Honda Owner Check-In --- Read This First!
- Thread starter Muhammad
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lawn mower fanatic
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robert@honda
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Hi. Rusto here. Have an HRB216HXA. It's name is unpronounceable to human but responds to having its cord pulled. Likes to be pushed around, but isn't afraid to move on its own.
Here at Honda HQ, we call that model, "Herb"
sranger941
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HR 21 Transmission Question
Hi,
New Member. Have an old, but very reliable HR21(1981?) self propelled with BBC. Does anyone know what type of lubricant is in the transmission/gearbox? I have just rebuilt/replaced most of the drive system (pulleys, belt, tensioner arm, etc). In doing these repairs, some fluid leaked out of the transaxle (fluid was black but did not smell burned and did not seem to have any metallic shavings). Called several honda dealers and got varying answers including lithium grease, 10W-30 motor oil, Honda Tranny Fluid (non-hydrostatic). I have temporarily put in some 10W-30 for now. Thanks for any assistance. Scott
Hi,
New Member. Have an old, but very reliable HR21(1981?) self propelled with BBC. Does anyone know what type of lubricant is in the transmission/gearbox? I have just rebuilt/replaced most of the drive system (pulleys, belt, tensioner arm, etc). In doing these repairs, some fluid leaked out of the transaxle (fluid was black but did not smell burned and did not seem to have any metallic shavings). Called several honda dealers and got varying answers including lithium grease, 10W-30 motor oil, Honda Tranny Fluid (non-hydrostatic). I have temporarily put in some 10W-30 for now. Thanks for any assistance. Scott
Hello, my name is Stan and I have two Honda mowers that have not been named yet. I have a Honda HRX217HXA that is about seven going on eight years old. It has been my main mower that I use to mow my lawn. I also recently purchased a Honda HR215K1HMA from my next door neighbor to replace a twenty to twenty five year old Murray push mower that my Dad owns that rusted through its deck pretty badly, and that will now serve as an emergency only mower. The HR215 appears to be the same as BubbaBobs mower. My neighbor hired a lawn company about ten years ago due to her age and stopped using the Honda, but kept it in her attached garage. Unfortunately I think she also left a fair amount of unused gas in it that evaporated and left behind a nice amount of gunk in the carb. Even so, it still started up on the first pull before I started working on it! I will use it to mow my father's lawn. He turned 95 this year. Given that his sister turned 101, and that he has an aunt who made it to 106, I may be mowing his lawn for the next five or ten years with it :laughing: He really loved the "new" old machine and got a kick out of watching me working on it from his kitchen. That is what brought me to this forum as I was looking for information about this model, and the success or failure that people had trying to clean the carburetor on this particular model. I was also looking for steps to take to tune it up and restore it as much as possible to its condition when it was first purchased. So far I have done the following:
New spark plug added. Old one was a bit dirty and was poorly gapped. Much too wide.
New paper air filter added.
Cleaned and kept the foam filter.
General cleaning of exterior, and underside. Lots of old dried up grass, but cleaned up nice and no signs of damage or rust. Looks much better than I would have expected. Exterior has a few scratches on the side, but looks very good.
Blades (dual mulching blades) were in great condition and did not need sharpening.
Oil change. Old oil was dirty, but not too bad. Brownish, but not black.
Carburetor cleaned twice. (Twice, because the first time I missed clearing a plugged up pilot jet.) The symptoms of the clogged pilot jet were surging while idling at high idle speed, and running at a very high rpm when the blade was engaged. Also, when disengaging the blade or if I lowered the idle speed quickly it would sometimes backfire. Once I cleared the blockage with a very thin wire and an extra cleaning in my wife's small ultrasonic cleaner everything worked better. No surging at all now. No ultra high RPMs with the blade engaged, and no backfiring. At every speed and condition the engine is purring like a kitten now. However, I only tested it for a short time today. The real test will be next Monday when I mow the entire lawn. So wish me luck! I cannot believe I am looking forward to mowing the lawn in 45 degree weather on Monday:smile:.
Still to be done:
Check out valves. Will probably have dealer do this as I am having him do a few other things.
Replace fuel line. Easy enough to do myself, but the dealer will probably do it when he is doing other stuff for very little or no extra charge.
Have local dealer double check low idle RPM and max idle RPM to see if everything is okay. I could probably do this myself, but I would have to buy the shop manual and a quality tachometer and spend quite a bit of time before getting everything just right. And knowing my luck and skill level I might just make matters worse.
