Honda Snowblower engine problems.

I’m going nuts with a Honda snowblower problem and wonder if anyone out there has fixed this issue before?

This is a Honda HS55 2 stage machine from about 1986. I believe this is a 5.5 HP Honda engine on this machine.

The carb is leaking fuel badly through the carb and it is also dumping that leaking fuel down the intake and into the engine so if the intake valve happens to be open, it fills the cylinder with fuel and locks up the engine. If the intake valve is closed, it just pours the entire tank of gas out the intake side and onto the floor overnight.

I’ve removed the carb and can’t see any reason why the float would be hung up in the down (open) position. The needle has a rubber tip, so my thinking is either the seat is cracked/worn or the float needle tip is warped/worn such that it isn’t sealing against the seat.

Here’s my question. Unlike a Briggs or Tecumseh, there appears to be no replaceable rubber seal that the float needle seals against in the “closed” position. Just a nylon seat that is part of the carb and not available as a separate part. There is also no “carb kit” available for Hondas that includes all these little seals.

What do you do in this case on Honda? Replace just the needle and little spring (parts key 2)? Replace the whole carb?

Parts diagram here.

Or is there some other problem and I’m totally off base? I just haven’t done much on Honda machines and while the principles are the same, the Honda carb setup doesn’t appear to have the replaceable parts that Briggs/Tecumseh do.

Many thanks.

Grouse

What do you do in this case on Honda? Replace just the needle and little spring (parts key 2)? Replace the whole carb?

Trade it in on a newer model

Eelpoutguy wrote:

What do you do in

Some carbs work great after and some just never work right. I’ve had great luck with replacement carbs on eBay or Amazon. Try to clean it once and check for the usual cracked or hard needle rubber or float filled with gas issues. After that I would look for a replacement.

is the float full of fuel?? if so its junk and needs replaced.
you can tell by either shaking it next to your ear and listen for fuel slosh,or,hold a light next to it and look through it if its plastic,you will be able to see the fuel in it.

been a while since I worked on a Honda carb that old but if memory serves me if you use an O-ring pick you can gently pry that rubber/plastic seat up and out of its bore.
if its not cracked simply flip it over and use the other side,put some oil or dielectric grease on it so it slips back down easily,I have done that on briggs and techumsehs as well in a pinch.
if yours has the spring on the needle to help assist the float you can stretch it a tiny bit ( about one coils worth ) to put more pressure in the needle and it wont affect the float level or float drop.

once you have the carb back together before you install it flip the carb upside down and blow on the fuel inlet pipe to make sure the needle and seat is doing its job.
then flip it back upright to make sure the needle is opening correctly.

if it still leaks and if you have the patience you can lightly sand the rubber tip of the needle making sure you follow the angle to reshape it by holding the sandpaper tightly against the needles tip.
six hundred grit paper works well for that and it doesnt take much at all to reshape it.
I have done this on engines that no parts have been available for for years and gotten along well enough that the carb worked for several years afterwards.

one other thing,if it runs well enough once you get it started you can put an inline shut-off valve in the gas line if it doesnt already have one.
simply turn the fuel off when you are done with it.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Trade it in on a newer model

Of course, that makes total sense. Spend $1800 to fix what, at most, amounts to a $79.99 problem.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

is the float full of fuel?? if so its junk and needs replaced.

No, but I’m submersing it to test it one more time to be sure it isn’t leaking. But no it wasn’t full of fuel when I pulled the carb apart.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

been a while since I worked on a Honda carb that old but if memory serves me if you use an O-ring pick you can gently pry that rubber/plastic seat up and out of its bore.

That’s the thing. Honda does NOT have that rubber seat the needle meets. It’s just a nylon seat that’s part of the inlet valve and can’t be replaced apparently. It’s part of the plastic middle of the carb.

That’s why I was wondering if I’m missing something here, having not done a lot of Honda carb work. The only parts that are available are the float and the needle, there’s no seat.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

once you have the carb back together before you install it flip the carb upside down and blow on the fuel inlet pipe to make sure the needle and seat is doing its job.

Just tried that and I get the proper resistance when the float is in the “up” or closed position. By all that I can tell, everything is working properly. There is no other way fuel could be getting inside the cylinder, the only path is for the float bowl to fill up and then it leaks up the main jet and into the cylinder, right?

Can’t decide what to do. Hit the eject button and order a whole new carb? The machine is over 30 years old, so maybe that’s the easy out, but as Mrs. Grouse says, I’m nothing if not cheap. I can’t help but think I’m missing something.

I’m going to try to stretch the spring a little, but the problem there is having to spend all the time putting it back together, gassing it up, etc, it’s a lot of work to leak test it.

Grouse

been there before too,find yourself the right size end mill bit for eight bucks and using light pressure on it reshape the seat back to square.
yes,it can be done,its amazing what you can do when parts are no longer available and I like a challenge.
if that plastic body has a crack in it,the needle and seat may be doing its job and its actually leaking through the crack,fuel level drops,needle opens,needle closes and repeat.

now,that said,and I know you like ethanol,four times in the past ten years I have seen where the ethanol level is high enough in the gas mix it will climb out of the carb by osmosis for lack of a better word up the sides of the bowl,and up and over out the vent tube or throttle bore which ever is lowest.
that is no snit as I had to take the carb apart,fill the bowl and watch what happened,twice on a tractor carb I fought for hours on end and two on vehicles,talk about maddening to figure that out !

I have also seen where the caps vent is plugged,the tank is filled up with cold gas and the unit sits in a heated garage,the gas expands and the float is over powered pushing all of the gas out,especially true this time of year when many evaporative additives,ie,butane,heptane, are added to winter blend fuels so they will ignite easier when its cold outside.

I searched the link you provided and boats.net has that carb complete if you want to go that route,63 bucks and change.

https://www.boats.net/product/honda/16100-ZE1-715?ref=250d36e6e9095b116fc69926696c68d0e5653088