Reasons Why Is Your Honda GCV160 Not Starting? Detailed Guide!

Honda manufactures well-designed, reliable mowers; if you have bought one, you would know the gummed carburetor is the most common issue among their products. This can be why your Honda gcv160 not starting, but the list doesn’t end here.

We are talking about machinery here, and they do stop working sometimes, and the reason can be anything.

What if the fuel valve is off, or the bad gas may be why your Honda gcv160 is not starting and working correctly to mow the lawn? Sometimes you don’t use your lawnmower for a while and leave it in your garage, and when on a fine sunny day, you finally want to mow the lawn, the machinery refuses to get started.

There are minimal chances that there will be a major failure due to which your lawnmower is not starting because, most of the time, there will be small issues that you can fix at the moment.

First, you will have to find the problem, and we will help you with that and help fix it as well.

Why Your Honda Gcv160 Not Starting- Quick Answer

The most common problem among Honda lawnmower engines is bad gas that keeps the engine from starting. Sometimes when you turn on the key, the engine will start and die instantly.

There are other varieties of reasons that cause the problem of the Honda gcv160 not starting. So here is a list of reasons that you will have to check in your lawnmower if it is not getting started:

Honda Gcv160 Not Starting- reasons!

The oil level is low.

The most straightforward reason your Honda lawnmower is not getting started may be the low oil level, which is not a big flaw to worry about.

Honda people have introduced this feature to protect the engine; therefore, checking the engine occasionally and ensuring the fuel tank is full is necessary.

The fuel tank should be balanced with oil because it will also damage the engine. After all, overfilling will cause oil leakage and smoke, and sometimes the engine won’t even start. So, if your lawnmower is not getting started, don’t worry.

Check the fuel tank and oil level; if the oil level is excellent, you can get onto the next step of checking other parts.

The air filter is blocked.

Another reason your Honda lawnmower engine needs to start is that the air filter may be blocked; therefore, you must keep the air filter clean.

After every 25 hours of using the lawnmower, you must check the filters and replace them after 100 hours. Cleaning air filters is easy because Honda fits tool less air filter covers.

Check out the air filter cover. It lies on the engine’s right side opposite the muffler. Once checked, consider cleaning using compressed air, but the banging on-ground option still exists.

The plug wire is loose.

Commonly, the plug wire might have loosened up a little, and you will find this wire at the front of the engine, so it keeps banging into hedges and shrubs. You will have to tighten it but never over-tight it, and it would be a black wire with a rubber boot on end.

While tightening it, ensure that it makes good contact with the plug because if the contact is wrong, the engine won’t start.

The choke is not On

If you must learn to turn on the choke, your Honda gcv160 is ongoing. Fret not because you can fix this problem immediately, but first, you must know the purpose of choking on your lawnmower.

The choke will help start a cold engine because it will require more fuel, creating a richer air-fuel ratio.

Ensure the choke is on, and start turning on your lawnmower engine. If it’s not on, the issue with the mower startup is common.

The bail lever is On

The Bail lever is also called a dead man’s lever, and this safety feature in your lawnmower helps stop the blade within 3 seconds of releasing it.

The bail level will turn off the engine by applying a flywheel brake, but the engine won’t start again if the bail level is not held.

Therefore, you need to check the bail level if your engine is not getting started because you may not have turned off the bail lever.

Bad gas problem

We have mentioned in the above details that bad gas is a big problem, so your Honda lawnmower engine needs to get started.

The gas you are using may be clean but stale, and the lawnmower needs to work on stale gas. Even quality gas starts to get off after a month, and it will not combust, and then you will get poor performance and maybe misfire.

After three months, the gas will go stale and solidify, becoming a big reason and causing your engine to die whenever you try to start it.

Gumming

It is the carburetor killer; therefore, you must use a gas stabilizer so your engine doesn’t die. Gumming would result from using bad gas because it will cause blockage, and Honda engines are already sensitive to contaminated gas.

Gumming can be why it starts and dies instantly whenever you are trying to start your lawnmower engine; therefore, it is necessary to use a suitable gas.

