Honda 50 hesitates/dies at full throttle

[PatrickS]

Keep it simple to start out...........get yourself two cans of B-12 from Walmart.......add them to one tank........run the motor up and down the rpm range until the tank is empty......should clear it up. The pick up tubes in the bowls are super tiny and only takes a small amount of gunk to clog them up. I wen through this after one season of the boat in a slip, gas went bad after a while and mine acted the same way. I was ready to tear down the carbs and this was recommended..........cleared up after one tank........give it a shot before you go looking for other problems.

Question: do you mix the B-12 with gas, or just run the B-12 straight? (sorry
if that's a stupid question

If you mix it with gas, at what ratio?

[DanBurke]

Patrick,
I am willing to bet it is your fuel filter. Same thing happened to me. New filter was $15 and a piece of cake to install.

[PatrickS]

Keep it simple to start out...........get yourself two cans of B-12 from Walmart.......add them to one tank........run the motor up and down the rpm range until the tank is empty......should clear it up. The pick up tubes in the bowls are super tiny and only takes a small amount of gunk to clog them up. I wen through this after one season of the boat in a slip, gas went bad after a while and mine acted the same way. I was ready to tear down the carbs and this was recommended..........cleared up after one tank........give it a shot before you go looking for other problems.

Question: do you mix the B-12 with gas, or just run the B-12 straight? (sorry
if that's a stupid question

If you mix it with gas, at what ratio?

OK. I got one can of B-12, which says to mix it approx. 1 oz per
gallon. Am I understanding you correctly that you are saying
to mix 2 cans to a (presumed) 6 gallon tank? Since that's 5 times
the normal ratio.

[atzserv]

Patrick,

I had an issue once with my car stumbling and I only had 6 gallons of fuel in the tank. I added 3 bottles of injector cleaner from Wal-Mart and drove it abit with no change. ( Each bottle was for 20 gal) I let it sit overnight with this strong mix in the system and the next morning was going to the dealer to have it serviced when I gave it some gas and the thing did a backfire type sound, black smoke came out the exhaust and the car took off like a bullet. So a strong mix may not be too extreme. I am just mentioning my experience with injectors on a car engine. Hope this helps more than confusing your concerns.

Gary

[Timm Miller]

Keep it simple to start out...........get yourself two cans of B-12 from Walmart.......add them to one tank........run the motor up and down the rpm range until the tank is empty......should clear it up. The pick up tubes in the bowls are super tiny and only takes a small amount of gunk to clog them up. I wen through this after one season of the boat in a slip, gas went bad after a while and mine acted the same way. I was ready to tear down the carbs and this was recommended..........cleared up after one tank........give it a shot before you go looking for other problems.

Question: do you mix the B-12 with gas, or just run the B-12 straight? (sorry
if that's a stupid question

If you mix it with gas, at what ratio?

OK. I got one can of B-12, which says to mix it approx. 1 oz per
gallon. Am I understanding you correctly that you are saying
to mix 2 cans to a (presumed) 6 gallon tank? Since that's 5 times
the normal ratio.

One can will treat 10-20 gals. of fuel........you want to double dose it. So if you have a 6 gal. tank.....then one can should suffice. When you start cruising around.....try to run in increments of 1000 rpms.......idle....then 2000 rpms.........then 3000 rpms.......and so on. This gives this mixture s chance to run through all three speed circuits of the carbs. And try to leave a little bit to sit in the carbs over night if you can.

[PatrickS]

Question: do you mix the B-12 with gas, or just run the B-12 straight? (sorry
if that's a stupid question

If you mix it with gas, at what ratio?

OK. I got one can of B-12, which says to mix it approx. 1 oz per
gallon. Am I understanding you correctly that you are saying
to mix 2 cans to a (presumed) 6 gallon tank? Since that's 5 times
the normal ratio.

One can will treat 10-20 gals. of fuel........you want to double dose it. So if you have a 6 gal. tank.....then one can should suffice. When you start cruising around.....try to run in increments of 1000 rpms.......idle....then 2000 rpms.........then 3000 rpms.......and so on. This gives this mixture s chance to run through all three speed circuits of the carbs. And try to leave a little bit to sit in the carbs over night if you can.

Thanks. I hope to get out on the water in the next week or so
and see if I can't eradicate whatever gremlins are lurking about.

[albion]

Try cleaning out the main jet its got a carb on it I presume.

[Frank C]

A quick skimming of prior posts ... all good suggestions. Basically you're searching to find some reason the engine is being starved of either air or fuel. Clogged filters (air or fuel) cause starvation, blocked air intake, reversed primer bulb, etc, etc.

However, there's another possibility that's not yet mentioned ... too much air is the same as too little fuel. In my experience, 3000 rpms is that point at which a minor defect in the fuel supply, hose or fuel tank pickup tube, permits the fuel pump to suck air along with the fuel. Search on the term [starvation] to read a half-dozen prior threads. Good luck!

