honda carb problems

H

hunk e dory

New member
I have 2003 Honda 4 stroke, 90 hp. i am having serious problems with the carbs fouling out the low speed jets. engine wants to stall out when accelerating but runs like a scared rabbit at high speeds. I have been told problem is caused by ethanol cleaning the old tanks thus causing the problem. has any one else had this problem and are there any steps to cure this problem. all help will be appreciated.
 
Yup, sounds like I had the same problem occur for the first time on my Honda 90 last Sunday. It had been hard starting the last couple of times but on Sunday there was clearly something going on at lower RPM's. At one point I pulled back the throttle and the engine stalled.

I thought I was going to be in for a visit with a Honda mechanic but with a bit of googling I seemed to have solved the problem for $7.99.

On Monday I went to the local discount auto store and bought an additive called Sea Foam. First I emptied the fuel filter bowl and filled it with this stuff so it would hit the carb full strength, Then I added the rest to about 12 gallons left in the port tank. I started the Honda and ran at a fast idle for about 5 minutes. Then I took it out and ran through about 6 gallons of the treated fuel

On Tuesday, Wednesday and today the motor has started right up and runs great at low speeds,

Hope this helps :thup
 
I’ve been using Sea Foam for years, usually as preventative maintenance once a year added to a low tank of fuel.

Cleans fuel injectors
Cleans carburetor jets
Cleans carbon
Stabilizes fuels
Upper cylinder lube
Removes moisture in fuel
De-icer
Frees sticky lifters
Frees sticky rings
Removes moisture in oil
Cleans P.C.V. systems
Cleans catalytic converter odors
Oxygen sensor safe
 
Sounds like Sea Foam is pretty good stuff. I have not seen it on the shelf at any boating store in our area. We have a motor home and the gen set has a funny carb. It must be run appx. every two weeks or it gives problems when you really load it (air conditioner). Give us a suggestion where to buy some.

Thanks
 
I'm another satisfied Sea Foam user. It sounds like your problem is with the transition from the low speed jets to the high speed. I've had similar problems with my 75 at about 2500-2900 RPM. Dump some Sea Foam in the tanks and try and run the engine at the problem speed. It'll take a while to clean up, like maybe an hour or two, but it beats a 300 buck carb cleaning at the dealer.

Hope the Sea Foam helps! It's usually available at NAPA, O'Reilly's, Auto Zone, etc.

Mike
 
I'm really not one to go for snake oil type treatments but as I said before Sea Foam seems to work. Another product that I had really good results from is Mercury brand aresol carb cleaner. My 50 HP fuel infected Mercury quit running due to varnish in the high pressure fuel pump. the pump was locked up tight and a new one was $350. I tired everything I new to break it loose with different solvents and went to the Mercury dealer to buy a new one and the mechanix there suggested this stuff. It worked great when nothing else would. I never used it on a carb but I suspect it would work well. I had previously used a generic brand of carb cleaner with no success.
 
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