Tips For Tuning Up Your Honda Gcv160

It would help if you did the maintenance work on your lawnmower engine once every season. Otherwise, the engine might not start when you mow your lawn grass. It would be best if you do the tuning in the spring season, and now let’s discuss a few things that you must do to keep the engine working:

Try gas shot

The engine will require fuel, compression, and spark to get started, and you must check every aspect, like the carburetor, fuel filters, intake manifold, gas line, tank, etc.

Most of the time, your Honda lawnmower engine fails to start because it is fueling after that spark and compression.

Firstly, go with a quick gas test using fresh gasoline. Pour it directly on the carburetor, and check the mower. If the gas seems bad, the engine won’t start, and vice versa.

Now take off the air filter and securely tilt the mower over. After that, add gasoline directly to the carburetor.

Now start the mower to check whether the engine gets started or not.

Make the choke system work.

If your mower’s choke is faulty, the engine won’t start; after the gas shot, you must check the choke system and ensure it works. When the engine gets cold, it requires extra gas to enrich the fuel/gas, and the choke will play the leading role in this process.

In Honda lawnmowers, you will find a choke plate system, and to check the choke, remove the air filter to check the choke plate.

If the choke plate is full close when you turn on the engine, then the choke system works perfectly fine, but if the choke plate is not closed entirely, you must adjust.

A sticking choke will puff black smoke and run poorly from the muffler, and if you find no problem in the choke system, then you are good to go to the next step.

Ethanol gas problem

Honda doesn’t recommend using fuel with more than 10% ethanol because it is an alcohol that is made up of sugar, corn, and other plant materials.

The alcohol content of the ethanol will cause damage to the carburetor rubber hoses and seals; therefore, you shouldn’t use much ethanol if you don’t want the carburetor to get damaged.

E15 contains 15% ethanol, and it is not okay to use it in your Honda lawnmower engine because it burns hotter than other fuels, and the mower is not designed to run at such high temperatures.

Ethanol also absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and if you leave fuel in the mover over winter, it will absorb the moisture in the carburetor.

The water will corrode in the carburetor and leave varnish that will deposit and block up the ports, and it will further cause poor engine running or won’t start at all.

Therefore, you should never feel the mower for winter if you want the engine to get started whenever needed.

Clean the carburetor

Please clean the carburetor and get a cleaner for bolts, nuts, and containers.

While cleaning the carburetor, if you find it too gummed and cannot clean it, or the corrosion situation is too bad, you must replace it before the season starts.

Over continuous use of a mower without any adequate maintenance, there are chances of dirt building up or wearing to the carburetor, so you must check the parts to ensure its cleaning maintenance or servicing to make it fault-free.

When the carburetor is damaged or worn out, you need a timely replacement to return it to a working state. Replacement of the carburetor is not expensive, so it is also an option that you can consider if you have been using the lawnmower for years.

Gas flow check

What if there is a leakage in the carburetor? Therefore, you must check the gas cap, fuel tank, fuel lines, and fuel filter. Dirty float needle seals are one of the common reasons for poor gas flow or faulty gas caps, so check accordingly.

Moreover, the fuel filter might get clogged, leading to no fuel flow, which is another reason for the engine not to operate; handy start the mower.

In addition to these, there are cases where the fuel lines are blocked or worn out, either causing fuel blockage or leakages in both fuel supply is compromised, and because of that, the Honda GCV won’t start.

To fix the issue, clean the fuel lines, replace of damage, or go with clearing or replace the fuel filter.

The Final Word

After reading all the reasons why your Honda gcv160 is not starting, you might know where the problems are. Once you find the problem fix it using convenient and easy top-opt methods.

If it’s fixable, it would be wise to maintain your Honda lawnmower by cleaning its parts thoroughly, checking the gas and engine, and trying to turn it on after every few days so whenever you are in the mood to mow your lawn grass and the engine won’t die.

Review our general site with more factual and informative articles to know more about engine starting guides for your lawn mower.

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