[Luke]

Patrick,
I too have the Honda BF50. Twice I have experienced similar symptoms with my engine. Both times I had to clean out the main jets. The bottom carburetor usually gets clogged first. If you are still having problems, let me know. I have the Honda factory shop manual, and I can tell you how to clean out or to rebuild the carburetor.

Fair winds,
Luke

DreeamChaser
1999 Macgregor 26X
Honda BF50

[ronacarme]

My Honda 9.9 late in its first year started to die after reversing out of my slip, upon shifting to fwd,on occaision. Slight increase in idle speed adjustment eliminated the problem, with one exception , last season.
I understand from my dealer's service tech that EPA mandates the maximum idle speed, so dealer does not want to violate EPA rule. Thus???
Idle speed, not idle mixture, was the issue. Ron

[ralphk]

Tim

How do you "pickle" the carbs??



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tim wrote.

"I had the same sort of thing happen and this was suggested to me and it worked........plus now I pickle the carbs with Seafoam every Winter vs. just draining them."

[K9Kampers]

After experiencing a subtle surging while low RPM motoring across Buzzards Bay, I inspected the motor at home and found a fuel leak at the factory fuel filter. At the base of the outflow nipple, the (epoxy?) sealing the nipple to the housing top has disintegrated.



I found the leak by simply squeezing the primer ball... if gas can leak out, air can leak in. I removed this filter assembly and installed a remote spin on fuel filter / water sperator. This fixed the problem for a while, but not completely. Other symptoms exist from my last trip that I haven't yet dealt with. I've since discovered broken o-rings at several fuel line connections & will fix in the spring.

[Timm Miller]

After the motor has warmed up........I take a small pint size glass jar half full of Sea Foam and use the other tank fitting which has been taken off the tank........I plug that into the fuel line and let the motor start drawing in the Sea Foam.....you'll know when it's getting in because the motor will start to idel rough unless you increase the rpm's. The glass jar should be getting close to empty. Come Spring time.......I drain the carbs with fuel line disconnected.........pump the ball up.........drain the carbs.....until the fuel line is empty of Sea Foam.........then hook it back up to the fuel tank.........and pump it back up with fuel. It will be hard starting until you get gas back into the system......when it does fire off........it's going to smoke like you have never seen. Once I get back on water, I run two cans per 12 gals. of B-12 initially.........and then about once a month of regular mixture of B-12. I also noticed that Wally World is carrying Sea Foam now.

Tim

How do you "pickle" the carbs??



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tim wrote.

"I had the same sort of thing happen and this was suggested to me and it worked........plus now I pickle the carbs with Seafoam every Winter vs. just draining them."

[ralphk]

Thanks for the reply Tim.
Really appreciate this.

My ignorance of small engines is going to be broadcast now, for all of MacWorld to see.

I Assume that this all happens at idle speed?

I take a small pint size glass jar half full of Sea Foam and use the other tank fitting which has been taken off the tank........I plug that into the fuel line and let the motor start drawing in the Sea Foam.....

Q1) So at this point is the engine only drawing Sea Foam, or some fuel/Sea Foam mixture through two hoses?

motor will start to idel rough unless you increase the rpm's. The glass jar should be getting close to empty.

Q2) Now does the engine die on it's own?
or
Do you turn off the ignition, trying to trap as much Sea Foam as possible through-out the system?

Q3) Is there any downside if the engine starts drawing air bubbles from the bottom of the empty pint jar?



Happy New Year

Ralph k.

[Timm Miller]

Thanks for the reply Tim.
Really appreciate this.

My ignorance of small engines is going to be broadcast now, for all of MacWorld to see.

I Assume that this all happens at idle speed?

Yes, after it has warmed up....depending on outside temp.....about 20 mins is good.

I take a small pint size glass jar half full of Sea Foam and use the other tank fitting which has been taken off the tank........I plug that into the fuel line and let the motor start drawing in the Sea Foam.....

Q1) So at this point is the engine only drawing Sea Foam, or some fuel/Sea Foam mixture through two hoses?

Pure Seafoam......just disconnect the fule line off of the tank.......I usually take the fitting off the other tank and put into the end of the hose.

motor will start to idel rough unless you increase the rpm's. The glass jar should be getting close to empty.

Q2) Now does the engine die on it's own?
or
Do you turn off the ignition, trying to trap as much Sea Foam as possible through-out the system?

You will notice that it will start to run rough......I usually increase the rpms to around 1500-2000 until the jar is empty........if you just let it go back to normal idle.......it seems like it wants to die out.

Q3) Is there any downside if the engine starts drawing air bubbles from the bottom of the empty pint jar?

Not at all.......in fact normal winterization is to let the carbs run dry or to drain them.........but you want the carbs to be full of Seafoam.......in the Spring, you will need to drain the carbs.......pump the fuel ball while the hose is disconnected from the tank...........drain the carbs again..........pump it up........drain until the fuel line is empty. Then just hook it up back to the tank and pump it up with fuel.



Happy New Year

Ralph k.