This is one brilliant video, step by step, and no nonsense. Fantastic job, expertly described and a very clear video.

I wish I had watched this video early this morning. As it is, I wasted about 6 hours, and I think the language I used killed two oak trees and my neighbors pit bull dog. Thanks for a great video.

The Lawnmower Lady also posted a video but she cut grooves in the threaded rods to be able to use a screwdriver. She also swops them to get the gaskets lined up and then replaces the original bolts. Check it out.

I’ve been struggling with carb replacement on my Honda mower. I saw this video and ordered the all threads and gasket kit from Amazon. By putting the gaskets on the air cleaner and working back towards the block, you can’t really see where how to orient each gasket. This is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. THANKS.

It's probably been mentioned already, but I would use the threaded rod for assembly only, removing one rod at a time and replacing it with the original bolt after everything is in place...no fussing with length and rod can be re-used on other machines. Thanks for the post.

OMG! what a great idea. I replaced my carburetor on my Honda lawn mower and it was challenging. If I have to replace the carb again I will use your method.

Thanks, very well produced and easy to follow. I did this a few years ago trying to get everything in place with the standard bolts, that was a nightmare. Today I picked up threaded rods at ACE, no cutting needed. Took me 10 minutes.

Say what you want, but, Honda is THE BEST lawn mower I've ever run. And, my Honda mower is over 15 years old and NEVER let me down! Honda makes the BEST mowers!😊

Worked perfect. Thanks for the tips! Threaded steel rods worked perfect. I just used 1/4 x20 rod and it worked well.

This solved my problem and frustration with my Honda mower. Thanks.

I just cleaned and replaced the carb on a Honda power washer, yesterday. I believe a sailor would have blushed from the language I was using... Thank you so much for this! I also have a Honda engine on my wood splitter, which also proved to be a pita. Thanks!

Beautiful job. Makes sense. Less time and frustration in the future. One thing I noticed that might need mentioning. The plastic spacer that goes next to the engine intake was installed backwards. I did the same thing on ours and discovered it ran better with square side facing in and round side facing out next to the carb.

Great video and thank you! I replaced the carb and all the gaskets and it started first pull! Runs very strong now.

That is a great idea, I too have struggled with Honda carbs. I am ordering those rods today. Thanks for the video.

Nice and extremely useful hack, saves the frustration, enjoyed this video!

brillant .... a very elegant solution .... and thank you to the chap who found the threaded rod at an Ace Hardware store.

That's an excellent idea Buck. I struggled today with a Honda carb install and trying to get the gasket, spacer, carb, and other holes to line up. I see the threaded rods more as a "tool" that can be used to easily place all of the gaskets, spacer, carb, etc in perfect order and alignment. Then once in place, use a net to snug-up one side enough to hold everything in place then remove one of the threaded rods and replace with the OEM bolt. Once the first OEM bolt is in, remove the other threaded rod and install the remaining OEM bolt. This is a great idea and certainly a time and frustration saver Buck. Thanks

Thank you Buck,I had the same idea of the threaded rod. I will try it tomorrow. I'm sure it will help with the frustration level with reattaching these carburetors.

Thank you so much for sharing this as i have one that i dreaded doing and have ordered all i need to do it this easy way ! God Bless You Sir !

Last night I almost threw the damn pressure washer through the wall trying to hold 6 things plus the governor rod after cleaning the carb up. Brilliant design having an air filter housing that funnels water in too.

I loved this video. Loved the frustrations. Great job. Got the bolts from amazon and gaskets as you did. I took one bolt out, measured it, cut the new rod to length considering the 2 new nuts and put it back in. Did the next one. Worked great. Then took the carburetor apart, cleaned it using another video and put it back with the new gaskets.

You are right! It's VERY frustrating! This solves the puzzle.

My old Harmony 215 mower from the 90's came with studs rather than bolts. This was pre-GCV. A few years ago, Honda introduced a clean-sheet re-design of the GCV series with the 170/200 iterations. That's when they went back to the studs.

I picked up a lawn mower on the side of the street that was a Honda bought a new carburetor and put it on per your instructions and it started right up thank you very much

Good video! I do pretty much the same thing with a few exceptions. I use the threaded rod to mount everything, then tighten at least one side nut down, then remove one of the threaded rods and replace it with the original Honda screw. Seems to work for me and I don't have to keep buying rod, nuts and having screws left over. By the way, found the 6 m threaded rod and nuts at a local Ace Hardware.

