# HS1132 no throttle response



## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

Hi everyone and greetings.

I am new to the Honda forum. ;-)

I picked up an HS1132 and just started to get it tuned up for the winter.

When I first got it home, I noticed that the carb seemed to be leaking gas from the bowl, though the engine seemed to run fine. I took the carb off and cleaned it. Checked out and cleaned the float and needle, replaced the gasket that the bowl contacts with in the carb body. The leaking seemed to be fixed.

This weekend, I wanted to do an oil change, and check the min/max rpms (2000/3600) to make sure they are per setup manual. I hooked up a tach and noticed that the rpms were very erratic and causing the tach readings to jump all over the place. Oddly, the honda engine itself didn't sound like it was very erratic. I hooked this tach to a tecumseh engine on another snowblower that I have and it seemed to be better behaved. I set the idle throttle to 2000 rpms using that big black throttle stop screw on the carb. Then I ran the throttle level all the way to max. There was a bit of surging (not a lot) and I didn't notice the rpms go up much. There is actually no throttle response from min to almost 80% of throttle max position. I opened up the screw for the governor/spring setup that's south west of the gas tank as you look from behind the machine. I turned it out as much as possible and I verified that as I move the throttle lever, the throttle cable moves the entire connected plate/spring/governor/carb throttle mechanism.

For some reason, the max rpms I can see is still around 2100-2300 RPMs. I disassembled the carb and throughly cleaned every port and orifice according to the Honda carb cleaning drawing on their website. Everything from pilot jet, main jet, nozzle, air pathways, inlet reservoir cup areas, etc was cleaned with carb cleaner and compressed air and little wires as appropriate. I even went as far as to take apart the inlet gas shutoff and checked that as well. The little pilot jet gasket was also replaced. I did not take out the small pilot screw with the limiter cap, because when I squirted carb cleaner from one of the front holes behind the choke, I can see fluid squirting out the tip of the pilot screw needle opening behind the throttle plate. I could find no places where there were clogs or saw any obvious debris.

The previous owners must have messed with the carb because I noticed the gasket between the throttle plate side of the carb and that black insulator was installed incorrectly. The gaskets on both sides of the insulator were actually welded to the aluminum of the carb and the engine intake manifold. I thought this was the issue that's causing the engine performance problems. So I scraped off the old gaskets, sanded the contact surfaces down smooth, installed new gaskets and put the carb back together. I noticed very minimal if any increase in throttle response. If I used the throttle stop screw on the carb to set the low end rpms real low (think of a classic Harley sounding slow) (No offense to Harley lovers.) ;-) then I can see a throttle response on the throttle lever. But nothing top rpm is about 2000RPMs or so which is supposed to be the idle speed per Honda setup instructions. And am I correct in thinking that having too low an RPM may harm the engine as not enough oil is circulated?

Another experiment that I tried is to yank on the governor to carb throttle linkage (the one with a small rod and spring) with my hands, I can hear the RPMs climbing, but I can also feel a significant pull back (resistance) on the throttle linkage from the carb end. Is this indicative of any symptoms.

At this point, I am not sure what else I can try other than maybe disassemble the carb again, but also take the pilot screw and limiter cap apart this time and clean that passage. But since I already see carb clean squirting out of that area, it's probably not the issue.

Anyone have any ideas?

I've seen 1 or 2 prior posts on this lack of throttle response, but not conclusive of what's causing it.

I am interested in responses from everyone but especially HS1132 owners. Does your throttle level actually have a throttle response?
What's your idle and max rpms set at?


Thanks everyone.


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## JnC (Feb 21, 2014)

Id have to see the machine in person to tell you what exactly is wrong with the lack of response from throttle. 

When I was tuning my HS1132 I had to adjust the throttle lever in order to get the proper idle and max speed positioning on the control cover. 

Another thing I'd check is the position of the control arm. 

Where exactly are you located?


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

I can see the throttle lever action moving the control plate on the engine throttle up and down.
I haven't taken off the gas tank yet to inspect the governor spring and linkage setup yet.
Are there multiple holes for the governor spring to attach to? If so, what is the correct setup?

I started it up yesterday and noticed that the throttle actually hunts while I have the throttle lever
pushed up to max. I pulled off and cleaned the carb again yesterday, but no real effects.
I am suspecting that either the carb needs to be replaced or there may be a problem with the
governor setup. 

