As the title states, going to take the Chinese Liquid Combustion Technologies 208cc engine off the splitter and replace with a used Honda GX200 salvaged from a cold water pressure washer. I have taken issue with the "LCT" engine. I know why they put an electric start on these splitters...these engines are nearly impossible to start with the pull rope (in my experience). The battery that came with the unit went flat after about 6 months and I have been jump starting the splitter off the buggy when needed. I have had enough of that and am not interested in replacing the battery every season. So, I will mount up the GX and should experience easy, one- three pull starts thereafter. The Honda is down on displacement a little, but torque is very close (within .4 torques of the LCT)...I'm sure it will do the job. Shaft dimensions are the same at 3/4" (Honda GX200 "Q" model). Not sure of the mounting footprint as of yet. Should be no worries mounting the hydro pump...I hope. The bolt pattern *should be standardized. Pulled the GX200 out of mothball status this weekend and got it washed up. It still has fuel in it so I will be tearing down the carburetor for sure. It may also need a case seal on the output side of engine. There was some oil on the cart its mounted to, but unsure as to origin at this point. I "scored" this engine about 5 years ago while I was still working in a small equipment repair shop. Owner deemed replacement pump too expensive to fix their unit and told us to "scrap it". Sure did, right into the back of my truck! It has been patiently waiting in a dirty corner of a pole building for a new mission. Game on! I will update the thread as the project moves along. Will have some pictures and tips in case anyone else wants to attempt this swap in the future.
OK, just snuck down to the shop and did a quick carb tear down. Replaced regular nylon starter rope with actual starter rope. Tore carb off, looking pretty nasty in there. I'll let it sit in the chemical dip overnight and see what happens. If I can't get it clean, I'll order a new carb for it. Shouldn't need much beyond that. The transplant. I would estimate that fuel has been sitting in here for about three years. Pretty bad, though the jets seemed to still be unclogged. Carburetor disassembled and parts ready to dip. Pilot jet, main jet, carb body itself, carb bowl, fuel valve bowl all go in. If you ever have surging issues with a Honda, try clearing the port in this little guy. Found on top of carb underneath black plastic adjustment screw. I use a single wire on a wire brush to push through the orifice to make sure it's clear. Engine info. Stamped on every Honda GX engine, side of block. This gives all specifics of particular engine so correct parts can be ordered. More to come. Will reassemble tomorrow and see if she'll run for me. Stay tuned!
24 hours in Berrymans Chem dip and voila! Cleaned up real nice. Sprayed brake clean through all ports followed by compressed air. Checked to make sure needle was sealing (open fuel valve and blow into fuel inlet while turning carb upside down) correctly after reassembly. Nice & clean! Reassembled and started on first pull! Has a slight surge at speed, but I'm betting that will come out after a little run time. Phone audio sounds bad, but she's purring like a kitten! Ready for duty! Just need to polish up the crankshaft and it'll be ready to transplant. Now, I need to confirm mounting footprint and see if I need to drill any new holes in the mount plate on the splitter. This will likely happen this coming weekend.
Check valve clearance. Most of these small GXs will call for .006 intake and .008 for exhaust. These were just a little loose, but better than too tight. Mounting dimensions. Picture of Honda carb bone yard at work! Luckily I did not need anything from here.
That's odd that the LCT was hard to start by recoil. I know Ariens, and other brands of snow blowers like to use LCT motors. As far as the bolt pattern, when I put the predator on the splitter that had a Briggs, it simply bolted right on.
Stubborn to start would be a better description I suppose? I had tried to cold pull it a couple times. No bueno after 8-10 pulls. My normal limit is around 5-6 pulls on equipment before I suspect there is a problem. Even after hooking up the jumpers, it has to roll over for about 7-10 seconds before it will sputter to life. It seems to start fine once hot. I have very little patience for this sort of thing (having had to work on small engines for a living for a few years in the past).
After finding a schematic, it looks like this should be a direct bolt on swap with no new holes or plate mods!
I think all the manufacturers do that on purpose. Universal bolt pattern. The holes on the predator I just mounted had one end oblong to account for variations.
