Goodbye Old Friend ~ power washer

There are some parts on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-30623-SEAL-KIT- ... 2a098fd86a

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-30821-VALVE-KIT ... 2a08a49c55

Even an entire pump for parts: http://cgi.ebay.com/CAT-PUMPS-310-4-0-G ... 1e65ca6a6e

Mark8 - I saw all those auctions on Ebay! I was tempted on that pump for parts, it ended up selling for $261.48. I am way too chicken to take a chance on a used pump! I got my seal kits for a little less than the ones on Ebay too.

Just got the old machine running right today Very happy that is taken care of.

Many thanks to Wood-n-Coal for all the help He recommended EDI distributors in Cherry Hill, NJ. http://www.edidistributors.com

Thanks everybody else for a little encouragement

Parts are Pentagon mad expensive but EDI had the best prices I could find.

I could have had a new General pump setup for the same price, but I'm sentimental about my Northeast power washer, and I have 500psi more by fixing the old machine.

I don't know if you meant me Freddy, but I don't know what kind of power washer I would have got, millions of brands out there. Wood-n-Coal showed me pics of a couple of his electric powered washers! Makes me think I might have been using a quiet machine all these years... no gas, no pull starts...

Glad I could help out and that you got it fixed.

I ordered a Honda Pressure Washer off of Ebay, after this thread started. It was a RECON unit. But cheap. It came in last week. I tried starting it, and noticed it was difficult to pull, but chaulked that off to the pump was engaged. It did start, but siezed after 5 seconds. I couldn't even pull start it after that. Now we gotta send it back. Contacted the Ebay Seller. They recommended I take it to a Service Center, and they'll refund me $5. Checked their list, theres none within a couple hundred miles. Contacted Ebay seller again. Asked them for my money back, or exchange. They offered me and exchange, but I would have to pay to have it sent back. I checked out how much that was going to cost $70 !!! Told Seller to pay this, as the unit arrived defective. They offered me $10 back, but insisted their policy clearly stated "Returns were to be paid by Buyer". I siad "I read your return policy, and it doesn't mention defective item returns. They offered me $15 back and said "defective items fall under the Returns Items policy. Back & forth, back & forth we go.
Finally, they said they will send a pre-paid return label to cover the cost of the return, but I would have to pay $30 for it. I thought that was better than $70, so I agreed.
Now its a week lator, and the new replacement Pressure Washer arrives today. I goto start it up. I pull, and pull, and pull. Nothing, not even a putt. Oh cr@p, another DOA.... Well, I'm not paying another $30 to send this one back, lets do some Diags...
Spark--- check
Oil---- Check
Gas---- check
Gas to carb-- Check
That narrowed it down.
I pull the carb, open the bowl, and its full of gas, ok, good sign.
But whats this??? Whats all this white stuff that looks like caulk???? I try wiping it out with paper towel. No good, it hard. Must be Aluminum rust. I scrape it all out of the bowl, and notice it was clogging up the main jet orifice. I pull the jet, ream it all out with a jet reamer, clean all the pieces out with carb cleaner, and bolt it back on.

First pull, the pressure washer starts!

So much for RECON units, stick with new.

Quite a story and a lesson learned. A less talented person would never have gotten it running.

Caveat emptor.

Oh man, that sucks! Sorry you had to go through that, but thanks for sharing.

Dann757 wrote: Wood-n-Coal showed me pics of a couple of his electric powered washers! Makes me think I might have been using a quiet machine all these years... no gas, no pull starts...

I bought a Mi-T-M electric pressure washer earlier this year and couldn't be more pleased. It is the CM-1250-0MEH model which has recently been replaced by the CM-1400-0MEH - essentially the same except for a slightly smaller nozzle to bump up the pressure rating: Mi-T-M CM-1400-0MEH It is a "prosumer" model, not fully industrial duty, but WAY above anything you'd find at Menards or Wal-Mart. I paid $385 for it with shipping. It is a solid little lump and stores easily out of the way.

Naturally, it's limited compared to a serious gas powered pressure washer, but it has more than enough ooomph for general deck and house cleaning, car washing, etc. without too much risk of damage. The pressure is variable down to 500 psi or so for even more flexibility. The best feature of the machine is that it is almost completely silent. It is direct drive with a capacitor start TEFC induction motor. Most of the cheap electric units have universal (brush type) motors howling along with a gear reduction adding in extra racket. I can get up and wash my car early on a Sunday morning and not worry about waking up the neighborhood.