filter, fuel pump) drained and cleaned out the fuel tank, replaced the fuel line from the tank to the filter, adjusted the valves,,,,,and still, it surges. Perhaps Honda has an idea why. If you can find a consumer complaint email for their power equipment engines, post it and perhaps others will join in.

WOW! Now if that doesn't help me, nothing will. I won't even attempt to get the carb off. I have maintained this engine every season - new plugs, filter, oil and filter, etc. Actually, this year I decided not to change the plugs as it seemed like overkill. It's funny that the engine surges at high idle only. Low idle is perfect.

I've replaced the fuel filter over the last few years with Home Depot/John Deere replacements. This year I splurged and bought a OEM Honda replacement. At the same time, I added a bottle of STP carb/fuel injector cleaner (I was unable to find Seafoam at Wal-Mart and Pep Boys) to a full tank of gas (5 gallons) and a quick run-through sounded 'better'. We'll see after I run it for an hour.

But at least I now know that I won't even attempt to get to the jets as it sounds like it's not worth it.

On another - related topic - I have two Tecumseh-powered Ariens snow blowers that were purchased within the last seven years. One is an 8hp and the other a 5hp that requires a mix. Both have required carburetor work - the 5hp only a year after purchase. I ended up bringing the 5hp one back as it was covered under warranty. (On the 8hp, I ended up replacing the carb with the 'pre-emissions' adjustable Tecumseh model I read about elsewhere in this forum. Works great.) The mechanic told me that many current engines have required early carb rebuilds due to 'crappy gas'. He even asked my what type of fuel stabilizer I use (Stabil) and suggested that he's also seen problems with anything other than the Briggs stabilzer. I guess I'll try that next season.

lenbo: There was thread a while ago on this forum (I guess you can type "Stabil" into the forum search if you are interested) that discussed how Stabil kinda of crystallizes after a certain period of time. I notice this as dark red flakes in the Stabil after a year or so on the shelf so I stopped using it.

I purchased a replacement carb from a local Honda power equipment dealer for just over a hondo. He just needed the exact engine model/serial number to order the correct one.

I got the Seafoam from Napa auto and another local auto store. I think that product is intended to clean rather than to act a a fuel stabilizer,,,but I'm not the expert. I have been off using Stabil after reading about that problem. Perhaps fresh gasoline all the time would be better, but not many of put fresh gas in every time we mow.