Does anyone have the factory instructions for re-adjusting the governor?


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## JnC (Feb 21, 2014)

Can you post pictures of the throttle linkage and the governor arm? 

I am suspecting you might be missing one of the linkage springs or a rod. 

[email protected] can chime in with correct position of the linkage and governor arm, I need that info as well as I am rebuilding a GX340 as we speak as well and took of the arm.


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

Thanks for the responses JnC. Yes, sure. I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can. I forgot to mention one other thing. With the machine turned off, while checking the throttle control lever for proper movement on the control plate, I also felt around the governor control arm for play. After flipping the throttle lever to max or min, I noticed that there is a small up and down movement to the governor control arm. A small distinct pop can be felt, seen and heard when my finger gently touches the tip of the control arm (where linkage and spring go to the carb). The control arm moves vertically up/down a small tad in this process. It's only repeatable when I cycle the throttle lever. It is more pronounced while the throttle lever is in max position, and very subtle when the throttle lever is in min position. That's why I was guessing I need to fiddle with the governor adjustment in my previous post. Hope it's not a broken or worn out governor inside the engine.


JnC said:


> Can you post pictures of the throttle linkage and the governor arm?
> 
> I am suspecting you might be missing one of the linkage springs or a rod.
> 
> [email protected] can chime in with correct position of the linkage and governor arm, I need that info as well as I am rebuilding a GX340 as we speak as well and took of the arm.


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

Hi JnC,

Here's some pictures of the governor linkages.


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

I am back. Finally got to work on the machine this weekend.
Quick update on what I did.
I brought a brand new carb and replaced it to take it out of the equation.
No changes in throttle response.
I replaced the spark plug with a brand new one.
No changes in throttle response.
Time to take a look at the governor.
Took the gas tank off. I am not sure if any of the linkages or springs are missing. Looks all there.
There is only 1 hole for the big spring on the throttle cable control plate. There were 2 holes on the governor control arm for the big spring which is hooked to the outermost hole on the control arm.

I have a question for you folks with GX340 11HP engines. The governor control arm on my engine looks a bit bent in the middle of it compared to the ends. Is that normal? I checked on some spares on ebay and some of them (used ones anyway) look like mine with a bit bent.

There is some vertical play on the governor arm shaft coming out of the engine. I can pull up slightly on it and it returns.

Tried to do static governor reset procedure outlined here.
1. Remove the fuel tank.
2. Loosen the nut on the governor arm and move the governor arm to fully open the throttle.
3. Rotate the governor arm shaft as far as it will go in the same direction the governor
arm moved to open the throttle. Tighten the nut on the governor.
4. Start the engine and allow it to warm up to normal operating temperature.
Determine the point where the engine runs at the standard maximum speed by moving
the throttle lever. Then using the special tool, adjust the maximum engine speed by
turning the 5 x 25 mm torx. bolt so that the throttle lever cannot be moved past that point.
Maximum engine speed: 3,850 ± 150 min -1 (rpm)

If I reset it per above Honda procedure, I see the engine running poorer than I started with.
And zero throttle response. 
The problem was with step 3. I had to back off the governor arm shaft quite a bit from fully
turning it counter clockwise. (i.e., I pulled the control arm away from the carb (counter clock wise), turned
the governor arm shaft away from the carb fully (counter clock wise), then while holding the control arm 
steady, turned the governor arm shaft towards the carb a bit and lock the nut down). With trial and error fine tuning the governor arm shaft position, I could see a better throttle response. I dared not turn the control arm shaft out too much because I the engine would race past some point. 

With my latest adjustments, the engine seems to idle faster (2600 rpms or so). I actually cannot slow it down slower than this even if I adjusted the big black screw on the carb. In fact I can back it out so the throttle plate on the carb while the engine is running always hovers above the black screw setting and the engine is still running at 2600RPMs.

The new carb has an adjustable idle screw. I tried mucking with that, but I did not hear much response from the engine.

I can get it running a bit past 3K RPMs now, and I can hear a marked response with the throttle lever as I move it up and down. Though the range is still seems to be within 600 rpms or so between the throttle lever max and min positions. I wish I have more a low end now.