Couldn't you use the bolt as a measure for the length of the threaded rod?

Looks as if spacer was installed backwards. Just saying. Love youre idea. I might try using threaded bolts as plce holders and put original bolts back.

Worked for me thanks for sharing

Great video. Just cured my issue with 3 of these Honda mower engines. My bolt holes in the block were pretty much stripped out so I retapped and used high temp lock tight which worked fine. Back to mowing. My problem was the old bolts kept working themselves loose and sucking gaskets. I don't think that will ever happen again. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks Buck! This may be one of the best hacks I've come across. This made installation of a new carburetor on my GCV190 a snap. I actually found some M6 bolts at my local Ace Hardware in the nuts & bolts bins (90mm long I think). I just cut the heads off and filed that end a bit for the nuts to spin on easily. $3.29 each for the bolts and 0.29 for the nuts. AND I'm buying local! This made a world of difference!

fantastic video! i estimate it would take at least 2 beers to complete this job. thanks for the links. i'm ordering my parts.

I thought the EXACT same thing when I took the carb off to clean mine!! I couldn’t believe what a nightmare it was to put the carb back on with all that stuff to put back on NIGHTMARE was right hahaha. Great tip im going to do this to mine. Wish Honda would do this!!

Very creative, well done. I cleaned my carburator today and struggled to put everything back, next time I do the same as you! Greetings from Belgium.

Hi guys, I am using the two M6 threaded rods which here in Sweden came together with our STIGA lawnmower 2005 modell (with GCV135). When everything is at place I fix the THIRD SMALL bolt first. It does the job to keep everything at place. Then you can replace the rods one by one with the original bolts.

Good idea- I did a Honda carb not to long and needed this idea

Hope you remember to hook up the crankcase breather hose

Excellent Video!

Years ago I had the same frustration. Then I saw a service manual ( not the owners manual) and it showed a couple threaded studs with a part number. Ordered them and it worked out fine. However you had to put in the studs, build out the components, then remove 1 stud and put the bolt in then do the same for the other stud. I kinda like your method better as I don’t need to swap out the studs for the bolts.

great tip video!

Love the suggestion! I thought how in the '......' am I going to put this thing back on!

Now all I have to do is find the right threaded rod,, thanks much !

Hey Buck I finally did this on a abandoned GCV190 your absolutely right....no cursing...I didn't do the sealant just put the bolts in..

Nice close-up shots.

Hi Buck, thanks for this video just been cleaning out a carb due to hunting. The process is a nightmare and took well over an hour to clean and somehow put back. Bad language and tools going up in the air not good. I have just ordered some m6 rod and bolts to try your idea. Keep up the good work all the best Pete Have a nice day

Great video ! Absolutely a poor engineered nightmare 😂 I’ve done this for years as a heavy duty mechanic . Tricks of the trade I guess . You are the only person that has showed this and thanks .

Very good idea thank you

Nice idea. Cutting the rods on the machine is a risk of sending metal fragments into the carburetor. The when you start it up it gets pulled into the engine causing immediate damage.

Very good idea - excellent video. Very educational. Thank you

Great idea! And your presentation is excellent!

What a cracking idea!!!! I have just done a carb clean doing it the way you done but just using the M6 rods as guides, five minute job now as opposed to all the frustration normally associated with this task..well done Buck. A little side note to anyone doing it the way you done....remember you might need two spacers for the filter housing, the Honda I have has bolts with the spacers on so if I done it your way Buck the housing would have been a bit floppy.

Thanks!

I own a Montgomery Wards Signature riding lawn mower built by MTD in the early 90's. As old and cheap as it is, believe it or not, it uses 2 threaded rods and they work great for this. It's amazing to me that Honda, known for all its technology, could not come up with this same solution whereas MTD, known for cutting every corner possible, did so. I'm guessing Honda figured they could save 75 cents per machine by doing it their way. Or maybe they thought they could make people take their machines into the nearest Honda dealer so as to keep them in the repair business.

Nice work Buck.

