2005 Honda 4 stroke with carbs. Carb flooding and other

N

Nancy and Bud

New member
problems.

Starts right up cold using fast idle lever. Takes a while to warm up. When fast idle lever is lowered to shift into gear, engine dies. Trying to restart results in flooding of 3 of the four cylinders. It floods so much that you can smell gas and it streams out of a small spout on the bottom of the plastic cover just in front of the carbs. When the plugs were removed #1 was dry, numbers 2,3 and 4 were wet. Also, when warmed up. water exits a small plug above the carb that has a disc (looks like a freeze plut) pressed in but a drain slot in the side of the opening into which the disc was inserted. The disc appears to have been domed and then driven in and the dome was flattened out. There is one of those discs on the upper portion of the carb body that faces outwards. It looks like a freeze plug but with the slot in the holder it can not be water tight, at least that's what it looks like to me.

Any help would be appreciated. Bonus points for correct answers.

Thanks in advance.

PS. Previous owner included a work order for $2,000 worth of various engine work including working on the carbs. Unfortunately that mechanic is 1,000 miles away
 
How long ago were carbs overhauled and synced? Are you using non ethanol fuel? Do you drain the carbs after each use, if not using in a couple of weeks?

I suspect that the float valves are stuck open on 3. Tap on the side of each carb with the handle of a screwdriver. Sometimes That will loosen them up.

I drained the carbs and then sprayed Carb cleaner back up thru the drain to fill the bowl, Let it sit, squirt some more in, and tap again. Then drain, re-prime and give it a try.

If that didn't work, you might try some squirts of compressed air after the cleaning fluid. I use a compressor set at 25 PSI, and give brief bursts thru the plastic tubes I used to put the fluid in and drain.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

Carbs were rebuilt on 3/26 as shown on invoice from prior owner. Invoice shows $150 charge for sea trial of engine after work. My guess that ethanol gas sat in those carbs since then. I disconnected fuel line from motor. Used primer bulb to pump gas into metal can. After sitting for 5 minutes, water condensed and sunk to the bottom of the pan.

Sounds like your cleaning method may help the situation. I plan on draining both tanks dry to get rid of all the water laden fuel.

Then follow your cleaning/tapping method to see if that fixes the flooding problem.

Won't be home till later in the week to give it a go.
 
Bud,
I use a "fuel polishing" system. It is a Racor Filter with an automotive fuel pump. I have enough 5 gallon cans to pump into--and then dilute it with new gas for a gasoline road vehicle.

This way the fuel is not wasted. If you are getting water in the separation, there is significant amount present. Even with stabilizers, it will need to be pulled out.

Some of our members are not fortunate enough to have Ethanol free fuel available. Definitely drain the carburetors. 3 months is enough time to give problems. What a shame after the PO had spent the $$$ to have them rebuilt, that they were not drained, and non ethanol fuel put in the tank...! Unfortunately getting to the carbs is half the battle. They are not easy to remove.
 
Another reason to ALWAYS put Stabil into the mix when adding fuel. (IE, Boat, motorcycle, lawnmower and the spare gas cans for backup Generator etc.)

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

JC_Lately_SleepyC_Flat_Blue_055.highlight.jpg
 
We had a 2004 Honda BF90A until very recently. In the six years that we had it we were religious about running non ethynol fuel always treated with Sta-Bil. Even with that, acouple years ago it started to run a bit rough and had a miss at lower RPMs. A guy showed me a trick for cleaning these carbs.

Remove your Cartridge (Racor) fuel filter.
Before installing new filter fill it half full with Sea Foam Treatment.
Install the filter and then start your engine and let it run just long enough for this mixture to get in to the carbs and then shut it off.
Let the motor sit for about 3 to 4 hours and then restart.
It will make lots of smoke until it burns out all the Sea Foam.

This worked great on our motor and it ran perfect ever since. While this may not solve every carb problem, it is easy to do and probably worth at try before you take it to a shop for a very costly repair job. If you don't have a cartridge type fuel filter you should install one immediately.

Good Luck!
 
Your floats sound stuck to me too. It's not THAT hard to pull everything apart, but I suspect that some Seafoam may do the trick. Bad gas is a bummer!
 
Thanks for all the tips.

Drained the tanks.

Got non-ethanol gas.

Used carb cleaner on all the carbs per Bob's post.

4 new spark plugs

Filled fuel filter half full of Sea Foam

Added Sea Foam to gas tank.

Started the motor.

Ran rough till Sea Foam was run thru.

Attached hose and ear muffs.

Final results. Starts immediately after being turned off. Idles well. Put it in F and R and ran it up to 4000 rpm. Back to idle with no problem.

Thanks to all the Brats for your suggestions. :thup :D
 
There are a number of folks that think seafoam is snake oil, but like you just discovered, it often works. I know it has for me before and I'm really happy you got it solved.
 
T.R. Bauer":23vjsida said:
There are a number of folks that think seafoam is snake oil, but like you just discovered, it often works. I know it has for me before and I'm really happy you got it solved.
Click to expand...

Don't know about Oil of Snake, but I have used it for 40+ years as a preventive maintenance component. :thup :thup
 
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