[MnOutdoorsman]

I noticed my carburetor pump valve (PUMP SET 16048-HC4-013 Honda) was leaking fuel, and it also looked to be non OEM, so I picked up a genuine OEM pump and installed it a week ago.

The pump seems to be very hard to push in for priming the carburetor to help with cold starts. Is that normal? Should the pump valve be difficult to push in if the carburetor already has fuel in the bowl?

Drove it to plow some snow today, parked it, then later checked to see if the pump valve moved easily and it didn't.

If anyone has some advice that would be great. Maybe I need to take it off and reinstall it?

Thanks

 

[Here 2 help]

It's not normal to be difficult to push in, but if it works, just give it some time - if gum or varnish is obstructing the primer circuit, fuel may dissolve it and it will work more easily each time it's used - if it does not get better by springtime, the carb may need to be serviced.

 

[MnOutdoorsman]

Thanks! Looks like I probably have something clogging the primer circuit. Should I only need to take off the bottom half of the carburetor (just the bowl) to clean it? Last time I cleaned the carb from buying this ATV used and not running, the piston vacuum seal was difficult to get placed correctly. Hopefully I don't need to remove the top cover of the carburetor.

 

[Here 2 help]

You will probably have to remove the carb, but you may not have to remove the slide diaphragm just to clean the primer circuit.

 

[MnOutdoorsman]

Good to hear, thank you for your help!