I have a gcv160 honda pressure washer that I bought at an auction. I know nothing of it's history and when I got it home and started messing with it I found out it has no compression. I checked this by taking spark plug out and putting my thumb in plug hole and pulling rope. No compression. I'm good with older engines but no nothing of the Honda. How do I check to see if valves are stuck?

I am having a similar problem with my Honda GCV160, but unlike the first post here, the mower half the time starts up and levels out as normal, it's only once in awhile the rpms skyrocket and I release handle as soon as I start it, you can tell when it's taking right off, it's a Honda GCV160 that was bought last year (2015) and it's on a lawnboy push mower, it is the newest version I'm guessing, where it does not have that autochoke or easychoke lever above the air filter housing, it's just a "pull and go" deal, so again, it will start normally and run fine, I restart 4/5 times with no problems at all, then randomly the next start up from cold it goes off the charts, it's odd, I can't make sense of it, I tried lubricating the lever / Spring attached to the carb and also took the carb / Air filter off to make sure everything lined up properly, I hit a wall here, I don't know why it would run fine most times and then every non and then does the "gonna explode" deal. Any thoughts, help or ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks.

If you had oil in it then the governor is not working or hung up. You need to see if it is moving freely. Hard to diagnose without seeing it. But a un adjuster governors do many strange things. I would also suggest that you remove the shroud and gas tank. Only 3 nuts and look to see if the flywheel is hitting the magneto. Remove the spark wire first. Also see if the flywheel has any slop sideways. Also look to see if the flywheel bolt may have come loose. This engine has a heavier flywheel.

i removed about 2 oz of oil to make sure it wasn't that stupid. dad didn't seem concerned about that saying it was an insignificant amount. difficult to get an accurate read on the oil level due to the stupid plastic dipstick design but it seems at the correct level. i probably should stick a screwdriver in it to get an accurate read, but like i said, it isn't over-filled oil. i know the symptoms of too much oil -- heavy black smoke and very erratic performance. this is a slight black smoke, excessive fuel consumption (rich burn, burning fuel 4 times faster than it should), slight erratic performance, and degraded rpm. new spark plug was installed and gapped to 0.76mm (factory gap was actually correct). removal of air filter was tested. it is a new air filter replaced 2-3 weeks ago and frequently dusted -- i also typically use a very porous 2ndary filter (similiar to the filling of a comforter) as well to keep larger stuff off the air filter. it isn't those things. i've used new gas from two different sources. i've thoroughly cleaned and checked the carb (needle valve was perfectly clean like brand new and functioning correctly with the floater, the bulb was perfectly clean like brand new except of course with clean gas in it), everything looks good, and really, there isn't much that could go wrong with the carb with everyday use, unless i was burning sand and sludge. i also examined and cleaned the breather and it looked in good condition. the breather was clean except for the expected oil and functioning perfectly. i'm really just asking for advice on what to expect for tearing down the engine, if there is anything special that i need to know. my dad thinks it ran hot with the choke getting stuck and not releasing fully. it is likely internal to the engine. hopefully, it is just a worn belt considering 500 hours (5-10 years of residential use) is about the life of a residential mower engine, but i may have to replace rings and hone the cylinders if it was because of the automatic choke release being used and not releasing even though the lever was fully released due to dirt build-up around the linkage for it. everything else was just fyi to give my review and experience with the craftsman mower and honda engine.