# Should I take it to my Dealer? Warranty?



## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

So my HS928 is surging. Now I took care of it at the end of last year and ran it down and cleaned and prepped for storage. In the fall I took it out and started it up because I had a suspicion that some mice got in there. (I was right by the way) What a Pain it was to remove all those covers to get that little bugger and her she-devil spawn... Anyhow. After doing so, it ran just fine. 

Fast-forward to a few weeks ago. And its surging. It has clean gas in it, it has fresh oil, and I've allowed it to warm up, and it still surging.

I'm guessing its a jet issue in the carb but should I take it to my dealer. Technically isnt this warranty issued for 3 years? They should cover it right?


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## Loco-diablo (Feb 12, 2015)

Hmm. If it's a plugged jet, generally they won't cover dirty carbs under warranty. The dealer will 'ALWAYS' blame you and bad fuel (ethanol) in a case like this unless you have a stand up dealership that is genuinely concerned about your satisfaction.

It is definitely worth a shot to call the dealer, or just clean the carb yourself


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## skutflut (Oct 16, 2015)

Skeet Shooter said:


> So my HS928 is surging. Now I took care of it at the end of last year and ran it down and cleaned and prepped for storage. In the fall I took it out and started it up because I had a suspicion that some mice got in there. (I was right by the way) What a Pain it was to remove all those covers to get that little bugger and her she-devil spawn... Anyhow. After doing so, it ran just fine.
> 
> Fast-forward to a few weeks ago. And its surging. It has clean gas in it, it has fresh oil, and I've allowed it to warm up, and it still surging.
> 
> I'm guessing its a jet issue in the carb but should I take it to my dealer. Technically isnt this warranty issued for 3 years? They should cover it right?


Try adding a bit of choke when its warm and see if that makes it better or worse. If it gets better, you probably have something blocked making it run a bit lean. I don't think a dealer would clean a carb under warranty, except as a goodwill gesture as that is a maintenance item. Warranty usually covers defective materials and workmanship supplied by the manufacturer. Dirt comes from a different manufacturer.  

Check the carb is tight on the manifold, screen over inlet isn't blocked, no bits of mice nests in the carb throat, primer bulb and hose are not damaged. If there is a fuel filter, replace it, if not, and there is room, add one.


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

Gotcha... I will just clean the carb myself then... I have time tonight so I'll just pull it off and clean it out.


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

Skeet -

When you say you ran it down, was it the carb you ran dry. Did you leave fuel in the tank from last year and that fuel started up fine in the fall ? Or as you saying it was bone dry, and you put Fresh Fuel in the fall....and now it's surging ?


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

sometimes a little bit of seafoam will help clear out a minor clog if you dont feel comfortable removing the carburetor


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## skutflut (Oct 16, 2015)

Skeet Shooter said:


> Gotcha... I will just clean the carb myself then... I have time tonight so I'll just pull it off and clean it out.



Make sure the float and valve is not sticking too. Valve tip might be gummy


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

mobiledynamics said:


> Skeet -
> 
> When you say you ran it down, was it the carb you ran dry. Did you leave fuel in the tank from last year and that fuel started up fine in the fall ? Or as you saying it was bone dry, and you put Fresh Fuel in the fall....and now it's surging ?


I added Sta-bil to the tank... Ran it for 15 minutes and then turned the fuel **** off and ran it down. There was maybe only 1/4 gallon in the tank.



skutflut said:


> Make sure the float and valve is not sticking too. Valve tip might be gummy


I took it apart yesterday and cleaned all the needles and doublechecked the valve tip... It was in very good condition, although i will say that the bowl gasket is already expanded a little too much, will probably have to replace that the next time I clean it. 

Well I found the issue regarding surging... MICE! AGAIN!

The little bastards (pardon my language, but I'm getting so angry at these things) got back into the air intake housing and made a massive nest in there. 4 little ones, Not sure I found the mama, but there was **** and mice droppings all in there, and a lot of it. There was mouse hair and cotton inside the carb and in the needles... So that explains that. 

They also decided to get into my Bobcat Mower and stuff probably 20 acorns into the exhaust... That was not fun, trying to get those all out... I'll probably have to unbolt it from the manifold in the spring to just double check... I was flinging out a bunch of burning Acorns from the pipe. I've tried everything with them, poison, traps, glue pads... The only thing I have not put in there is a cat or some of those mouse snap traps.

Not complaining here, but jease to get at the carb you have to take off a lot of stuff! It was much easier on my Husky to do that. Either way. Its back together, cleaned with carb cleaner and running like a top with some fresh gas and some Sta-Bil just as a precaution.

I installed my new Robalon skids on the front. I like them, however i'm not sure if I should have mounted them as low as I did. should they be shimmed up like 1/8" similar to the scraper bar when in regular clearing mode? I notice if I try to use the "Ice mode" it just tips the machine up onto the skids and doesnt make an appreciable difference. 

If the new skids eliminate that ice mode function, so be it.


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

I wanted to provide an update on the Blower after this storm. As usual it performed extremely well and under load makes minced meat out of large drifts and EOD. 

But speaking of Minced meat... well. I still was smelling that mice **** and excrement smell coming from the blower when I was blowing snow. So after everything was done, I started doing another check of the blower... Took the air cleaner housing off. All clean as I expected... I noticed some fuzzies near the Recoil start pack, So i took it off. Found some thing not so great.

