Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Tractor Engine Running Problem

Help, i am working on a ht3813 Honda tractor.I have checked the flywheel key, honda has checked the coil, i replaced the plug caps on the sparkplug wires, the gas has been drained and fresh gas installed , the carb has been cleaned altough it was clean when opened, i have pulled the muffler and checked the ports , the compression is 175lbs per cylinder, yet this thing barley runs if at all, i cant get any rpms, it reminds me of an eight cylinder car running on six the way it sputters ect, the fuel pump is pumping fine, it seems like the ignition timing is off but they key was fine , any one got any suggestions

Thanks in advance Scotter

Hello scotter!

Let me see if memory serves me right....This is a liquid cooled 2 cylinder engine right? Have you checked to be sure the choke isn't sticking shut? Does the exhaust look black and sooty, and smell strong?

Hi cheese
yes it is liquid cooled, the choke isnt sticking it seems to run just a little bit better if you put the choke on , is there a low oil sensor on this machine that could be shortin out?
Thanks Scotter

I have not had the pleasure of becoming overly familiar with these engines, but I do believe they have low-oil shutdown sensors. If it had a short with high resistance, it could cause a lot of coughing and popping. I would lean more to a fuel problem. Have the valve adjustments been checked lately? How do the plugs look? If it does better with the choke on, it is likely running lean. This could be caused by carb problems, insufficient fuel supply to the carb, misadjusted valves, or vacuum leak. Are you sure it is firing on both cylinders?

I didnt check the valve adjustment as the compression is bang on 175lbs per cylinder, i guess i should have anyways,when it came to me new plugs were installed ,but they were sooty, but the darn thing seems to run a little better with the choke on. The fuel pump is pumpin fine if i open the drain lots of fuel in the bowl.when i pull each spark plug wire it runs worse so both are firing , i squirted wd 40 everywhere i could think of that i mite have an airleak, it made no difference in rpm, it seems to run better with the air bleed screw all the way in, i would like to try a different carb but i dont have one to try, but i also think its carb or air leak just cant figure out where or what lol

Take the carb apart and clean it out well. Make sure all jets and ports are unrestricted. Try not to tear any gaskets or ruin any parts, as these things are very pricey to repair if parts need to be bought.

Also, if the valves are too loose, the compression will still read good. It may be a little hard to start though, like a low-charged battery. Only when the valves are too tight will the compression show to be low.