It's a Honda!!

This machine took a bit of digging. This is a Honda walk-behind mower a customer brought in for routine service and assessment. Compression was great but could not get a good ignition spark. I tracked the problem down to a little momentary contact "kill" switch. Most engines of this type just use a small bit of spring steel to short out the high voltage to the spark plug stopping the engine. With these, you usually just clean the contacts.

Leave it to Honda to make it complicated. The little black plastic switch shown in the pictures is the culprit. I have a replacement on order but, again, as is Honda's way, you can only buy the OEM switch and it runs around $25.00. I checked all my usual sources as well as new ones, but same answer from all of them.

Now that I know what is wrong, I can do the work on the rest of the mower, then set it aside, waiting for the part.

Another challange

Project for a customer. He brought this in for service and asked about why he was not able to see the oil in the window on the pump. During the work-up on it, I found the pump portion to be nearly empty of lub oil, usually the kiss of death for a piston pump of this type. The other issue is that the engine compression is a bit below 60 PSI, too low to operate.
I contacted the manufacture of the pressure washer and was told to contact the pump manufacturer. Finally got a response. I will now do a deeper dive into the issues with the engine and pump. As with all jobs like this, I do not charge for basic diagnosing of the problems and this unit may turn out to be too far gone, but haven't given up yet, love a challange

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

This was a curb-side free find. It definitely had some issues. I did a complete workup on it, diagnosing its problems. Now, after a valve job, honing the cylinder walls and a complete tune-up and service, it runs great and I can sell this for a low price to someone who needs one but cannot afford a new one. This was saved from the dumpster and brought back to life!

A new way to spend a day

Good Evening all,

Today was my first day at my new job at Arrow Lumber here.  I will be working Thursday through Saturday on the counter and customer service.

Great company, great bunch to work for, and with.  I enjoyed my first day, lots to learn but I have many good, patient teachers.

I will continue to work on small engine equipment, so keep bringing in your lawn mowers, it may take a bit longer as I will be doing it in my "spare" time, but I enjoy working on these machines, wouldn't give it up.

Should you call, feel free to leave a message and I will get back to you.
360 385-6335  home / shop
360 531-3239  cell (I actually carry it, just sometimes have trouble figuring which button to push.

Have a great evening!!!
Tony

Another generator, that last windstorm has brought them out

A customer brought this generator in to me to work on.  He said initially that the engine ran but surged. He replaced some of its carburetor internals but, when he put it back together, the float bowl wouldn't seal so he used some gasket goop.  When I got it, when you turned the fuel on, it came out of the air filter.

A note on using gasket goop.  This is probably the same thing I would have done a few years ago.  The hard part was scrubbing the inside of the bowl (middle picture) and the carburetor (bottom picture) with alcohol to clean up the sealant that, apparently, softened and ran when exposed to gasoline.

Once cleaned, I installed a new needle, seat and bowl gasket.  While it was here, I changed the oil, cleaned the air filter, installed an new spark plug and did a complete set of diagnostics.  I now starts first pull and purrs like a kitten.

Another project for a customer

A customer called me, said that when they turn the on gas valve for their generator, gas comes out of the carburetor.  I picked it up and brought it to my shop.  I opened the valve and gas did come out of the area of the carb.  I pulled this apart and found that the float need valve was corroded to the housing preventing it from shutting off the gas flow to the float bowl.

Due to the  accumulation of water that frequently results from the alcohol in regular gasoline, the float bowl was both rusted and corroded.  (see photos).  Unfortunately, this is one of those machines shipped in from the far east so getting parts, even a parts list is a challenge.

I have the carb in my new ultrasonic cleaner and have cleaned the rust and corrosion from the float bowl.  Normally, in a case like this, you would replace the float bowl, but could not find the parts anywhere.  I have sent an inquiry to my best supplier, Tulsa Engine Warehouse requesting they research the parts.  I will get this back up and running!!

This is a good reminder to use only E-0 (no alcohol) gas in your small engines to assure the longest, trouble free service from them.
Back to the bench!

Latest addition to my arsenal of shop tools

As you can probably tell, instead of a boat or motorcycle, my "spare" cash goes into my shop.  This latest addition is an Oregon model 42-047 precision blade balancer.  This not only checks the blade balance (something like you would a tire) but also has a gauge to check if the blade is bent or warped.

Balancing the mower blade is very important.  When blades are no properly balanced, they cause vibration, noise, and can even damage the bearings and oil seal on walk behind mowers.

This is also important for riding mowers.  An out of balance blade can cause damage to the shaft and bearings in the mandrel, the part between the drive belt pulley and blade.

This was not cheap, but worth it to assure that my customers have get the best service possible.
Thanks for your business and confidence.
Tony

I just may have that part you need

I took a moment this evening to count up the number of different, distinct parts I have in stock for mowers and small engines.  The number is 435!!  I normally keep more than one of each in stock, sometimes several to make sure that I will have what I need to work on your machinery.

Guess what, nearly every week I need to add a new part or two because something comes in and I do not have the critical part in stock, so I place a priority order.

That number, 435, does not count the many generic parts, nuts, bolts, wire terminals, wire, grommets, a whole array of new parts.

Then there is the salvage parts department, including fully functional used wheels, fuel tanks, mufflers, on an on.  These came from machines given to me that were past hope  of repair.  I only use these with he prior permission of the customer, sometimes these are all we can get when it comes to older, machines for which parts are no longer available.

So, if you need a mower or other piece of gas powered equipment repaired, I have the tools, knowledge and probably the part needed to fix it.

If you are a do-it-yourself type, give me a call and I will set you up with the parts you need for your project.
Thanks and enjoy the sunshine!!
Tony

Catching up on my backlog of "personal" projects

This is that little red Honda Harmony riding mower that someone gave me. Finally got to work on it, finding that it is a bit older than I had first thought, have been told may be hard to get parts. Has a flat front tire, won't hold air, so will have to put in an inner tube. This may be a a challenge, but that is what I live for.

Rescued from the recycler's grasp

Old school walk behind mower. Was in tough shape when I got it. Runs great now, waiting for a replacement blade.

Keeping busy at it in the shop. This is an MTD rototiller that had been sitting for a while. Carburetor was gummed up and it had very weak spark. I removed and cleaned carb, new spark plug, oil change and replaced ignition module (top photo). Runs great now, another success.

New "toy" for the shop

Latest addition to the shop, a basic ultrasonic cleaner. This is not an industrial duty model, but will do the job for some time to come. I use this to clean ...

Projects in process around the shop

Another project on the bench, a vintage Honda EX 650 generator from back in the mid 80's. Runs but leaks gas from the float bowl vent, will pull the carb, clean and rebuild, should do the trick.