The little buggers decided to chew up my plastic fan blades that are ontop of the starter. I would say better than half of them have been chewed up to a point where they are in pretty poor shape... Then I noticed the smell got noticeably worse after taking the recoil starter off. I decided at that point to take off the shroud that contains the starter. 5 bolts later, I almost puked. 

There were minced up pieces of I don't know how many mice in there. Mice crap, and a smell so horrid even my dog decided to not stick her nose in it. I cleaned everything out as good as I could with some de-greaser, and I even had to use tile and shower cleaner to kill off the smell. 3 Hours of cleaning.

Result... Engine still surges. Even after cleaning the carb out, fiddling with the governor, and choke. I'm thinking I might take it to the dealer to have them look it over. I just can't believe what **** these little things have wrought on my prized possession. 

So frustrated.


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## HSSdude (Sep 21, 2015)

Skeet shooter,

Have you removed jet set pilot and cleaned. It is number 35 on the picture below. 









This can sometimes become clogged and when it does it will cause your engine to surge when it sits at idle. If your engine stops surging when you apply a load to it by blowing snow or by slightly pulling out the choke then there is a good probability that this is it.

But please be careful when you remove this. There is a plastic screw that holds it down and its position is set by keihen during carb assembly to meet certain carb setting requirements. I can post some pictures on how I do it to keep the setting correct if you think it would be helpful to you. Also do not just spray carb cleaner into the orifice on this piece when you remove it, there is an o ring on the bottom of it and it will expand.


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

Oh no I didnt. I was worried about touching that one. Thanks for the tip on this I will probably position mark the plastic screw with some Whiteout, and hopfully that will allow me to retain the setting it was at. No carb cleaner got it!


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## HSSdude (Sep 21, 2015)

No problem. Sounds like you already know what your doing. I mark with a paint pen at 12 oclock position and then count how many turns it takes to screw all the way in (usually about 2 1/4) then back it all the way out and remove. Then upon reassembly screw all the way in and back out the predetermined number of turns. This ensures you get it almost exactly where it was originally set.


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

Thanks I'll give it a try this week some time. I've already taken this machine apart a few times now, so I've got my process down to a science now.


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## CO Snow (Dec 8, 2011)

Sounds like you need to use glue boards in a perimeter around your machine.


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

CO Snow said:


> Sounds like you need to use glue boards in a perimeter around your machine.


I had about 6 of them around it. They just decided to walk around them and flip them over and **** on them. Smartest mice I've ever dealt with.


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

Random question regarding the carb... So I have not yet had a chance to clean that jet out... I have just been busy. Anyhow. If I do clean this out and it still doesnt work, doesnt it make more sense to just buy a brand new carb and replace it, rather than paying to have my shop tune it up? Its $70 for a new carb. I have to imaging that the shop is going to charge me more than that. Anyone have any idea on cost vs cost on this?


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## dhazelton (Dec 8, 2014)

I took my Honda out for a short spin (motorcycle) and when I got home I smelled burning wood. I looked around and couldn't see anything but noticed a touch of smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. I turned the bike on and the smoke got a bit thicker. I revved the engine and a nut went shooting out about 20 feet. I kept doing that and at least 20 more followed. I shook the bike and could still hear them rolling around so I pulled off the exhaust and shook another 20 or 30 out. I keep my exhaust capped now. 

I have a snowmobile that the little bastards have been in several times. They got in the exhaust and actually went all the way up the intake to the carburator and one died in there. They also filled the engine shroud with a nest. I find little nuts on the battery of my pickup sometimes. Just no winning.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

Skeet Shooter said:


> ...If I do clean this out and it still doesnt work, doesnt it make more sense to just buy a brand new carb and replace it, rather than paying to have my shop tune it up? Its $70 for a new carb.


I cleaned out the carb on my HS828 after it was surging, put it back on, still surged, ordered new carb for $57, waited for carb, decided to go at cleaning the carb again and it worked. Got an extra new carb on the shelf...just in case 

I used a torch tip cleaning kit the second time and some random thin wires (one from a bread bag tie) the first time.


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## skutflut (Oct 16, 2015)

Goes to show that a bit of crap can cause problems, and crap can be tough to clean when its really hiding.


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

jrom said:


> I cleaned out the carb on my HS828 after it was surging, put it back on, still surged, ordered new carb for $57, waited for carb, decided to go at cleaning the carb again and it worked. Got an extra new carb on the shelf...just in case
> 
> I used a torch tip cleaning kit the second time and some random thin wires (one from a bread bag tie) the first time.





skutflut said:


> Goes to show that a bit of crap can cause problems, and crap can be tough to clean when its really hiding.


I'm sure this is the issue and I am going to clean it again, but. I have a certain level of frustration i'm willing to put up with... I'm very close to that level. haha


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

FINALLY! Fixed it.

I ordered the new carb from e-bay. Opened it up... Right carb wrong hardware on the Choke side... Tried to make it work wouldnt hook up via the provided cables and such... So I figured, why not try to clean the original carb again... Well I must have missed something when I cleaned it... The main jet was clogged up good with more mouse hair... I blew everything out and carb cleaned it and repeated, and now that sucker is running like it's brand new!

YAY


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## skutflut (Oct 16, 2015)

Too many hairy mice in your storage area.


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