OT Jet diameter for lawn mower carburater

[Bill D]

Off Topic: I need to clean the main jet on my Honda lawn mower. I do not want to use too big a piece of wire to do it. Can I use welding torch tip cleaner or is that too big? I can not find any specs for how big the hole should be. I'm hoping to do this with the carb in place as it is quite a bit of work to remove it with all The California extra plumbing attached.
I would have to unbolt the engine to get a screwdriver in to remove the jet. Would blowing compressed air up the jet do anything? It is not plugged all the way it runs but dies after a few seconds of high load,

Bill D.

 

[Limy Sami]

Might do, but first find the engine model and type - bound to be an online manual, check and see if that carb has any diaphragms, IME often the cause of small engine carb problems.

 

[ecortech]

Not likely much if anything in the jet itself. If it runs for a bit then dies most likely dirt is in the fuel bowl that feeds the jet.
When running dirt is sucked into jet blocking it then after the motor dies the dirt settles to the bottom again, til next time.
I cant imagine any lawnmower being easier to unbolt the motor than remove the carb no matter how much plumbing there is.
I've seen hundreds of lawnmower engines with the same symptoms, remove carb clean with carb spray and compressed air.
At most a half hour job, good as new.

Ed

 

[Chip Chester]

Not gonna see my damn lawn for two more months.

Chip

 

[scojen]

If its a Briggs and Strattion or a Honda everything you wanted to know is a google away all the carburetors come from Taiwan or china if its an older mower 10 years or more just plunk down the cash for a new one. By the time you pull it apart yes your going to need a gasket kit that's 20 bucks available on the internet. time spent versus just buying a new one well you figure it out. In other words been there done that not worth the hassle.

 

[scojen]

Not gonna see my damn lawn for two more months.

Chip

Want to cut my back 2 acres almost a foot high.

 

[JW Machine]

If it will start readily but dies when you try to get some work out of it, I suggest checking your fuel supply first. Make sure there are no restrictions between the tank and the carburetor bowl- needle & seat problem, plugged filter, bad shutoff valve, or a restricted pickup strainer inside the tank. Also, if it's a suction type system rather than pressure or gravity feed, make sure there aren't any holes in the fuel line as that can cause it to suck air and starve the engine for fuel but may never visibly leak with the engine shut off.

Should you find yourself needing to clean jets or passages, I recommend careful use of shipping tag wire. Small diameter, soft, and readily available.

 

[David J.]

We're a Honda dealer....you can take the carb off in about 2 minutes blindfolded.
Double nut the studs and back them out of the block, pay attention to the
various gaskets and spacers.
Yes you can use a torch tip cleaner if you have one small enough.
You're looking at maybe .023-.026 dia. in the jets.
Some late model Honda carbs retail for less than $20.00, may not
be worth screwing with.
David

 

[true temper]

I fixed 3 Honda engines that would not run right using Seafoam. I don't believe in snake oil treatments but this stuff works. One engine I had the carb off twice and could not see the varnish. Put it back together dumped some Seafoam in it cleaned it up now it starts first pull like a Honda should.

 

[Big B]

I have also had extremely good results using sea foam. I have a quad in a shipping container in Arizona that I hadn't run in a few years. It would start but would only run with the choke on full and wouldn't rev up at all. I put sea foam in it and let it idle for about 10 or 15 minutes, then gradually ran it around for an hour or so. It finally ran like it should and always did. Last time I put it away I made sure to run the carb empty so it won't be as much of a problem next time.

Big B

 

[Tony Quiring]

We use chemtool

The spray type if you can find the vent otherwise get the pour on type and drop the fuel line in it and run engine on it then let stand for 30 minutes and repeat.

When you run out then dump old gas out and fill with fresh gas and connect lines.

 

[CalG]

Pluck a single bristle from any wire brush you have at hand

Off Topic: I need to clean the main jet on my Honda lawn mower. I do not want to use too big a piece of wire to do it. Can I use welding torch tip cleaner or is that too big? I can not find any specs for how big the hole should be. I'm hoping to do this with the carb in place as it is quite a bit of work to remove it with all The California extra plumbing attached.
I would have to unbolt the engine to get a screwdriver in to remove the jet. Would blowing compressed air up the jet do anything? It is not plugged all the way it runs but dies after a few seconds of high load,

Bill D.

Hold the wire in the jaws of a fine nose vise-grip. just wriggle the wire around in the jet a time or two.

You do not want to ream the jet with torch cleaning wires!

 

[Bill D]

I should have said this is a gravity float bowl type carb. I have dropped the float bowl, clean. The needle valve was stuck closed. cleaned it and fuel flows out good. I could not find the little hole to allow fuel into the jet tube. it has a brass check valve in the side of that tube. I pushed it and it seemed to move freely I think.
Bill D.

 

[Herb in Delco]

Before all else fails, check the vent hole in the fill cap!

Herb

 

[jdavi581]

Carb jets are reamed to a very specific size. Do not use wire if you can avoid it. Soak it in carb cleaner, and if you have to, use a fine wire (copper) to clean it. Burs and scratches can affect performance, etc. Torch cleaners are little files, do not use these for jets.
Joe