On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 19:49:59 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 10:40:37 -0500, slate_leeper
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Feb 2018 09:43:12 -0800, ultred ragnusen
wrote:

What mostly makes a small simple engine (such as the Honda GC 160 that runs
my pressure washer or the Honda engine that runs my lawnmower) "wheeze"
fast & slow, fast & slow, fast & slow while idling under no load?


Had that problem with my John Deere X300. After a lot of google
research, I found a possible cause as "clogged air filter." I removed
mine, washed out the foam prefilter and tapped out the paper filter.
Reinstalled, and everything ran fine. Started surging again about a
month later, so I replaced the paper filter. Been fine ever since.

-dan z-

Good point and correct. It leads back to fuel OR oxygen starvation. In
your case the dirty filter restricted the air mixture.
You get lean hunt and rich roll. With rich roll the muffler turns
black.
With lean hunt pulling on a bit of choke makes it better. Rich roll
gets worse. Generally the "period" of lean hunt is longer than the
"period" of rich roll - or put another way the lean cadence is slower.