OK so I know it's a abrgain basement splitter but it's been working more or less flawlessly for 8 years. I was told it's a Chinese Honda clone engine, nothing in the manual about the engine at all. But this fall it started getting harder to start. I checked it out and found a hydraulic fluid leak on the big hose on the bottom (the 5 cent hose clamp that held it on had snapped). So after adding 32W hydraulic oil and multiple starts, it's getting almost impossible to start. It teries to start after about 20 pulls then starts on pull 30 lol. After it's run for a couple hours or so then shut off, 6 or 8 hours later it starts right up. Last summer I didn't notice any problems but I didn't know about the hydro fluid leak then, only that I had to top it off every 10 hours or so. I do see that the flywheel is wobbling which I was told is a bad bearing, gonna look at that first to see if it can be repaired. But the rope sticks hard for at least 10 tries then it loosens up. Reading through some threads here I saw that 32W oil is hard to get moving when it's cold. The deal is it rarely gets to freezing here so the coldest I have tried it is about 40 F. Checked the plug, carb, air filter, drained the gas & replaced the oil, no dice. Besides the wobbly flywheel (any advice on how to fix it would be appreciated) the only thing I can think of is maybe air trapped in the hydraulics? Thinner motor oil?
Blue Max splitter hard to start cold.
- Thread starter Orerockon
- Start date
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xman23
Minister of Fire
Don't see where engine starring issues are connected to the hydro oil weight. Unless somehow you can't get it spinning.
The flywheel's loose. not good, assume it has a pickup the fires the plug. Maybe compression.
I would try different starting methods. pump the gas, wheres the throttle
The flywheel's loose. not good, assume it has a pickup the fires the plug. Maybe compression.
I would try different starting methods. pump the gas, wheres the throttle
Yeah I've tried everything I can think of. New gas, choke open/half/closed, engine from idle to full blast. The only way I can get it to start cold is choke in run position, speed max, pull 20-30 times. Choke in start position or speed lower, I don't think it will ever turn over.
Most small engines spark timing is based off of the rotation of the flywheel. If the flywheel is jacked, there is a very good chance your timing is jacked, as well.
Well it sat in the sun for an hour or so in 30something degree weather, started right up with 2 pulls. I'm thinking the hydro fluid has to warm up a bit. Or it was just a fluke. Or it fixed itself. Now that I typed this the damn thing will never start again lol.
twd000
Feeling the Heat
I pre-heat the hydro tank with a propane heater. Pumping cold 32W fluid is like pumping peanut butter. I always though it would be wise to put a clutch on a log splitter instead of a fixed coupling, so you could get the cold engine running under a no-load condition, then engage the clutch to start moving the fluid. Could you imagine trying to start a cold car engine with the transmission engaged? It would never turn over.
Had a '75 Chevy half ton van with a 3 speed on the tree that the clutch died on back during the blizzard of '77 in school at Purdue. We idiots went down to a Pacers game in Indianapolis by starting it cold in neutral, shutting it down, putting it in first and starting it up then synchro'ing the shifts to second and third. Drove 60 miles on I-65 southbound in the northbound lanes because of the drifts on the southbound lanes. It can be done! That said, xman23 is correct, the viscosity of the hydro fluid shouldn't make the engine a hard start.
twd000
Feeling the Heat
the viscosity of the fluid most definitely makes a difference. It prevents the flywheel from continuing to spin. The recoil rope only gets you 2-3 turns, then the rest is flywheel momentum. When my splitter fails to cold-start, you can see a wispy puff of exhaust, then it dies. The spark fired and the crankshaft tried and failed to get the hydro pump moving. With a warm tank, inertia from the hydro pump is less, which allows the flywheel to continue spinning and continuing the ignition cycle.
Had my 29 year old Northern Tool 20 ton splitter fire up first pull on my Honda GX200 engine first or second pull all the time at 0 deg F no problem, the fluid is definitely slower to move but the resistance it puts up isn't enough to stop the engine from firing. The one warning label left on the splitter from way back when is to let it warm up for a couple minutes before using at cold temps. The starting problem from the OP lies elsewhere.
usernametaken
Burning Hunk
MoDoug
Minister of Fire
I changed my hydraulic fluid last year and used transmission fluid. I've split about 6 cords with it since changing.
With the wobbly flywheel, as previously mentioned your spark comes from that and the magneto. Make sure your magneto is tightened down and properly gaped. I used a business card to gap.
With the wobbly flywheel, as previously mentioned your spark comes from that and the magneto. Make sure your magneto is tightened down and properly gaped. I used a business card to gap.
Rats. So I tried to start it in warmer air temp (low 40s) but a cloudy day and it was back to being very hard to pull the rope and many pulls to get it going. The only things I can think of are the hydraulic fluid is too thick, or the motor just doesn't like colder temps. FWIW the hydro reservoir is black and was in the sun but the motor was a little more shaded.
