HRR2163TDA rear drive is actually spinning backwards. What could cause this?

Hello, New member that joined so I could ask the Honda Forum a question. I bought a used HRR2163TDA self propelled mower. The seller said the self propelled is not working and that it would probably need new drive gears on each side of the axle. After I took it home I did verify the drive gears were very worn so I purchased some replacements. (the old gears had 12 teeth so I ordered replacement drive gears with 12 teeth) I still had no forward motion from the mower. I then took the tires off the rear axle and with the help of my wife, I gripped the drive gears (with heavy gloves on) and the gears stopped spinning but the axle shaft continued to spin. That is when I noticed that the axle shaft was spinning in the wrong direction to give forward motion to the mower. I do not know the history of the mower. Could there be something that was done to the inside of the transmission to cause it to make the axle to spin in the reverse direction. This mower is suppose to have three forward speeds but as far as I know it should not have a reverse. I did not find a thread about the axle spinning in the wrong direction. Any thoughts? Thanks

The axle will look like it's spinning backwards, that's normal. Once it engages the gear on the drive tire, the tire will go forward. If you were to line up a bunch of gears running off each other, every other one would go the opposite direction.



Either that, or your tires have the gear teeth on the outer rim of the tire, rather than in the center. In that case, the axle goes the same direction as the tire.

Ok, I just checked the diagram on http://www.searspartsdirect.com/model-number/hrr216tda/1795/1500600.html. Those wheels indeed have outer teeth, so the axle should go forward, same as the direction of the tires, which, of course, would seem backwards.

This reminds me of the Science guys. Someone took 2 rollers and had them on the bottom of the rear wheels. They were tied to keep them stabilized.
When the car was in forward it went in reverse.
Just remember the secondary gear goes the opposite way of the primary.

Hello again Thanks for all the quick replies. All of you that mentioned that the tire when engaged with the gears on the axle that the tire will spin the opposite direction of the axle were right on. I was thinking too much like it was my other front wheel drive mowers that have the axle gears engage with the gear teeth on the inside rim of the front wheel drive tire. Also to be clear about my Honda HRR2163TDA, the rear tires have a metal gear. It is not a wheel that has plastic teeth around the inside perimeter of the tire. I had to reverse the drive gears on both ends of the axles. After I put the tires back on and started the mower, when i engaged the drive clutch the Honda mower jumped forward like a scared jack rabbit. I seem to like the speed of second gear the best. Can't wait until I need to mow again to see how it does in the grass. This is the first rear wheel drive mower I have worked on and I will not forget the lesson I learned. Thanks to all again.

tav2003 said:

This is the first rear wheel drive mower I have worked on and I will not forget the lesson I learned. Thanks to all again.

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Excellent. Just as an FYI, Honda would like to have contact info for used mower owners....If you would send me a private message with your name and address, and I will update the registration database to show you as the new owner. Honda asks for this in the unlikely event there is ever a product safety recall and needs to contact you. You won't get any spam or junk mail...

The serial number on your HRR is on a sticker on the rear of the mower deck...it's in the format of MXXX-1234567

Thanks!