Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I have a Honda HS828 snowblower that recently started surging. It has ran perfect all year until a couple days ago when it started surging about 20 minutes after running it. The motor surged for a while then it died and would only run for a few minutes at a time at about half throttle then it would surge and die. That was also the warmest weather (low 30s) that I have fun this snowblower in. I pulled the carb apart and it looked pretty clean. Could this be a weather related issue? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Run it with the gas cap loose. If it runs fine then check for a clogged vent in the gas cap.

My HS828 (1991) had this problem also a couple of years ago. I tried the gas cap trick, but it didn't help. I disassembled and cleaned the carb, still surged. Now this will seem strange and I should have known better, but in the 19-20 years of using this blower, I never drained the gas - I know, not a good idea - but it always started every winter. I did however start it about every 2-4 weeks throughout the year...maybe that helped. I noticed little bits of debris floating/hovering at the bottom of the tank. At that time, the fuel filter/joint (JOINT, FUEL TANK (Honda Code 1427459) was listed as obsolete, with no alternative part available, so I drained the tank, cut a small piece of wood about 3/8" square and 12" long and inverted a wad of duct tape on the end, then tap/stuck all of the junk on the tank bottom. Refilled with fresh gas, started up and it hasn't surged for the last two years. You never know, it could be this.

Did u remove the main jet and nozzle to inspect for debris?? if not u will need to do this to make sure its clean?? it can NOT be done just looking at it..

I haven't taken the main jet out yet. I am going to see how it runs now that it is cold again. If it Still surges I'll take the carb all the way apart and give it a good cleaning. I will also take a better look in the gas tank for debris. Thanks for the replys.

Make sure that all of the small passages are opened up.  I may take a fine piece of wire to clean it out.

Dwhite252 wrote:

I would just buy a new genunie Honda carburator and replace the assocated gaskets.  You will have trouble free usage for a long time. 

I've been typing on a phone, so sorry about not being clear. As the others, I agree about cleaning every opening on the carb with a wire (I used a torch cleaning kit from Menard's). Mine still surged after this cleaning' and then started backfiring. I ordered a new carb and gaskets, then cleaned the floaters in the tank before the new carb arrived...at least I have a spare OEM carb on the shelf now.

The temps were back down into the low teens again today (Saturday) and I had to clear about 8 inches of crusty hard snow that we got on Thursday night. I ran the snowblower for over an hour and it ran the whole time without surging at all. I never did go through the carb yet so I'm still not sure what the problem was. The thought of ordering a new carb did cross my mind. I think I will still consider it for the future if it starts surging again. Thanks for all the help everyone.

ya the Honda carb prices are pretty cheap.. my guess is the needle could be sticking intermittently.. u could just try and replace the needle and see what that does, but it wouldn't hurt to replace the brass seat as well, the issue is the brass seat is pressed into the carb body and not easily replaced without having some experience in doing that.. might just be worth replacing the whole carb as a unit.. the needle and seat is kinda pricey around $15 Canadian.. so if u can get a carb for $40-50 might just be worth it..