So I bought a used pressure washer that I knew the pump didn’t make pressure. It had a 390gx honda motor on it and it seems to run very strong(carb needs replacing potentially). Honestly planned on taking the engine making it look nice(good washing of the metal and stuff). The pump actually seems to attempt to make pressure then falls off. Once I get the engine all cleaned up and stuff I was going to look at the pump more but was wanting advice. Should I continue attempting to fix said pump? It’s a Delta DTH3635 with a SXMV35G40D-F24 and (it’s labled 11 HP but actually 390gx) motor.
It has an EZ start valve that appears to be functioning correctly so I’m guessing it’s the unloader or the pump itself. The guy told me it worked when he put it up 6 months ago but after he took it out with no pressure he decided to get rid of it.
I was looking at replacing the pump with one of these two but I can’t really figure out what the primary differences are between them.
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Lastly, I only paid $100 for this… It came with the wand, two nozzles, and the pressure washer. Do you think that was a good deal? I’ve read here Honda 390GX’s were godly so I thought the engine alone was worth the $100 considering it started fairly well and ran without smoking or anything.
I was looking at buying a udor or a cat pump but I saw recommendations here that you shouldn’t buy those nicer high-end pumps unless I’m going belt driven which I am not.
Man, trash that direct drive pump. Get you a gearbox and a 5.5gpm pump, you’ll be set for quite a while. This setup will allow you to eventually use a buffer tank to draw from.
I am only saying this because I went through the whole machine nonsense and would hate to see a new person go through the same thing.
Any recommendations on a pump? I saw some Udor pumps with gearboxes but couldn’t find a site that would sell them and I didn’t know if my 13hp was powerful to drive them. Also, this would primarily be used for residential. I’m just shooting for a buy it for life type thing.(Or at least hopefully 10 years).
You think you’re doing just fine until you try a 5.5 or 8. A 4/4 works but takes much longer, hence the reason for suggesting they start out ahead of the curve.
Contact Russ at Southside Equipment, he’ll hook you up.
Quick question… I finished tuning up the engine(pretty much runs like a top now) so started focusing on the pump. I tapped the pump valves with a rubber mallet(gently not like a maniac or anything). After starting and pulling the trigger once you can hear the pump attempt to start making pressure(engine noise changing) pulling the trigger makes water shoot about 30 ft without a nozzle but quickly recedes to normal pressure. I have an EZ start valve that I kind of suspect but if that isn’t it what else might be the culprit? I assume the unloader going into bypass mode or something?
I’ll check it out if this pump on it is a bust though if it’s pretty expensive I might not be able to do it.(If we are talking like $1,000 for a pump that is). Since I’m residential I don’t think I can go much past 5-5.5 GPM since I will not be using a tank at all. At least if that is my correct understanding about flows from a spigot. I can repair engines pretty well but pressure washer pumps are kind of a whole new world for me. Trying to suck all the knowledge I can in.
For direct drive: when you pull the trigger, the cold water entering the pump keeps it cool. When you set the gun down for 5 minutes, the water gets hot recirculating within the pump & it overheats. Home owners don’t know that. I’d buy a new pump & if you can rebuild the old one at some point, you’ll have a spare you can take to every job.
I wouldn’t try a 5.5 without a buffer honestly. I’d wager most (or at least half) of all residential jobs wouldn’t have the flow to support it. You don’t want to get into those issues for sure. You’ll love the productivity of a 5.5 (but you’d like an 8 even more), but just put a buffer on it.
Well good news… Since I was going to replace the pump I decided I wanted to learn how these things work. I love mechanical things(hence buying this thing) since if anything I get a motor to play with for $100. So I started taking it apart… Took the unloader completely off and found dirt/rust in the unloader’s valve with an ever so slight pitting on the side. I cleaned off the rust/dirt with a rag and washed it well. I then cleaned the valve really well and then cleaned the internal shaft of the unloader where the valve goes. Checked again… no pressure really(it still kept attempting to build pressure just didn’t get much).
So… “screw it” I thought. Now I get to learn how one of these damn pumps works so when I get a new one I can hopefully fix it instead! I take off the caps one by one with my impact gun. Inside were the little valves I’ve read about. All three front ones looked in very good shape though the springs are slightly rusted.
I then take the top three caps off and pull each of those valves out. Low and behold two of the three valves had pieces of what appears to be an o-ring in them. They were unable to close completely. I gently used a baby flat head to slowly move it where I could take a pair of needle-nose and grab the tip. Washed all of it really well and put it all back together after slowly pulling the pull cord and watching the little pistons move back and forth(and seeing how clean they looked). I put it a all back together(gently this time) with all simple handtools/ratchets. Low and behold PRESSURE!! Lots of pressure! I did notice a slight leak between the head of the pump and the pump itself(just a little drop here and there) which I think might be caused because of the vibrations of the impact gun. I’m going to check the oil to make sure it’s not leaking into the physical pump. If it is I might see if I can buy a seal for a cheap price.
Anyways… so far bought a used/dead pressure washer with a working engine for $100 and got it all working for $160 after a new carb, pull cord, spark plug, gaskets, air filter, new wheels, and a bunch of other parts that came with the kit that was somehow cheaper than buying the pull cord, carb, and spark plug separately. Going to try it out fully tmrw after I get some new tips and maybe a pressure guage to see how much pressure is truly being made.
