New To Me HRX217HXA-Project Mower

radiowave79

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I have been nosing around Craigslist for awhile looking for a Honda lawn mower to replace my current aging non Honda lawn mower. I found a HRX217HXA on Craigslist relatively close to my house so I made arrangements to go check it out. It looked fine from the pictures on Craigslist, so I figured it was worth a shot and the price was reasonable even if everything wasn't working correctly.

When I arrived at this nice lady's home she took me around to the garage and pulled it out of the garage. It was pretty dirty, but looked like it was fine. I checked the gas tank and it had some fuel in it. She told me that it ran fine when it was put away last September. Anyway, I turned the fuel shutoff on and gave it a few pulls and it did not start. I figured that was not a big deal and I needed to move along and get back home so I looked underneath at the deck and didn't see anything out of place there and the blades looked OK. The handlebar had quite a bit of surface rust on it, again not a big deal to me as long as it is functional.

So I paid the nice lady what she was asking and started to load it up in my van. I took the grass bag off and it was about half full of grass. The chute to the bag also had alot of grass in it as well. I was kind of surprised at how heavy this mower is with the Nexite deck. Got it loaded up and headed home.

Once I got it home I unloaded it and emptied the grass bag out and got my air compressor out and blew TONS of dirt, chaff, pine needles, impacted grass etc., out of this poor machine. The air filter cover was held on by a small bungee cord which I removed and it revealed a very dirty and mangled air filter. Checked the spark plug and it was the wrong type. Checked the oil and it was very black and dirty. I was really starting to wonder what I had got myself into.

Put some fresh gas in the tank and set the choke and gave it several pulls and it started, but was surging pretty good at full throttle and would not keep running at slow speed, so I figured I needed to clean the carburetor or get a new one if that was not successful. It did run fine at high speed with the blade engaged so I was pretty confident a carburetor cleaning would do the trick.

I also tried the self propelled and literally no go with that. I checked and made sure there was a belt and that it was turning the pulley on top of the transmission and it was. I checked the cable and it was fine and functioning properly. I turned the mower on its side and saw there were traces of leakage on both ends of the axle, so I am assuming that some or all of the hydro fluid has leaked out thus rendering the hydro inoperable. After that, I put it away.

Fast forward to Saturday and I went over to my local John Deere dealer that I have dealt with for years as they are also a Honda OPE dealer as well and got some parts that I needed. While I was there one of the service guys I know and was chatting with about my new project told me that they had a really nice HRX217HYA with a bent crank on the engine and that they needed to get rid of it and told me I could have it for 20 bucks. I thought about it and like a dummy decided that I didn't have room, so I declined. He said if I changed my mind they would have it in the back service area. Went home and changed the oil, cleaned the carburetor and installed the new plug and cleaned out the gas tank. Put some new gas in it and gave it a pull and it is running like a champ. So I thought it over after looking to see how much a new hydro costs about going back and getting the HRX217 with the bent crank and doing an engine swap rather than spending a lot more on a new hydro, so I am off to go pick it up so I can do that. The nice lady I bought this from didn't know anything about it and her husband had passed away last year, so she was selling it as she could not take care of the yard work and was going to move, so I didn't feel like she was trying to deceive me on this. I figure even if I had to buy a new hydro I am still ahead and will have a nice mower for less than a new one, plus I like working on projects like this. :thumbsup:

Steve H.
 

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TonyPrin

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Reminds me of the guy who bought a mower from a little old lady who only used it to mow the church yard on Saturday mornings.
 

radiowave79

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Swung by the John Deere dealer to pick up the HRX217 with the bent crank on the engine for parts and they ended up giving it to me for free. Now to find some time to do an engine swap with the other one I have and hopefully have a functional mower! :thumbsup::dance1::cloud9:
 

radiowave79

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Did the engine swap this morning from the old deck with the non working hydro to the newer deck with the working hydro and now have a fully functional mower! :dance1::cloud9::cool2::smile:

Probably the most difficult part of all of this is getting the belt off the hydro transmission pulley. What a pain! :mad: The putting it back on is just about as bad.

Anyway, the HRX217 is a beast mowing machine! I ran it around the yard a few times after I got it all back together and it seems like it will be a great mower. At full speed it would give you a pretty good workout. Now only if we could get some rain soon so mowing season can begin.

Also some pics of it after it was finished; kind of dusty as it is really dry here if central FL.
 

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Pumper54

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Real nice job there. I think you will be real happy with that mower,
I got a similar mower from a guy down the street that his kids used to mow the yard with after he said it didn't work any more. I checked the fuel tank, empty, oil was nasty and black as coal and NOT touching the dip stick and one rear wheel was messed up. I added some oil change and gas and it fired right up. Ordered a couple of missing springs , a new wheel and did an oil change and it runs pretty good now. I still need to get the self propel dialed in along with a surging engine but it was free.

Tom
 

RDA.Lawns

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Now only if we could get some rain soon so mowing season can begin.

Also some pics of it after it was finished; kind of dusty as it is really dry here if central FL.
If I could share some of the rain we are getting I'd send you a months worth in a week. Been rain here every week .
 

radiowave79

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Thanks everyone for all of the nice comments!

We did get some rain yesterday, but am not sure how much as I don't have a rain gauge and I didn't catch the amount on the news. We are supposed to get some more rain tomorrow, so maybe the grass will start growing.....

I noticed when I was finished testing it this past week-end that there was fuel dripping from the corner of the air cleaner onto the deck. I didn't have time to deal with it then, so I went to check it today and everything looked fine when I examined it. I turned the fuel back on and shortly it started leaking fuel again. I checked the fuel line and it was not leaking at that point where the fuel line connects to the carburetor. I removed the air filter cover and filter element and it was dripping between the back of the air cleaner box and the bracket the air filter box attaches to. Took the air cleaner box off and turned on the fuel again and fuel was leaking out of the bottom hole for the choke plate shaft. I removed the carburetor and am going to check and see if the float is stuck open. Didn't get a chance to do that earlier today and am going to tackle it shortly.

I double checked and made sure all of the gaskets were correct and they were, so stuck float is where I am going to start.

When I did the quick mow test this past week-end I have an oak tree that has dropped a lot of leaves and it made quick work of those, so I am excited to actually get to cut some grass with it! The hydro transmission is fantastic, at full speed I almost have to trot after it.

Even after all of the work that I have had to do, I think I got a bargain, plus I enjoy working on projects like this.....

Steve H.
 
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