Splitter only running on Choke

[Jakers]

i have had factory motors that were like that. seems they test fire them at the factory and sometimes dont get it all cleaned out. or maybe they are just stored in a damp warehouse. some even though clean still required the choke... then i hog out the jet some. only ever replaced one carb on a small engine. that was on my 036 stihl. most of them i can get cleaned well enough to run without the choke. now tractor carbs....thats another story. i almost always end up sending them to dennys carb shop www.dennyscarbshop.com

 

[Vermonster]

Don't forget to check the relative bearing grease.

 

[GVS]

Yesturday, me and my Grandson got my Mom some Firewood (Pinyon) and we started splitting it for her with her Splitter, Well the Splitter was hard to start and when it finally did it would only run on Choke.
The weather was cold, windy and snow/rain mix.
We splitted all the wood we got her.
The Splitter is about 10 years old and has a Honda engine.

Why would it only run on Choke, even after it warmed up I tried to push in the choke and it would stumble and die, unless I pulled the choke back out.

Dirty carb.,bad gas, massive vacume leak.

 

[discounthunter]

id go with cleaning the air filter first.or just replace it .

 

[Jakers]

a plugged air filter would make it run richer. hes having a lean issue if it runs better with half choke... plugged carb, most likely the main jet in the middle of the fuel bowl

 

[dave_376]

My honda GVC160 only ran on choke. I drained the gas and cleaned the carb. It still only ran on choke. I looked on amazon or ebay and found the better (old style) carb for $22 and it has been running great ever since. The first thing I would do is drain the gas from the tank and the bowl then ad fresh gas and see if it clears up. If it still needs choke then the next step would be to clean the carb making sure the emulsion tube is clean and all the orifices are open. If that doesn't fix it buy a new carb.

 

[Holtby]

Too lean a mixture somehow....dirty/clogged jets or sucking air into intake somewhere????

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Another cheap/easy thing to check is incoming fuel. Gas we have now swells some of the lines to the point of choking them off. You can also have dirt or such restricting the line to the carb IN the tank itself. Check that first before tearing into the carb. I have been finding that as the culprit more often than not on working on peoples stuff. I Agree with what others have said and do from there if the lines are okay.