Exactly what I see. I tried to get someone over who could maybe tune up the engine but didn't get any takers. Taking it off and hauling it to a shop is beyond my skill set lol. I might try to fix the bearing on the coil, I don't think the wobble is helping it any.
Eater309
Member
Try setting a 100 watt bulb under it for a couple hours with a tarp over the engin.
Works for me.
Works for me.
mark cline
Minister of Fire
I can almost guarantee the hyd fluid is not your problem. It may exacerbate an underlying issue but it's not the cause. You can always pull the pump to make sure. If you can do these things yourself, it's worth it. If you have to take it somewhere you're best to go grab a Harbor Freight predator engine for $120.
Dump all the fuel and start fresh without any additives.
Clean carb
Get a new plug. The Chinese motors often come with a cheap plug. Cross reference it to an NGK or Bosch. Make sure its gapped.
Check valve timing and ignition timing.
I didn't bother mentioning compression test. If you can do a test right up front it may save you from even monkeying with the rest. No compression means new motor.
I'll add that I swapped out my 5hp Briggs for a 6hp predator. Say what you will about chinese stuff but it starts within 1-2 pulls and outperforms that Briggs by far.
Dump all the fuel and start fresh without any additives.
Clean carb
Get a new plug. The Chinese motors often come with a cheap plug. Cross reference it to an NGK or Bosch. Make sure its gapped.
Check valve timing and ignition timing.
I didn't bother mentioning compression test. If you can do a test right up front it may save you from even monkeying with the rest. No compression means new motor.
I'll add that I swapped out my 5hp Briggs for a 6hp predator. Say what you will about chinese stuff but it starts within 1-2 pulls and outperforms that Briggs by far.
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While that all may be true it starts on the second pull when it's in the sun for a couple hours. 20 or more pulls when it hasn't. Have tried it several times since it got hard to start. Next time I need to use it I plan on pulling off everything I can. I already chanegd out the gas, new plug, clean air filter, new engine oil. I will clean the carb too. For now 6 cords is more than I wanted to split this year lol.
Really concentrate on the low speed jet when you clean the carb. Those are usually the biggest culprits in hard starting and wonky idling. Does it miss or surge at all at the lowest idle?
also look at it this way, the hydro oil has been in there since new that oil from years of use will get slightly thinner not thicker. so if thick fluid made a difference it would have been a issue right from the get go. timing maybe. i would be looking towards the carb. these small engine carbs hate the gas that we put in them. carb also means that choke should be fully closed for starting. after 4 or 5 pulls open slightly of you'll flood it. after 30 pulls you may not hear it but for each of those pulls it fires and is warming the cylinder up which means less fuel. if to much fuel was getting into the cylinder it would be blowing black smoke and not running smooth.
As I said up top I found a leak and fixed it before I started splitting this year, it had leaked out over the winter. So new oil and when it started getting hard to start I changed it out just because. I don't know if that has anything to do with it though. Too much fuel in the cylinder is consistent with what happens when it does start after a lot of pulls. Smoke and a little rough until it settles down. That doesn't happen when it starts in a couple pulls. I'm guessing I can get a carb to fit it, sounds like a popular engine
Also I can't find any kind of a manual for the engine and the splitter manual doesn't say anything about it at all. There are 2 chokes, one on the bottom and one on the top. Through trial & error the first time I used it I found that the bottom choke needs to be in the run position and the top in the start position for it to start. Then I put the top choke in the run position and don't touch anything else. What's the function of the second choke then?
It doesn't like to run with the lever all the way down, sputters & dies in a few seconds. I don't think it did very well right out of the gate, I don't know when I started to do it but I just leave it at full throttle all the time now.
Poor idle, hard start sure sounds like a low jet to me. Any speck of stuff will do it. Gotta make sure you pull it all the way out and use wire, carb cleaner and air to get it absolutely clean
My experience with these clones has been good . They perform almost as good as a real Honda in most cases but the longevity isn’t nearly as good , especially if worked hard. But what can you say for a quarter of the REAL price or less.
Most of the time a Honda carb will fit these clones but they might cost almost as much as the Harbour Freight engine.I'm guessing I can get a carb to fit it, sounds like a popular engine
I’m not exactly sure what you mean about 2 chokes. If your engine has the carb I think it does then it will have a choke lever and a gas shut off lever. These carbs including the actual Honda ones are bad for the float not quite sealing especially during transport. They usually don’t leak bad enough when the engine is running to flood it but during transport or storage if you don’t use the handy gas shut off it is possible that the float won’t seal tight and it will flood and overflow the carb.
in my 45 years of motors big or small i've never seen 2 chokes. can you get pictures put up here. also check the bolts holding the carb onto the motor and manifold. my briggs had a issue starting and it turned out to be a manifold to head gasket.