I noticed that there is a wet mist shooting out of the black tube coming off the valve cover. More as I max out the throttle. Is this normal? I don't remember it shooting out this much before I made the governor adjustments.
The other end of this tube is not connected to anything, just hangs out shooting the mist towards the rubber track.
I've seen in some other Honda configurations, this tube feeds back into the air cleaner to be sucked into the carb again. There is a rubber plug on that port in the air cleaner assembly.


Should I keep what I have now or should I set it back to what it was?


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## E350 (Apr 21, 2015)

I am going to ask a stupid question, because that is why I am here. And I know you know more than I do. So, don't be offended by my question. But if you have the throttle linkage disconnected and you just move the throttle butterfly lever where the linkage connects with with your finger do you get a throttle response? And I assume that the choke butterfly is all the way open right?


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## JnC (Feb 21, 2014)

The mist from the tube could be due to play between the exhaust valve and exhaust valve guide. I have worked on a few GX motors and have seen the guides develop play over time and letting exhaust gases by into the valve chamber. Actually over time it lets a whole bunch of carbon build up around the valve guide, may want to check on that as well. 

Your linkage looks fine, at this point if everything on the outside looks good then you'd might have to dig deeper and check the butterfly gear inside the engine that kicks out the governor, it might be either damaged or missing a part. I am just throwing ideas out there, wish you were closer to Bedford as I wouldnt mind taking a look at the machine to help you figure out the issue.


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

E350 said:


> I am going to ask a stupid question, because that is why I am here. And I know you know more than I do. So, don't be offended by my question. But if you have the throttle linkage disconnected and you just move the throttle butterfly lever where the linkage connects with with your finger do you get a throttle response? And I assume that the choke butterfly is all the way open right?


 I haven't tried disconnecting the linkages, but I have tried to manually move the governor arm while the engine is running and force the RPMs up or down and see a throttle response. Yes, choke is all the way open as well.


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

JnC said:


> The mist from the tube could be due to play between the exhaust valve and exhaust valve guide. I have worked on a few GX motors and have seen the guides develop play over time and letting exhaust gases by into the valve chamber. Actually over time it lets a whole bunch of carbon build up around the valve guide, may want to check on that as well.
> 
> Hi JnC, Are you talking about clearance between the valve and the rocker arm assembly? Are these the spec'ed values? 0.15 ± 0.02 mm (INTAKE) 0.20 ± 0.02 mm (EXHAUST) I'll take a look under the valve cover and update?


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## JnC (Feb 21, 2014)

Negative, thats valve clearance. I am talking about the actual valve and valve guides, especially on the exhaust side.


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

JnC said:


> Negative, thats valve clearance. I am talking about the actual valve and valve guides, especially on the exhaust side.


 Thanks for the clarification JnC. Humm... How do I check for that? Do I have to take the valve spring and retainer off? or take the head off?


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

I opened up the valve cover and took a look today. No carbon or soot anywhere to be found inside, although I didn't take anything apart other visually inspecting what I could with just the valve cover off.

Engine oil coated the interior surfaces (guess that is normal right?)

I checked the valve clearances and adjusted per factory instructions.
The intake valve clearance was spot on at 0.15MM, no adjustment necessary.
The exhaust valve was not, it was more than 0.33MM when spec called for 0.20MM. Is that bad? Could it have caused the performance issues I've been seeing?

Last week after I played with the governor setting. I thought I could hear some knocking while the engine throttle was high. Wonder if the exhaust valve clearance was causing this popping/backfire noise.

I fired it up after I adjusted everything and it was running ok. Can't say for better or not because I only ran it for a minute or so as it was getting dark out. It still has a throttle response per throttle lever across an audible RPM range. I will put an RPM meter on it and play with it some more tomorrow.

What could have caused the valve clearance to be so out of spec?
Any damage the engine could have sustained running like this?

Thanks for your thoughts and comments.


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## oljm (Aug 22, 2016)

I fired it up and after it warmed up, noticed a red hot exhaust (see other post), but otherwise the machine ran pretty much like it did before I made the valve adjustments. The engine seemed to be a bit smoother running. 

But RPM range was still not full range (about 2500 @low throttle lever to 3200 @max throttle lever).

I did notice the misting issue out of the crank case cover seemed to have minimized. Could the exhaust valve adjustment helped that issue?


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