Yep. It seems to be pretty universal and I think is classed by horsepower? There are actually two different sets of mount holes on my Forest King. The LCT and the Honda I'm using share the smaller pattern on the plate. The other set of holes are also larger in diameter. I did manage to yank the LCT off this evening after putting the battery back in the tractor. Probably wrap this up this weekend sometime.
I pulled a dead engine off a mower deck last year and replaced it with a good engine off a broken deck. My Frankenstein new mower has a Honda engine in place of a B&S engine. Even the safety brake that stops the engine when you let go of the pushing handle works with no, zero, modifications. The starter cord on the mower handle is even the right length. I never even unmounted that brake handle, just connected it to the engine I was moving over and it just worked. Side note, if the people that installed that Honda engine on their mower had a clue about deck hardware I would have never needed to move the engine. The front wheels on that thing were mounted on a molded plastic piece that had cracked on my irregular lawn surface so the adjustment was falling to near zero above the ground surface. Might have been OK for a putting green but I was trying to mow a lawn.
I have a Honda GC160 vertical shaft that outlived the mower deck it was mounted to. Deck rotted into nothing, motor still fine. I have it stashed away. May or may not need it in the future, and it's worth a $50 bill on Craigslist if nothing else. I went ahead and converted it to a static throttle, taking off the brake and throttle cable setup.
Update: I was using the splitter a little last night to bust a few cherry logs and something dawned upon me. I hadn't noticed it on the other couple times I've used it since I changed the engine. Vibration. It's gone. I used to have to babysit stuff I put on the little shelf due to it being vibrated to one side or the other. Was even going to put some traction tape or some sort of raised edges on it to keep that from happening. The splitter rattled and loose metal parts were noisy. Well, while splitting last night, I noticed that the half splits and logs I was putting on the tray were staying right where I put them. No metal rattling and clanking around. The Honda runs MUCH smoother than the LCT engine did. Both engines have vibration isolation rubber mounts under them. I did end up having to put a new carb on the Honda, which is a cheap item for me. Couldn't get the original carb to "pick up" when the engine would ask for more fuel. Something stuck inside a port somewhere. Runs flawlessly now and should for a long time. So far, first pull starts are the norm. A local fuel station started carrying non-corned gasoline, so that's good news for this machine also! Now just need a shield of some sort to keep the junk that is pulled back by the foot of the wedge from falling onto the engine.
i just wanted to say i have a 30 ton forest king that would not start i tried everything starting fluid would catch on fire . i checked my book and it still was on warranty so i took it in was called a week later to pick it up was charged $11 they said they put lighter oil in it not covered. i had already installed a primer thought it might not be getting enough gas to start didn't help. so a lot upset with where i took it for repair brought the splitter home pulled the engine and tore it apart found that it was one tooth off on valve timing . hope this might help someone with the same problem. starts great now. john
Nice thread. The only tip I have is to shut off the fuel on honda engines with the gravity fed fuel tanks when towing. Rough roads can let fuel through the carb and fill the crankcase. This in turn smokes the bearings next run. Happened to two friends on log splitters. Luckily I showed up after one just came home. Slowly pulled the cord and it was so full of fuel it spit out the muffler. Just a tip.
Indeed. Worked in a repair shop at a Honda Premier Dealer for three years...yup...seen it. Mostly on cold water pressure washers though. Not many splitters came in for work.
I think everything I own says honda on it. Had a friend that worked at Mayberry’s in New Jersey. Trimmers pumps tillers generators outboards side my side lawnmowers motorcycles cars, have them all. Only problem I have ever had is old fuel in the carbs because of the tiny jets and ports. The fuel here is junk!!! In the tank out in the sun it will go foul in 4 weeks. The white tanks don’t get as hot in the sun and will keep it longer. Just cleaned the idle jet on my EU6500is generator yesterday. Stabil and Seafoam help drastically but the fuel is just bad.
The ports have decreased in size over the years. I used to order jets from an early 90s model GX190 for a couple go cart racers to put in their modern engines. Those guys want every available edge. Enlarging ports is an option, but easy to overdo.
