Honda motors

[skeets]

My wood splitter has a honda motor and up till 20 min ago has been flawless. While it was cool ( below 80f) this morning I started on wood, and it worked like it should, and I stopped when it ran out of gas, cause I did too. Went back out and filled her up a couple hours later one pull and off we go. Same thing out of gas, so I go out now to finish up a couple pieces. And nada nothing, no compression at all, I even did a bad thing and shot some starting fluid in and nada just a little puffff . Maybe a stuck valve maybe a burned valve I dont know maybe something more
So any ideas, before I tear in to it with reckless abandonment.

 

[hagrid]

Does it have an automatic compression release?

If so it could be sticking. I have two Honda powered pieces of equipment and neither have compression release.

You probably have a sticky valve if it was running fine and then all of a sudden there's no compression.

 

[skeets]

Thats kind of what I was thinking,, the fun just never stops

 

[NCL4701]

Unless the spark plug fell out while you weren’t looking, there’s not much that would cause a compression drop from good to zero. Could be a broken spring on a valve. Could be a hole burned in the piston. I would check the valves first to see if one is stuck or if (more likely) a valve spring is broken. If they look OK it’s probably pull the head for exploratory surgery. If you’re lucky, it’s just a broken valve spring.

Edit: Just saw Hagrid’s mention of stuck decompression. Good point.

 

[hagrid]

If you got a puff from ether then you still have spark.

I bet tomorrow when you slowly pull the starter you'll have compression.

 

[WFM]

I have a Honda 5000W generator I bought new in Febuary of 1998. My only issue was not draining the carburetor. After I had someone remove and clean the carb he showed me the up/down tube with the screw in it is the carb drain. I always
drain it now. The corn gas had turned the inside of the carburetor completey green. I try to use real gas and always drain the carb.
Honda motors are the best for sure.

 

[Lil Foot]

Sounds familiar.
My neighbor up north (a few years ago) drove 75 miles to look at a walk-behind, tracked snowblower, with a B&S 7HP I/C (industrial/commercial) cast iron bore engine. Started it up, test drove it, & let it idle while they made the deal. He bought it, they loaded it up, and he drove home.
The engine never started again.
After fighting it for days, he gave up and put a Honda engine on it, and it has been flawless since. He was going to throw the B&S out, but I took it instead, planning to tear it down & fix it. I verified it has spark, & low to no compression, but that is as far as I got. (caregiver thing)
I doubt I will ever get to it anymore, so maybe I can get $5 for it at the next garage sale. (if I ever get the time for one again)

 

[twomany]

Just a data point.

This afternoon (in 93 degree heat) I drove ten miles with the Honda engined Timberwolf TW-1 splitter trailing behind, to trade it in on a New TW-2

First thing the dealer noted was that I had forgotten to turn off the gas valve. Yup, the crankcase was filled with gas in the oil. Opening the case fill plug confirmed by running over.

The dealer called his mechanic to change out the oil so he could run the engine to better appraise it's trade in value. I'm sure if the trade had not been made, and I returned home without changing the oil, I would have tried to run the engine with the diluted oil. The engine would have been toast!

With fresh oil in the crankcase, the engine started right up without a hitch, just like always.

The trade was made, and with the much reduced cycle time of the TW-2 (9 sec. instead of 15), I was able to split up a good pile in no time at all. Heat and all!

Point to remember. Turn off the fuel tap, run the bowl dry before moving the splitter!

 

[Whatscooking]

Stuck open exhaust valve.

 

[lynnmor]

Don't let them run out of gas, especially when the weather is extremely hot. As the fuel runs out the mixture goes lean which can cause severe detonation as it sputters to a stop. That detonation can cause damage.

 

[ccoon520]

Before you pull the head see if you can rent a bore scope from a local auto parts store. Then you can inspect the piston and cylinder walls to see if they are in good condition before wasting time on a toast piston.

 

[Motion]

I agree with Whatscooking, that it's probably a stuck exhaust valve. On any hand pull single cylinder engines I always pull until you're on the compression stroke that way when you go to start the cam will push the valves open.

 

[skeets]

Well I went to the mail box this morning and for shyts and giggles I gave it a tug,, fired up second pull,, hummmm well I guess it was a stuck valve,,
Im going to run to the parts store and get some sync . I know it made a difference onthe HD so might work on this one too. Thank you for all the input guys

 

[Whatscooking]

Sea Foam or Marvel Mystery Oil

 

[lugbolt]

over the years I've seen a number of small engines have stuck valves. "Most" of the time they were caused by junk gas, it gets old and gels up on the back of the intake valve, holds the valve open and then no compression. A lot of kawasaki's, the pushrod would fall off of the rocker and that's the first thing you see when you pull the valve cover. Novices will put the pushrod back on and send it. Pro's take the head off and clean and/or ream the guide and valve for a more permanent reliable fix.

When's the last time the valve clearance was adjusted? That's important too on small engines. Intake valves tend to tighten up on their own, exhausts tend to loosen on their own. Then the engine warms up and the intake valve is hung slightly open, low or no compression when hot....let it cool, fires right up. Not uncommon. Seen a lot of motorcycles do that too but typically folks just run them until they won't run and then get pissy because they gotta eat the cost of a head and 16-20 valves depending on the bike. Some of them, it's a $5000 repair.

 

[skeets]

LB I dont get into a motor unless I have to, those days are long time gone,, lol
And todays stuff, well for the most part you cant work on with a pair of channel locks and a hammer like the old days. Though I will sea foam it just for shyts and giggles and drain and put in some sync oil 10w30 M1 should work I ll see what is in the garage,, maybe it is 20w 50, I used that in the bagger