Honda motor dying

[sadarahu]

I purchased Konda GX-35 + Kit from STATON.INC in October 2017. It is still on warranty. All together I have about 50hrs riding or so. The Engine runs but when I open the throtle 100% it is dying. I was able to ride only at about 30-40% of the max speed.
Checked filters, fuel lines, cleaned gas tank, checked spark plug, filter, etc. Same issue.
I contacted HONDA and they gave me several addresses to the shops which supposed to do warranty repair.
1st said they will charge me $75 for inspection then $90/hr for labor if Honda does not cover repair.
2nd said similar rhing although a bit cheaper. They make all kinds of disclaimers saying "if there was possibly wrong gas uses",, "if there was water in the system",...."if the motor was tampered in any way".... all kind of crap. HONDA says they have no control over what the shops do or do not do, which is very bizare.
I am not really sure how to deal with them and I'm totally frustrated with HONDA as they seem not to care to much. BTW - when I say HONDA it means only HONDA US reseller (which really sucks).
Talked to them 3 times on the phone and every time they only give me new adresses for shops in the area but they do not get involved in repair.

I'm not going to bring it to the ship just to find out they want to charge me for inspection and then that Honda will not cover this or that. Totally frustrated and I really recommend not to buy Honda motors.

I was hpoing I'm buying a god brand and paid extra $ to be out of trouble but after just few months dealing with this crap.
I'm thinking about perhaps looking into this myself because if the carb work needs to be done and they charge me $100 for cleaning it I think I can get a new one for $85 and replace it myself. I wonder what else can I chack and what could cause the problem. All this happened rather suddenly and seems like carb issue. I'm not a mechanic but can do simple things.

I wonder if anybody have gone through those warranty issues and servce etc.
What would you do ?

ART

 

[Citi-sporter]

You can buy a replacement Honda Harmony Tiller clone carb for about $25 online from Ebay or Amazon. That would be my first recourse. I'd also take the time to check the fuel cap and see if the vent/oneway valve is still working. Opening the gas cap and seeing if the engine runs for a few minutes under load is one way to check that out. Check the fuel lines for kinks, plugged clunk/filter, replace all of the 4mm fuel lines with thin wall clear yellow Tygon fuel line.

 

[sadarahu]

Checked fuel lines, filter and cup - no issues at all. The motor is only few months old on warranty so your suggesations of buying some cheap Chineese crap would not work for me - thank you. Original Carb is about $50 but why would I buy it if I do not even know what is wrong. The motor is still on warranty. I was hoping for suggestions what else could cause that except items that I have already checked. Yes the CARB could be an issue (possibly clogged) but I wonder what else I could check ?

BTW. For those who plan to buy Honda. Customer Service is terrible and warranty service is non-existent because any place I turned into warned me about payment. Honda rep is US admitted they are not Honda company, they are just a reseller/dealer for US. Generally it all sucks and I will never ever buy Honda again. I was planning buy a Power Generator to supply 110V but I do not think it will be Honda.

 

[curtisfox]

Could be a lot of things, something in the tank, adjusting the jets. What kind of carb is it float or diaphragm. You may have to take it apart and check for dabre. ........Curt

 

[sadarahu]

I took is apart and cleaned what I could. I had no tool or wire to go through the jest so that is the only thing left. I asked at the service and the want $75 just to inspect it. New carb is around $50 so it makes no sense. I have seen also some message that somebody had a problem with coil but not sure where I can find it on this motor.

 

[sadarahu]

I checked today the whole carb, cleaned all jets and found no issues. I also tested the spark and it is nice an clean.
What else ? I'm thnking about ignition coil but - is there any way to test it if it is good ?

 

[curtisfox]

Don't think there is a need if you have good spark. Pore a little gas in the plug hole,put plug back in, see if will fire for a bit.If it does you are not getting gas ........Curt

 

[Citi-sporter]

Honestly Sadarahu you sound combative, like you don't really want any help.

FYI I'm a small engine and bicycle mechanic for the past 28 years, and the Honda clone carb I just bought for my not running Honda GX31cc engine fixed it's poor running problems. It starts and runs perfectly now.

Note: I don't run E10 gasoline in any of my small engines, only non-ethanol, it's more expensive but E-10 has ruined more small engine fuel systems than I can recount while I was working as a small engine tech.