Thanks for the helpful hint....I have three Hondas that I have to deal with, two on pressure washers and one on the log splitter, so this is gonna save me some hair pulling for sure. Have to predict that Honda will come out with the threaded rod solution in a $250 kit very soon after seeing this video.

fantastic. i have replaced carbs on the autochoke ver of this gasket mess design 3-4x on the gvc160 honda engine'd mower. good job. what sucks is that I've cleaned other branded mowers carbs when they get gummed up and afterwards they worked. I had no success in cleaning carbs for the gvc160 and had to buy complete units, albeit @mazon hooked me up cheaply w an oem unit so no big deal. I have found a video on YTube that showed more exhaustive carb teardown/cleaning but my new carb is installed and working, so will attempt when required. thus also adding these studs making install easier. thks again

Great idea, I didn't see you hook up the hose on the back side of the air cleaner.

THANK YOU! Four hours of teeth grinding, profanity laced frustration were ended with this video.

Awesome tip. I believe you can also use the Chinese clones studs as well. I have not tried, but I don't usually fix any Hondas. Later...

I use longer than needed M6 x 1 bolts and start building the carb assy from the outside in on the bolts. Then, since I have more length than I need I can visually insert the bolts into the block and turn them in a couple of threads. Then slide the carb firmly up to the block and hold it with one hand while replacing one of the too long bolts with the factory bolt. Then do the other replacement and the too long bolts (Ace Hardware) are ready for the next time.

Man great idea.

Hey Buck glad I didn't order those thread rod but my bolts are different.

Honda love these gaskets

Great vid

You could have pre-cut the studs to be just a bit longer than the bolts, including the heads of the bolts. "A bit" should be the thickness of one of your nuts. Put the thread lock on, and install the stud hand tight. Then assemble the stack. You should end up with a bit more than two nut's worth of threads sticking out. Add your two nuts and tighten it all down. This puts the stud at the same depth as the original bolt. Remove the extra nut, and you are good to go.

Thank you

Another bonus of doing this is that you can start the engine with the air filter off and make sure it's working as it should while you can get to parts make adjustments.

I took it a step further and used good ol 6mm rod instead of threaded rod. I threaded the end about 1 cm (so it wouldn't bottom out) I didn't like the idea of the threaded sections rubbing on the gaskets and carburetor body, so I used the plain rod instead. Cut to side, threaded otherr end, boom. So much frustration gone. I leave it in too. I use red loctite on the motor side

Thank you for the video. I was wondering if the GX studs would work ??

Rods for guides then original bolts after assembly to hold filter housing properly. Don't forget to connect ALL the hoses and to clamp properly where needed.

Thank you, you will save me a lot of time getting mine back together, I am sure. I definitely need new gaskets at least, and will buy the rods. Thank you for putting the links in the description. The model I have is missing from the list (HRR2162SDA) but hopefully the listed parts will be fine. I will see if I can find the model # of my engine.

Manifold gasket and manifold are backwards. May or may not surge. I like the idea of the studs.

Wow Yes Sir 🎉

I would add the appropiate dye (M6X1.00) on the rod before cutting it so as to clean up the rod making it much easier to put the nut on.

I believe at 8:43 you put the first gasket on wrong. The bottom left should be on the bottom right side and the next item, the plastic "spacer" aka insulator, goes on with the square side facing the engine and the rounded side with the groove facing the carb side.

Thanks sir GOD BLESS YOU

Great hack,... Thank you . just a couple suggestions I would make, if you don't mind.... First, why too much sealant, although it looked like anti seize compound and not lock tight.... 2nd, I would have covered the carb intake port completely to keep metal filings from entering.... Just me... I tend to over engineer everything anyway... Nice tip.!

Thanks

I thread some rod with 1/2 inch of m6. I put them in and assemble it all. Then I put small bolt that hold air cleaner housing to bracket. Holding it tight also I remove one of my rods and insert original bolt. Then remove second rod and install original bolt.

i have the same honda carb set up on my mower. when i took it apart i noticed it only had one gasket, the space and the plate. the one gasket was very deteriorated so i wouldn't even say its good. My issue is the mower will start with one pull but surges a litttle up and down. could the fact that all these gaskets are missing could be casuing the uneven idle. I have new, plug, filter and gas.

Wish I had seen this video last week, when I R&R the carb on a GCV160-powered mower. That's the definition of EXPERIENCE- what you get just AFTER you need it! Others noted the possibility of later removing the threaded rods. But as I reflected on my experience, it probably needed only one threaded rod to hang everything and snug down. The 2nd rod would be just for balance. It could be un-threaded rod, or a rod with ½" of threads ground off one end, which will temporarily engage in the other block bolt hole. When things are reasonably assembled, replace the unthreaded (etc.) first with the original bolt. Snug that, then replace the threaded stud with the other original bolt. And Bob's your uncle...

