PDA

View Full Version : Spark plug gapping and combustion chamber cleaning



PaulG
08-10-2010, 05:30 PM
Couple of question in one topic here...

How many of you bother to properly gap your spark plugs?

Does anyone strip their own motors to do maintenance like valve adjustments and combustion chamber cleaning.

In the Honda manual it's suggests to do a combustion chamber clean at the following intervals for these engines:

Combustion chamber cleaning is necessary for GCV160 and
GSV190 at 250 hours, and GXV160 at 300 hours.

What is involved in combustion chamber cleaning?

South East Mowing
08-10-2010, 06:24 PM
I have Honda 195's and generally the less you play around with them the better they are! Only if it needs to go to mower shop do mI ask if those other things need checking/

Fred's mowing
08-10-2010, 07:33 PM
If its not broken, fix it until it is:madnoel.
Cheers Dean.

Redeye
08-10-2010, 10:33 PM
in 20 years I've never de-coked/scraped/whatever-you-want-to-call-it an engine. Run the RECOMMENDED oil ratio, not what what some "expert" says, use good quality oil & they should run cleanly

GreenHaven
08-10-2010, 10:44 PM
spark plug gap is already set you would only need to re do it if you bent it back to file it square but not a bad thing to check if youve got a set of feeler gauges.

Bluey
09-10-2010, 08:15 AM
spark plug gap is already set you would only need to re do it if you bent it back to file it square but not a bad thing to check if youve got a set of feeler gauges.

Are we for real here guys. Why on earth would you even bother with buggering around with a crook spark plug. Throw it away and put a new one in. It's not like they are worth $50 each. I agree with Wheelers. Do the basic maintenance and once a year get a full service done by the mower shop.

geoff1969
09-10-2010, 11:07 AM
Are we for real here guys. Why on earth would you even bother with buggering around with a crook spark plug. Throw it away and put a new one in. It's not like they are worth $50 each. I agree with Wheelers. Do the basic maintenance and once a year get a full service done by the mower shop.

x 2 on that bluey

as for my services about every 6 months just give the machines to my brother { hes a mechanic } and tell him service and fix it and make go twice as fast and twice as better than last time hahahaa

63impala
09-10-2010, 11:14 AM
I service 90% of my equipment I Did what my dad told me go to the libary and all small engines books and study them Iam mechanli incline so it was pritty easy I did that when I was 15-16 becase I wanted to be a mechanic rebuliding 350-450 chevs hell yah baby that will happin when I finish my sidchrome colletion....Snap on way to dear....

GreenHaven
09-10-2010, 04:08 PM
Are we for real here guys. Why on earth would you even bother with buggering around with a crook spark plug. Throw it away and put a new one in. It's not like they are worth $50 each. I agree with Wheelers. Do the basic maintenance and once a year get a full service done by the mower shop.

now now every dollar counts, do your "full service" (what ever that is) your self and save some dollars proberly be quiker than droping off and picking up your gear and cheaper. i just did my mey cylinder mower, edger and rotary at a cost of $20 for half a 5L honda oil bottle and a few hours on friday arvocompared to $70 which is what the mower shop charges for a iol change and check over excluding parts so it would have been about $240. so yeh each to there own

Bluey
09-10-2010, 06:58 PM
now now every dollar counts, do your "full service" (what ever that is) your self and save some dollars proberly be quiker than droping off and picking up your gear and cheaper. i just did my mey cylinder mower, edger and rotary at a cost of $20 for half a 5L honda oil bottle and a few hours on friday arvocompared to $70 which is what the mower shop charges for a iol change and check over excluding parts so it would have been about $240. so yeh each to there own

Not having a go GH mate but I really do think you should get your gear checked out at least yearly by a proper mower mechanic. I am pretty mechanically minded but I am not an expert. I leave that to the blokes who trade as mower mechanics. This equipment is your life blood and it deserves a once over by a qualified mechanic every now and then. I don't believe I have the know how or the tools to pull them right down and put them back together again. It is a cost of business and tax deductible.

I drop mine off when they are up for it and use my other gear for a day or two then pick them up. I would rather be working earning the money than doing the service. I can make the cost of the service easily and more whilst it is being done.

I do all my own regular services ie. oil, air filters, blades, lubrication etc but I feel it is a piece of mind to have the mower mechanic look at them too. You have to have a good mechanic and I trust my bloke. As for consumable parts like plugs I would not even bother. I carry a couple of spare plugs for each piece if equipment. I work on the motto if in doubt whip it out. At the price of plugs it is not worth worrying about they are just like blades.

But like you say each to their own. I wont knock a bloke for doing it all himself.

gcsmow
10-10-2010, 09:23 PM
Yep I agree, if I was running to the mower shop whenever something went wrong I would never make any money. Most of the time I can fix it on site or when I get home but it pays to carry 2 snippers, blades, belts and plugs etc with you.

Another thing, don't buy cheap Chinese spark plugs from Super Cheap/Bunnings etc they are garbage. I use NGK or Champion where ever possible.

Tender Lovin Lawn&Garden
10-10-2010, 09:26 PM
Not having a go GH mate but I really do think you should get your gear checked out at least yearly by a proper mower mechanic. I am pretty mechanically minded but I am not an expert. I leave that to the blokes who trade as mower mechanics. This equipment is your life blood and it deserves a once over by a qualified mechanic every now and then. I don't believe I have the know how or the tools to pull them right down and put them back together again. It is a cost of business and tax deductible.

