Honda 2200 won't start

[viking1]

I fired up my brand new Honda 2200 while starting our boondocking trip last week and although it ran fine for two hours it suddenly stopped and would not start again. I removed and cleaned the spark plug that did not appear corroded and it fired right up again. After letting it run for two hours I shut it off by turning the valve partially down to allow the engine to burn off gas left in the carb bowl.
Now it won't start back up at all. I repeated the spark plug cleaning and tried again. No luck. I replaced the spark plug with a new one and it still won't start. But when testing for spark with plug removed and pulling the cord there is a spark. Can't smell gas even with choke on but when unscrewing carb drain plug, gas flows freely.
Honda Customer Support referred me to a dealer fifty miles away who said bring it in and leave it. Not an option because we are out in the desert now. Any ideas?

[BayouBiker]

You mentioned there was a spark indicating ignition is good. When you removed the plug was it wet with fuel? If not choke it, crank it several times and then check the plug again. If it is not wet you may have a fuel delivery problem. Get some starting fluid and see if it will sputter or run with it. If it won't then the exhaust may have a restriction, remove the spark arrestor and try again. Possible also the carburetor is not on tight or has a severe vacuum leak.

If it runs after starting with starter fluid then the idle passages have trash in them or idle setting is bad.

Give some of these things a try and report back.

[GCinSC2]

Other ideas general to small engines with carb drain screws. I haven’t done this on a 2000 or 2200 but it works on my Honda 3000.

Turn fuel valve off.
Find carb bowl drain and hose prepare to catch a few ozs of gas.
Open carb bowl drain screw.
Open fuel tank valve.

You should see a steady stream of gas draining out.

No gas coming out? Why not it should be.

If it did allow couple oz to drain then try again.

Good luck keep feedback coming.

Gary

[viking1]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

You mentioned there was a spark indicating ignition is good. When you removed the plug was it wet with fuel? If not choke it, crank it several times and then check the plug again. If it is not wet you may have a fuel delivery problem. Get some starting fluid and see if it will sputter or run with it. If it won't then the exhaust may have a restriction, remove the spark arrestor and try again. Possible also the carburetor is not on tight or has a severe vacuum leak.

If it runs after starting with starter fluid then the idle passages have trash in them or idle setting is bad.

Give some of these things a try and report back.

Thanks. The plug is dry when we remove it. I will wait until tomorrow and get some starting fluid to see if that helps. This generator only has four hours on it. But I am a little suspicious because before I added gas or oil it smelled faintly of gasoline in the tank. These are known to have supposedly shipped without gas or oil. Unless they test the generator first at the factory with gas and oil inside and then later drain it for shipping, I suspect I may have been given a refurbished generator.

[viking1]

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

Other ideas general to small engines with carb drain screws. I haven’t done this on a 2000 or 2200 but it works on my Honda 3000.

Turn fuel valve off.
Find carb bowl drain and hose prepare to catch a few ozs of gas.
Open carb bowl drain screw.
Open fuel tank valve.

You should see a steady stream of gas draining out.

No gas coming out? Why not it should be.

If it did allow couple oz to drain then try again.

Good luck keep feedback coming.

Gary

Thanks. I did drain the carburetor bowl by unscrewing the plug at the bottom of the carburetor that was connected to a drain hose. Fuel seem to flow freely. Maybe I did not drain enough. I will repeat that procedure now and report back.

[BayouBiker]

They do test run them, then drain them of gas (using Gary's method) and oil and then ship them as you speculated, so it's not unusual to have a gasoline smell. Gary's suggestion is a good one, do it before you move on to starting fluid, and with the gas cap on tight, that way you test the vapor recovery and vent portion also.

[gdanderson]

Your gas cap has a lever that opens and shuts allowing air into the fuel tank to replace fuel as it is burned. If this breather is not in the open position the unit will run for a while until starved for fuel. When I look at my gas cap the lever position is not intuitive.

Greg

[viking1]

Originally Posted by gdanderson

Your gas cap has a lever that opens and shuts allowing air into the fuel tank to replace fuel as it is burned. If this breather is not in the open position the unit will run for a while until starved for fuel. When I look at my gas cap the lever position is not intuitive.

Greg

Thanks again. I just tried that for the second time just in case. When I opened the fuel line by unscrewing the brass screw on the bottom of the carburetor gasoline flowed freely through the clear plastic drain tube but seem to slow a bit after 30 seconds. Then when I shut off the gas cap fuel lever the fuel stopped coming out through the gas drain tube. I repeated that several times to confirm that the lever was in fact regulating fuel flow. We are now way up in the mountains On a very difficult road with not enough battery power to get through the night. We would really hate to leave the spot but it’s a fairly rugged road that I would not drive again so going down to town and coming back is out of the question. We met some wood cutters who are taking a load of wood down to town and they said they would look for a can of Quickstart and bring it back when they came to pick up another load. I’m guessing most stores are closed but may be a gas station would be open

[GCinSC2]

Originally Posted by gdanderson

Your gas cap has a lever that opens and shuts allowing air into the fuel tank to replace fuel as it is burned. If this breather is not in the open position the unit will run for a while until starved for fuel. When I look at my gas cap the lever position is not intuitive.