What a great idea. Took the frustration away. Sounds like your idle is running high, do you have a RPM gauge to check it? Otherwise go by the sound and adjust to your liking, Have a great day and thanks for posting this video.

absolutely a great hack.....I didn't see you address the breather tube......hooking it back up was a pain in the butt for me...

All those steel filing went right into the intake on the filter housing. I would have taped the intake on the housing and then used a Dremel tool with a cut off wheel to cut. Another way would have been to tighten one side of the bolts to keep everything in place and then remove the other (left or right) bolt and cut it to length. Put that back through through the carb and tighten it. Then remove the other bolt and do it as the first. Metal filing will ruin an engine so this way will correct that. Either way a good video but I would be cautious about grinding ant metal near the intake of the filter housing.

At about 13:50 you tell us "Don't worry" about gasoline fumes being ignited. Good point. I'd worry about metal bits from the grinding that might fly into the carb and then into the engine when you start it. Mark the threaded rods, remove the filter housing, cover the carb opening (small rag or some sort of tape would work). Now do the grinding. You MIGHT need to use a 3-point file (or a metric die if you have one) to clean up the threads of the rod.

Smart idea. Hope you cleaned the air filter plastic and protected the intake when you used the angle grinder, becouse of small particles.

Great video. But I struggled with it for an hour but my question is, I gotta go back together and start right up. But then it revs up to a high rpm. And stays a high a while cutting the grass. What would cause that?

I'm having a hard time taking the fuel line out from the carborator. I've tried a screw driver. Should I cut the line and use the connector switch that came with the new carb? Will it cause problems if it's tucked underneath? Will I be able to close the filter box? Also the wires connected to the carborator. Will they come off easily if I remove the hose from the fuel? I can't remove those either.

SWEET IDEA! What you could do instead of using the two nut method to put in the rod if you have a small dig grinder with a cut off wheel you could put a small slit at the end of the ready rod. That way you could get a slotted screwdriver into the end of the ready rod, just as if it was the regular bolts. That way you could tighten it up take one piece of the ready rod out while the other piece is holding the carburetter assembly, secure, and then slip in the old bolt and then do the same thing for the other side. That way you're not going through so much ready rod, and having to do all the extra work, you could make reusable dowels by simply cutting a small slit at the end and then you could have it already cut to the right length. I've used a similar method for installing transmissions on a large truck in order to line up the transmission housing with the engine housing. I'm not sure if you mentioned what length of rod they need to be but I'm guessing it would just be about the same as the bolts that were in there as what I would cut them out but a bit longer. Once we have the assembly tight, you could also use a tiedown strap and tighten it up around the carburetter assembly or the Honda sandwich in order to keep it from moving and then put your old bolts back in the spots in order to Not have to replenish your ready rod stock.

Thank you bless you

Yep it’s a winner to use studs

I USE WOODEN DOWELS. PUT EVERY THING ON , HOLD TIGHT TO ENGINE REMOVE DOWEL AND PUT BOLT IN. THIS IS BAD DESIGN THOUGH

What were the length of the studs in the end? I’ll just buy precut ones

Genius! The people who engineer these set ups do not have to fix them.

Great video how many hours I wasted with stress levels though the roof.. order rod today.

Dang it, Buck, where were you 7 months ago when I had to replace the thermowax choke actuator in my HRX217 mower - by myself. What a nightmare putting this back together. Anyway, while I may not have replaced mine with permanently mounted screws, I could see temporarily adding them for the parts assembly alignment, then removing one, replacing it with the real bolt, then swapping the other. Another viewer commented that he used dowels as the temporary guides, but it would make more sense to just screw in the bolts temporarily as the guides. Thanks anyway.

I am not sure, but I think that in the video when assembling the carb, more or less backwards onto the threaded studs, did you not place the phenolic spacer on backwards? Placing the spacer with the drain hole down is correct, but the spacer needs to face the other gaskets with holes . Like I said, I'm not sure, but it will make a difference I believe.

Genious!

I made mine out two long bolts that I cut the heads off. I take one off at a time and put a bolt on.

I thought the studs were stainless? Why does it spark when you’re cutting them? I thought stainless didn’t spark when grinding/cutting?

No need to go through all that trouble, just place the air cleaner body and all the gaskets and carburetor on to the mounting bolts then line the bolts up and slowly screw them back into place. Easy job. Additionally, if you choose to go that route measure the rods against the bolts and pre-cut them.