I have a Victa with this engine. The mower is surging/hunting at all speeds. I have cleaned the carburettor many times, tried another carburettor, changed spark plug and fuel but nothing has helped. It is also a nuisance lining up all the gaskets etc with those bolts! Anyway, in my search for answers I saw one post somewhere that suggested valve clearances and another that timing belt may be the culprit. Easy, I thought. So I tried to get the valve cover off but couldn't. I believe they are throw away covers and are siliconed on without a gasket. Hence, hard to get off....very hard to get off.
Has anybody got any suggestions on how to get it off without wrecking it?
Hi Sparker, Gently pry it off working your way around. Once off don't clean up the old goo, just leave it in place, clean the oil off well, re-silicone it and put it back on. Having said all that if you mangle it beyond serviceability they're actually fairly cheap, about $12 from your Honda dealer. Before pulling off the cover and checking valve clearances etc, i would re-set the governor as that can cause them to hunt if they're out of whack. Cheers, ted
You've done nothing wrong but I felt you left appurtenant part out.
The way you worded your above post I thought you were going to put a link up of this video you saw. especially with the finishing line of "hope it helps"
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
The reason why I didn't see it is that it's encrypted into the text and thus unless you hover over it like a detective, one wouldn't even know it's there.
So my blue, happy to take the bullet !
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Thanks to all for your help. Looks like patience is required in getting it off - no secret remedy. I'll have a look at the governor Big Ted. Tyler, I have watched some of his video's before but not that one. I think I will need a beer to watch it. I'll let you know how I go, probably with a shot of a mangled cover.
Honda actually designed that cover to be disposable, they are bloody difficult to remove without damage. I used to mangle them all the time, it is only $6.90 for a new one
Hi Nath, What are these GCV160 motors like? Are they the real deal Honda as the old push rod motors were or are they just a cheapie version that relies on the old Honda name
Morning Norm Well they are kind of complicated, they are definitely a Honda, very reliable, my grandparents have had one for at least 15 years and it is still going strong.
However they do not compare to the old gxv's. The best way i can describe them is that they are a throw away engine, made to a price. Apart from basic servicing there isn't really anything you would repair in them. We got to a point where we would stock $50 aftermarket carburettors for them as you cant clean the genuine one properly quickly.
Couple things, there is no sump gasket or tappet gasket; only glue, the head doesn't come off (cant dekoke the cylinder, we used to spray some carbon remover spray and rev the tits off them to clear it out, common when the air filter never gets cleaned); the cam is plastic (the belt seems pretty reliable though); they are prone to leaking oil out the govenor shaft, prone to not idling, also wont start if the choke doesnt come fully on
In short they are a great domestic mower engine, definitely never designed for commercial use
I thought as much, I guess even Honda has had to drop its quality down to try and compete with the Chinese stuff. So where does that leave contractors wanting to buy a good mower?
Well that is the great question isn't it, Ive been out of the mower shop for over 5 years now, so I'm not up to date on the current market, a quick look at the website shows they are still building the big hru216's with the old gxv engines, so that would be my recommendation.
I saw the downturn Honda took years ago when they started removing the throttle controls and fitting engine brakes and auto chokes. Now i see them in bunnings with plastic bases!
Its happening everywhere though, honda, victa, greenfield etc, the humble mower these days is just an appliance, when it doesn't work you just throw it away and buy a new one, such a shame.
The GCV engines are nothing new, they've been around for well over 20 years now before the boom of Chinese copy cat motors.
It was just about trying to compete on a more level playing field like Victa and other brands fitted with Briggs engines do.
The Victa's were nothing expensive in their build quality for many years now as everyone is clawing their way into more sales, but as nath has eluded to it's all down to the fact that the mower is merely nothing more than an appliance that serves a purpose and when that purpose has been served then it's replaced.
That is the world that business has built for itself, because if their items lasted then they'd all be out of business with the amounts of profit they seem to want to make each year to keep their share holders happy.
Cheers, BB.
PS. I'm not having a dig at Victa here, even Scott Bonnar throughout their history always looked at ways of trimming the fat and throughout the life of the model 45 there were many changes made all in the name of more profit and relevance within the market that they competed in.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
BB, in the aldi catalogue the other week, they had an oil siphon. The terms they used from memory was that it is for 'extraction of waste oil from appliances with combustion engines'.
First time I had seen something along those lines in writing - it sums up some of their range quite well
BB, in the aldi catalogue the other week, they had an oil siphon. The terms they used from memory was that it is for 'extraction of waste oil from appliances with combustion engines'.
First time I had seen something along those lines in writing - it sums up some of their range quite well
I actually got a pneumatic oil extractor from HFT that fine as long you get the pickup hose to the bottom of the oil pan. On some engine configs it is the only way to change the oil. Briggs even have engines without drain plugs that you must use the extractor on or turn the equipment on its side to drain the oil out the fill tube. I have been using it for two now. Just gets heavy with 5 gallons of oil in it.
It much cleaner for both the equipment and my shop plus it easier to fill the recycle cans for transport. I disposed of about 55 gallons this year so far. I got another 7.5 gallons to do the first of the week.
As for the valve cover removal I have read where you take a block of wood like a 2x4. Placing the 2x4 against the side of the cover and smacking it with a heavy hammer to loosen the RTV. I haven't tried it yet, but will once I get a bad engine and if something gets damage it's no big deal.
