Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

   I have a small 350 watt 2-stroke Honda generator. Its probably a discontinued model and most likely the only two -stroke honda ever made. About the size of a lunch box, Its always started on first pull, and has been very reliable for several years. It started to get hard to start and then would die after running awhile. Before it quit completely it would only run on slow speed. I replaced and gapped a new plug.  It has a good spark, seems to feel normal when pulling the rope starter. It will not pop off at all even with starter fluid in the cylinder. A friend told me it probably had an air leak or broken reed valve. Can anyone give me some pointers on troubleshooting this little two-stroke beast?

Yes I've got good spark at the plug. I used this all last week during the hurricane here in Houston.  It seemed to be getting hotter than normal so I added more oil to the gas than the recommended 100:1 mix. I was thinking that it was lacking lubrication. It got harder to start and then just quit. I think this is where I screwed up. I remembered from my Karting days that 2-stroke motors cool themselves with the gas/oil mix. richer is cooler and leaner is hotter. I'm going to pull the carb and soak it in carb cleaner to clean out those tiny jet passages. Do you know of a way to do that without pulling the carb. The bowl is easy to remove and drain but those jet passages, etc. are in the upper body.

If it is a pain in the A$$ to get out of the unit.

I would try to pull the bowl off and and first clean #19 the main jet off the side of the post, and the pilot jet # 20 ... unscrew # 4 low speed adjust and blow cleaner through it.

I would not go to the trouble of  takeing it off and soaking it... you say it ran not long ago..  most likly just has some dirt in the pilot or the main jet..

If that does not help pull, clean all the parts again and remove #10 nozzel and check all the holes in it..

The breakdown link is ...

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Honda/Generator/0/EX350%20A%20GENERATOR,%20JPN,%20VIN%23%20ECC-1000001%20TO%20ECC-1178332/CARBURETOR/parts.html#

Good luck,

Friiy

I tried the quick fix by removing the fuel/air mixture screw and introducing carb cleaner with an eye dropper. This actually worked pretty good because the unit came up and ran great on the 150 watt setting. When going to 300 watts it surged however.  Not sure where or if there was a high speed jet, I just pulled the carb and soaked it for an hour. Cleaned out every tiny hole I could find with monofilament fishing line and aerosol carb cleaner. ( this was a real pain to remove and replace) I accidently dropped a nut down inside the engine, and this took about 45 minutes to retrieve. drat!  Now all is running great with a minor adjustment of the fuel air adjustment screw.  I'll try to familiarize myself with the some of the other carb parts so this job will be less labor intensive next time. It would be nice to unplug things with out removing the carb entirely. All in all this little gen set is fantastic for camping, light duty etc. Its the quietist one I've ever heard and just the size of a large lunch pail. Thanks for your input.

That type surging is caused by a lean mixture,   the pilot jet is the one that tends to cause this surge at full speed  (no load). Double check that this is not plugged.  You don't want to overheat the motor (lack of lube).

Good to here it's working,

Friiy

rayspang wrote:
Thanks you for the post.
I've just visited this forum. Happy to get acquainted with you. Thanks.
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