I drop mine off when they are up for it and use my other gear for a day or two then pick them up. I would rather be working earning the money than doing the service. I can make the cost of the service easily and more whilst it is being done.

I do all my own regular services ie. oil, air filters, blades, lubrication etc but I feel it is a piece of mind to have the mower mechanic look at them too. You have to have a good mechanic and I trust my bloke. As for consumable parts like plugs I would not even bother. I carry a couple of spare plugs for each piece if equipment. I work on the motto if in doubt whip it out. At the price of plugs it is not worth worrying about they are just like blades.

But like you say each to their own. I wont knock a bloke for doing it all himself.

The problem is trying to find a good mechanic in townsvillle there is so many dodgey ones here.

gcsmow
10-10-2010, 10:08 PM
The problem is trying to find a good mechanic in townsvillle there is so many dodgey ones here.

Yep same up here, They just chuck it in the too hard basket but charge you anyway.

GreenHaven
11-10-2010, 01:23 PM
Not having a go GH mate but I really do think you should get your gear checked out at least yearly by a proper mower mechanic. I am pretty mechanically minded but I am not an expert. I leave that to the blokes who trade as mower mechanics. This equipment is your life blood and it deserves a once over by a qualified mechanic every now and then. I don't believe I have the know how or the tools to pull them right down and put them back together again. It is a cost of business and tax deductible.

I drop mine off when they are up for it and use my other gear for a day or two then pick them up. I would rather be working earning the money than doing the service. I can make the cost of the service easily and more whilst it is being done.

I do all my own regular services ie. oil, air filters, blades, lubrication etc but I feel it is a piece of mind to have the mower mechanic look at them too. You have to have a good mechanic and I trust my bloke. As for consumable parts like plugs I would not even bother. I carry a couple of spare plugs for each piece if equipment. I work on the motto if in doubt whip it out. At the price of plugs it is not worth worrying about they are just like blades.

But like you say each to their own. I wont knock a bloke for doing it all himself.

yeh good point mate supose i just havent come across a mower shop that seems to have the no how. all good each to there own

Wattle GC
11-10-2010, 03:07 PM
Couple of question in one topic here...

How many of you bother to properly gap your spark plugs?

Does anyone strip their own motors to do maintenance like valve adjustments and combustion chamber cleaning.

In the Honda manual it's suggests to do a combustion chamber clean at the following intervals for these engines:

Combustion chamber cleaning is necessary for GCV160 and
GSV190 at 250 hours, and GXV160 at 300 hours.

What is involved in combustion chamber cleaning?

This is one of those services put in the manual for a dealer ..The combustion chamber is where the fuel air mix is ignited by the spark plug and after time it can develop carbon build up and the "reccomended" thing to do is to strip the engine down and chemically clean the combustion chamber, hone the bore replace rings gaskets etc etc etc..If you use the reccomended oil,fuel and regular servicing it should not really be an issue ..Its a bit of a B******T service to guide the unsuspecting owner back to their workshops and reaps heaps of $$$ out of your pocket..Besides who really counts the hours ??

PaulG
11-10-2010, 03:14 PM
Yep true.
I asked originally as a 196 I bought second-hand had a very furry black spark-plug which got me to thinking what the combustion chamber might be like. But the air-filter wasn't the cleanest either which is most likely what caused the build-up on the plug.

I checked the gap on the new plug and it was 0.8mm out of the packet so no drams there.

Wattle GC
11-10-2010, 03:23 PM
Yep true.
I asked originally as a 196 I bought second-hand had a very furry black spark-plug which got me to thinking what the combustion chamber might be like. But the air-filter wasn't the cleanest either which is most likely what caused the build-up on the plug.

I checked the gap on the new plug and it was 0.8mm out of the packet so no drams there.

Yea.. Spark plugs come pre gapped from new.You can add fuel additives to help reduce carbon build up however I am not a lover of any type of fuel oil additives ..They tend to cause more problems than they fix so dont believe the hype on the bottles.

Good regular servicing is the key to long life..Thats what I tell the mrs anyway..

gcsmow
12-10-2010, 09:17 AM
I think on ebay you can get small hour meters that can be fitted to push mowers and even w-snippers. I'll have another look on there and paste the link if I find it. It would be interesting to find out how many hours a w-snipper actually clocks up.

gcsmow
12-10-2010, 10:02 AM
Here it is check this out.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Dirt-Bike-Engine-Hour-meters-YZ-WR-KTM-CR-CRF-KX-/230527238092?pt=AU_Motorcycle_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35ac7e7fcc#ht_500wt_922

PaulG
12-10-2010, 10:06 AM
I found these cheapies the other day from a marine-electronics shop in Noosa. Was thinking the same thing as you gcs.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HOUR-METER-MOWER-JETSKI-BIKE-OUTBOARD-WATERPROOF-/290485210763?pt=AU_Boat_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43a2448e8b


Edit: Beat me to it. And they're the same.

Wattle GC
12-10-2010, 12:28 PM
I think on ebay you can get small hour meters that can be fitted to push mowers and even w-snippers. I'll have another look on there and paste the link if I find it. It would be interesting to find out how many hours a w-snipper actually clocks up.

Yea you can ..also Jaycar electronics ,Tandy etc.. They are simple to install as they run off the pulse from the plug lead and can be programmed to flash when your next service is due..The life of any machine depends on to many factors especially our equipment and the enviroments we work in etc... If you get 4 or 5 yrs out of anything these days you are doing well.