Cold Blooded Honda

[Sawyer Rob]

If Sawer Rob has a link to any of these Honda fixes I'd appreciate. I really hesitate to drill out any jets because I use this tractor in the summer a lot and I don't want any problems in hot weather.

You need to put the shield on that motor...

It keeps the carb from freezing up, and it doesn't need "wet" for that to happen...

I got my "fix" info from the engineers who fixed them, not from a link...

Like the fix I was told about from a Land Pride (if I remember right) engineer, HE said, they put an electric solenoid on the carb to let in extra fuel in as needed...

OR as told to me by the owner of Norwood Industries (Peter Dale) that they dumped Hondas 22hp motor because of too many cold weather complaints (along with a few other things) that Honda refused to come up with a fix, other than the heat shield I already mentioned...

A tech for Brown Welding told me they got rid of Honda motors on their fruit tree trimmers, because they are used in the winter and had too many start/run issues.

There's NO link to info like that and it's a well known Honda issue in the mfg. world....

SR

 

[frugalangler]

a little O-T, but older air-cooled VWs have a carb pre-heater that is a pair of tubes that come off the cooling blower via flapper valves, they are counter-balanced so that at idle they open and divert warm air into the intake, as RPM increased, they blew closed and didn't over-heat the intake, if those weren't working those old buggies wold actually develop ice on the intake and they would stall at idle - cure was a propane torch to melt the ice to get it running or garage it to thaw it out.

 

[NibbanaFarm]

Actually, what I was asking about is whether there are any of these heat shields or some type of baffle available commercially. I made a cover for my engine to keep the snow drift off of the governor but I have doubts whether it would retain any appreciable heat. I can try it.

 

[NibbanaFarm]

Here's a link to a nice Honda Carburetor troubleshooting guide. The GX390 is covered on pages 3-50 through 3-59.
http://www.ipspower.com/images/docu...buretor-Troubleshooting-Manual-Compressed.pdf

That is an excellent manual Ford850. That one gets bookmarked. Thanks.

 

[Ford850]

That is an excellent manual Ford850. That one gets bookmarked. Thanks.

I stumbled on that manual when I was researching Honda GX engines, and I bookmarked it for future reference. It's the best one I've found. I have an older BCS 605 powered by a 12.5 hp B&S Vanguard. That engine has worked well for me and even sounds nice and smooth compared to the Honda GX, which has more of a high revving and higher pitched lawn mower sound. I started looking at 853's to trade off the 605, but the Honda engine choice made me reluctant. The GX engines get great reviews, but also have some weaknesses as you are experiencing in cold and snow. I considered an 853 with a Robin/Subaru engine from Joel at Earthtools, but I read about quality issues and part of the Subaru engine line was sold off. I'm not sure if Joel still offers them either. So back to Honda I guess.
I like the way your engine shield looks. I can picture it with 3 sides extending down like a full dome or hood over the engine for cold and snow.

 

[ottawarob]

I like the way your engine shield looks. I can picture it with 3 sides extending down like a full dome or hood over the engine for cold and snow.

I'd be interested in building an engine shield for my 853 as well. I've noticed after blowing snow for a while, it seems like my engine power starts to decrease...

I can't see a photo of the shield you made, could you post it up if possible?

 

[Ford850]

I'd be interested in building an engine shield for my 853 as well. I've noticed after blowing snow for a while, it seems like my engine power starts to decrease...

I can't see a photo of the shield you made, could you post it up if possible?

Here's the thread that NibbanaFarm discussed the shield. He has a picture of his weights added to the blower in that thread too. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...snowblower-review.html?highlight=#post4654976
I added his picture of the shield from that thread as well.

 

[ottawarob]

Here's the thread that NibbanaFarm discussed the shield. He has a picture of his weights added to the blower in that thread too. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...snowblower-review.html?highlight=#post4654976
I added his picture of the shield from that thread as well.

That is great, thanks! Man, that's nicely done.

 

[Ford850]

That is great, thanks! Man, that's nicely done.

I know, I love the work he's done on that! NibbanaFarms needs to stop worrying about snow and post some 'how to' threads on here. Here are the first 3 he should be working on:
- Building a Honda Cold Weather Shield
- Custom Weight brackets for BCS Blowers
- BCS Caster Wheel Build

 

[ottawarob]

I know, I love the work he's done on that! NibbanaFarms needs to stop worrying about snow and post some 'how to' threads on here. Here are the first 3 he should be working on:
- Building a Honda Cold Weather Shield
- Custom Weight brackets for BCS Blowers
- BCS Caster Wheel Build

That's the kind of thing where once you see it you know exactly what you want to do, because a great solution is right in front of you. But, I don't have a workshop at the moment so fab ability is pretty crude.

I was thinking of also making a skid plate for sorts for underneath/the side of the BCS. Really dragged the motor through some snow making a path today.