Have my dealer check and adjust cables if needed. He does a great job at cleaning mowers and greasing them up properly. It's worth it to me to have him do this type of work once every three years.
Clean gas tank. Looks okay, but given how long it was sitting I will clean it just the same.
Get the charger from my neighbor for the mower. I forgot about the charger as I never had an electric start mower. Only my snow blower (Simplicity P1524E) has this feature.
Order new battery for mower from Interstate for about $50, shipping included. Starting feature is not needed, but since it came with it I might as well make it useable.
That should do it. Hopefully when I am done it will be functioning as good as new (or better), even if it does have a few scratches to show for its efforts. From what I remember it has about about five years of actual usage on it. Less than a third of an acre of land and seven months of mowing each year where I live. So probably about 150 hours on this machine. Lucky to have a neighbor like this!!
Thanks to everyone for their stories and information. It has made it easier for me, and it is enjoyable to read about the new and old Honda mowers, along with everyone's opinions and experiences. I am not sure which of the two mowers I now use will end up being my favorite. Time will tell.
Not sure how often I will post, especially since the mowing season is nearly over. But I will be reading from time to time. I may post some pictures later, if I get a chance.
New spark plug added. Old one was a bit dirty and was poorly gapped. Much too wide.
New paper air filter added.
Cleaned and kept the foam filter.
General cleaning of exterior, and underside. Lots of old dried up grass, but cleaned up nice and no signs of damage or rust. Looks much better than I would have expected. Exterior has a few scratches on the side, but looks very good.
Blades (dual mulching blades) were in great condition and did not need sharpening.
Oil change. Old oil was dirty, but not too bad. Brownish, but not black.
Carburetor cleaned twice. (Twice, because the first time I missed clearing a plugged up pilot jet.) The symptoms of the clogged pilot jet were surging while idling at high idle speed, and running at a very high rpm when the blade was engaged. Also, when disengaging the blade or if I lowered the idle speed quickly it would sometimes backfire. Once I cleared the blockage with a very thin wire and an extra cleaning in my wife's small ultrasonic cleaner everything worked better. No surging at all now. No ultra high RPMs with the blade engaged, and no backfiring. At every speed and condition the engine is purring like a kitten now. However, I only tested it for a short time today. The real test will be next Monday when I mow the entire lawn. So wish me luck! I cannot believe I am looking forward to mowing the lawn in 45 degree weather on Monday:smile:.
Still to be done:
Check out valves. Will probably have dealer do this as I am having him do a few other things.
Replace fuel line. Easy enough to do myself, but the dealer will probably do it when he is doing other stuff for very little or no extra charge.
Have local dealer double check low idle RPM and max idle RPM to see if everything is okay. I could probably do this myself, but I would have to buy the shop manual and a quality tachometer and spend quite a bit of time before getting everything just right. And knowing my luck and skill level I might just make matters worse.
Have my dealer check and adjust cables if needed. He does a great job at cleaning mowers and greasing them up properly. It's worth it to me to have him do this type of work once every three years.
Clean gas tank. Looks okay, but given how long it was sitting I will clean it just the same.
Get the charger from my neighbor for the mower. I forgot about the charger as I never had an electric start mower. Only my snow blower (Simplicity P1524E) has this feature.
Order new battery for mower from Interstate for about $50, shipping included. Starting feature is not needed, but since it came with it I might as well make it useable.
That should do it. Hopefully when I am done it will be functioning as good as new (or better), even if it does have a few scratches to show for its efforts. From what I remember it has about about five years of actual usage on it. Less than a third of an acre of land and seven months of mowing each year where I live. So probably about 150 hours on this machine. Lucky to have a neighbor like this!!
Thanks to everyone for their stories and information. It has made it easier for me, and it is enjoyable to read about the new and old Honda mowers, along with everyone's opinions and experiences. I am not sure which of the two mowers I now use will end up being my favorite. Time will tell.
Not sure how often I will post, especially since the mowing season is nearly over. But I will be reading from time to time. I may post some pictures later, if I get a chance.
mowerman1999
Member
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- Nov 12, 2012
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I got given a 2001 honda izy. It had half a tank of fuel in it! When i tried it started first pull. All it needs is a bit of a clean up and the blade sharpened and I have a really good mower!