Greg

Fits nicely with my more involved test for fuel flow, but good info I just didn't know about vent lever.

Good stuff to check off.

Check off? Wasn't he on Star Trek?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Why are you opening the bowl valve? Draining is really meant for long term storage. Leave it closed, make sure the cap valve is open, see if it's not a much easier start.🥴

Bob
🇺🇸

[viking1]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Why are you opening the bowl valve? Draining is really meant for long term storage. Leave it closed, make sure the cap valve is open, see if it's not a much easier start.🥴

Bob
🇺🇸

Thanks. The only reason I opened the drain tube to the float bowl was to test if there was enough gas in it and if it was controlled by the lever on the gas cap. I have tried a variety of solutions to no avail. It’s going down to 20° where we are camped in the mountains but this site is so spectacular that we are going to stay at least another night. Woodcutters have not returned with QuickStart yet. Keep your fingers crossed.

[viking1]

Also wanted to mention that when the problem initially happened we were at 4300 feet in Sedona Arizona desert. Now at 6000+ feet in the mountains above Prescott Arizona. Obviously the motor is not gonna run as good at altitude but it should at least start? It ran perfectly for four hours at 4300 feet

[AldeanFan]

You appear to have confirmed fuel and spark, have you checked air? Is the air filter soaked in gas or oil?

[BayouBiker]

Altitude does have an effect but it should not be so severe to prevent starting and you should see it flooding (wet spark plug). It is not flooding so it seems most likely it is fuel delivery. Also if the Air filter were soaked or severely restricted for some reason, it should also show signs of flooding. Since you have confirmed fuel to the carburetor, it seems likely the idle circuit or the float level is the culprit. The starting fluid will help confirm or disaffirm that.

[LilPeanut]

We all know there are only 3 things you need for it to run. Spark, fuel and air. You have spark. Pull the air filter and spark plug and squirt a little gas instead of starting fluid, replace the plug and see if it will go at all. It is possible you have something clogging fuel delivery in the carb with a new unit.

If it will fire up at all for a quick spurt, everything is present for it to work and it is the delivery of air or fuel. All 3 have to be in the cylinder. If it works with ‘direct delivery’ but quits immediately thereafter, it is possibly fuel delivery.

Try again but putt in the air filter. If it fires and sputters out the same way then it doesn’t sound like air.

Then if it is narrowed to fuel delivery, a carb cleaning could be in order.

You should have a high altitude jet, but that is more of a ‘tuning’ than a won’t start item.

When you get some time in the future, consider a propane conversion. Hutch mountain. Makes dirty fuel, old gas a thing of the past.

P.s. sometimes I yell at mine and swear. Have you tried that?

Merry Christmas. You are lucky to be camping. I wish I was.

[viking1]

Thanks again guys. It’s too dark outside and cold to mess with the generator any further. We started the car and let it run for an hour and that brought the Interstate batteries to about three-quarter charge. I know that’s unusual but we have a real strong current coming through our seven pin plug.
Unfortunately our wood cutters never showed up with the Quickstart so unless they arrive in the morning we will probably head back to the desert in Sedona for some more hiking.

[billstrong]

I own 3 Honda 2000’s. When they get to where they won’t start I pressurize the gas tank by placing my mouth so that the gas tank opening seals around my mouth and then I pressurize the tank using my cheeks, not my lungs. You can do multiple pumps with your cheeks, sealing between them with pursed lips until you cannot force more air. You can build up a fair amount of pressure this way for as long as you can hold your breath. After doing this I then try to start it on choke. You may have to run it on half choke for a while. Occasionally this maneuver will flood the engine. This will work as long as you have good gas and a jet is not gummed. Your experince sounds typical that it ran 2 or 3 weeks ago and won’t start. BTW I always have Starbrite Star Tron in my gas. It will keep the gas good for at least a year. And I always use ethanol free gas. And make sure the vent is open on the cap. Good luck.

[billstrong]

Possibly your first experince was due to a closed vent. And this problem may be unrelated. The choke on these generators is not sufficient to in effect prime the engine. You have to do that by pressuring the tank, especially if it has not been started in a few days or weeks.

[mefly2]

Dirty gas may have plugged main jet or low oil level ...

[wilsodf]

We have 2 EU2200. Both ran good for 2 years and then one of them wouldn't start. Took it into a Honda dealer and it had water in the carb. He said from bad gas. Nor sure how he cleaned the water out of the carb, but works great ever since.