$25 Pressure Washer

So I bought a gx340 engine that has been sitting for a year or two...I knew it was going to need the carb cleaned, as the fuel was brown and smelled horrible.
In the process of going through the carb I thought of this thread and it occurred to me that I never specifically asked if you pulled the pilot jet out (I think this series engine has similar to the GX carbs)
It is a little unusual in that it is external, and plastic.
You take the black plastic idle speed screw out, then the black plastic pilot jet can be pulled up out of the carb body.
When reinstalling it, the flat side goes against the carb body.
Partially plugged pilot jets will 100% cause this kind of surging...

 

I added an edit to the above last night, but apparently it didn't take.
Edit, it looks like the GC series uses an external brass pilot jet, so its a little more obvious than the plastic one on the GX carb... its in the same place though, right under the idle speed screw.

 

This GX340 has went 9 rounds with me...but the KO punch is coming in the mail.
I cleaned the carb and got it running, but it would just start and immediately stall.
Went through things again and got it a little better...checked the spark, swapped plugs, and adjusted valves too. Turned out it was just low enough on oil that it allowed it to start, then as soon as the oil splashed around a little the level got low and the oil alert killed it. I noticed that there was a blinking red led by the on/off switch whenever it was stalling...turns out this engine has an ignition system on it that is more elaborate than anything I've ever personally seen in a Honda engine before. After some research I found out there are literally like 50 different versions of this engine (not exaggerating) this one is a "QA". I would love to know what it was originally on. Anyways, on this one the on/off switch has a potted circuit board built in, and the coil has the ground wire to the oil alert, like normal, but then it has a 2 wire plug that goes to a pulse (trigger) coil too.
Anyways, added some oil and got it to stay running, as long as the choke was on.
It took me way to long to realize that the emulsion tube still had a couple plugged holes...it really looked like solid brass!
Got those opened up with some wire drills, which allowed it to run, with partial choke. I think someone may have replaced the main jet and emulsion tube with incorrectly made aftermarket...I have new coming.
I finally proved that it is 100% a fuel issue, as it'll run fine if I mist a little gas into the air filter while it's running.
Got this thing cheap, but have way too much time into it now...

 

Seems to be a theme of inexpensive Honda engines that run oddly around here!

Thanks for the update on yours. I have mine all sealed up and ready for oil and a governor adjustment…then I’ll fire it up and see what happens.