Another thing to note: make sure your engine's gas cap's one way valve is working: It admits small amounts of air to compensate for the fuel drawn out, but doesn't allow fuel to leak back out.

If it's gummed up, ( seen this a number of times with E-10 gasoline use...) it will choke off your fuel draw as the engine runs.

Replace the clunk/filter from the intake fuel line because E-10 will quickly clog it if the old fuel has released any gums out of solution with the presence of ethanol. This work are what I normally did as a mechanic when any small engine came in with fuel draw problems. Yes, repairing a small engine is expensive, but you may have precipitated this problem by using E-10. I don't trust any E-10 gas, even when it's 'stabilized' with the gas treatment stuff.

 

[Cavity]

The choke, check your choke lever. I bet it's not in the full open position...give it a good firm push.

 

[sadarahu]

Citi-sporter - thanks for your time and comments !

Although I do not know yet if this would help al least it is constructive. I called Honda support today and the guy hand up on me when I told him I'm recording. Besides he was simply an idiot telling me all kind of crap but not helping me fix the problem (while the engine is still on warranty for next 5 days).

As far as Gas - I'm not a mchanic but have a little bit of mechanical skills. What gas should I use and where to buy it ? I'm not really familiar iwth all this other than Octane level ?

I will try to replace fuel filter and I wonder if there is anything else I could do ?
I wonder if there is some kind of liquid to clean the carb ?

On the other side of the coin the problem seems to be more complex. Today I was riding and engine started salling after 2-3 minutes, then the longer I ride the slower it would go (without dying). Another words initiall it was dying at 70% RPM then later at 60% then 40% etc. I had to ride very slow to keep the motor running. Once of the guys in the shop mentioned about some kind of sensor that could have melted due to the high temp and that sensor causes malfunctioning.... but I do not trust Honde repair places as I learned that most of them do not know what they doing.

The problem is global because so far I saw about 100+ people reporting similar issues. I would even go and buy a new motor but I'm affraid to pay just to find the same issue.
I have an extra external tank connected through the cap. The hose is from the Autoparts store and designed for fuel.
I opened the cap today and tried to run it (while friction was not attached) so no load. I noticed that the tank was throwing out sme gasoline so I wonder if the return line hose is not to deep inside the tank ? (although my tank was completely full).
I used special gas resistant glue to guid the fuel from external tank so this should not be an issue. I noticed however first time this happened exactly right after I refueled at some gas station.

I'm really out of options and totally frustrated.
Is there anything I sould add the the gasoline to not to clog the carburator ?

 

[sadarahu]

It was a winter so I did not reply. I think this was in November I got call from some Honda Rep and he stated "this motor is not for continuous use". I wasn't sure I shuold laugh or cry. I tried my motor today several times and no change. The motor dies even if there is no load at all. I checked also a clutch (no resistance, no problems at all). I'm not a mechanic beside I do not have time to deal with the Honda crap. Gas filter was also replaced.
You might be right in all your statements but if I cannot use just a gas from any gas station then the whole idea of using the motor falls into drain.
I will not go and hunt for specific fuel (personally I do not even know where to buy no Ethanol fule (is this availavle everywhere etc?>).
The CARB was replaced once with the original one so it seems to me that abuying another one would be a waste of money. I'm simply about to take the whole thing off my bike and slam it into the dampster. I have already spent moretime that it is all worth. Perhaps I should get a scooter or E-bike.
I guess there is possibility for more issues (broken ring, temp. sensor etc) so buying and replacing parts would be like playing poker.

Chris - I really appreciate your time and effort to help. I might try to give one more call to Honda to see if they will do anything but this kit is already 1.5 year old and I barely made 100 miles.

 

[Citi-sporter]

These little Honda engines are far far more reliable than any 2 cycle Happytime bike engine.

My little 31 cc GX was off a worn out Harmony tiller Think of that, an otherwise good running engine that outlasted it's garden implement. All I needed, to get it running, was a replacement carb. I actually think the old carb would have worked OK if I had just replaced the fuel primer bulb but I replaced it with new just because it would be reset to "new" parts on the fuel system. It had spark and compression.

You can shop around for non ethanol by checking your local area for No E gas at Pure-Gas .org