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Honda mower difficult to start

#1

F

FreemanL

I have a Honda walk behind, self-propelled mower - HRR216SDA. It is extremely difficult to start. I pull it 7-8 times and it won't start. I checked the spark plug and it was bone dry. Dropped some fuel in the cylinder and it fires right up and runs fine. After it is warm I starts with less than one full pull of the rope and it instantly starts and runs fine.

The difficulty is that once it get cold, it starts all over. Difficult to start.

I have taken the carb apart and cleaned it. After cleaning it started and ran fine. Now here were are back at the beginning again.

Any thoughts.


#2

jmurray01

jmurray01

Is it an automatic choke ? If so, 7-8 pulls is great!

I had a Husqvarna 3.5HP Walk Behind with the Briggs & Stratton Classic engine which had an automatic choke, and it took about 14-15 pulls to get it going when cold, but once she got running she'd run great, and would fire right up when warm.

Primer buttons FTW! Wow, I actually used a modern acronym, never thought I'd do that :laughing:


#3

reynoldston

reynoldston

You say it started just fine after a carburetor cleaning and now it starts hard again. It sound like something is plugging the carburetor. Sounds like dirt problem, bad fuel filter, maybe the fuel line is deteriorating and peaces of it is going into the carburetor or dirty gas.


#4

F

FreemanL

No, It's a manual choke. Have another honda out there and it fire on the first pull.
I agree. I think it's a carb problem. Guess I will jerk it off again and take a look. The surprising thing is that there was absolutely no gas on the plug after 7-8 pulls. Then it ran fine after I put some in the cylinder and it started.

Keep those thoughts coming. I just love a puzzle.


#5

jmurray01

jmurray01

FreemanL said:
No, It's a manual choke. Have another honda out there and it fire on the first pull.
I agree. I think it's a carb problem. Guess I will jerk it off again and take a look. The surprising thing is that there was absolutely no gas on the plug after 7-8 pulls. Then it ran fine after I put some in the cylinder and it started.

Keep those thoughts coming. I just love a puzzle.
Click to expand...
Thank goodness for the "it" :laughing:

If it is a manual choke, then perhaps you do have a carburettor problem!


#6

davbell22602

davbell22602

If its the carb dont waste your time in cleaning it. You can buy new one for $16.


#7

jmurray01

jmurray01

davbell22602 said:
If its the carb dont waste your time in cleaning it. You can buy new one for $16.
Click to expand...
I don't agree with that at all.

OK, it may be $16 for a new one, but why not clean out the current one and save $16 ?

If you can fix what you have, it is better than replacing it.


#8

davbell22602

davbell22602

jmurray01 said:
I don't agree with that at all.

OK, it may be $16 for a new one, but why not clean out the current one and save $16 ?

If you can fix what you have, it is better than replacing it.
Click to expand...

It saves the consumer money in labor costs. So gonna spend 1hour of disassembly and reasssembly @ $50/hr and then when cleaning doesnt work charge that consumer another $50 plus the cost of new carb. So the bill is at around $125 now instead $75. Just not worth it to try to clean it since the new carb is $16.


#9

C

crazyoldtractor

If it is an overhead valve (OHV) engine you may want to check the valve lash. Get a service manual and a feeler gauge to make sure it is appropriately set.
Also, I have an almost new Craftsman push mower with a Kohler courage OHV engine that is very hard to start or it just won't start. Every time I got to use it I have to take off the carb bowl and pull the float down because it gets stuck every time i got to use it. After I do this it starts right up. This mower sounds similar to yours, it has auto-choke or prime or whatever that automatic thing it has is and it's very hard to start, but once it gets going it runs like a champ.


#10

jmurray01

jmurray01

davbell22602 said:
It saves the consumer money in labor costs. So gonna spend 1hour of disassembly and reasssembly @ $50/hr and then when cleaning doesnt work charge that consumer another $50 plus the cost of new carb. So the bill is at around $125 now instead $75. Just not worth it to try to clean it since the new carb is $16.
Click to expand...
He is going to clean the carburetor himself - No labour costs!


#11

davbell22602

davbell22602

jmurray01 said:
He is going to clean the carburetor himself - No labour costs!
Click to expand...

Still not worth it cause the cost of a new one.


#12

reynoldston

reynoldston

!6 dollars for a new carburetor, can' beat that price. Is that the price retail from a dealer? Anytime it seems I look at new carburetors it is always over 100 dollars. For 16 dollars you can't mess with the old one very much. I can also understand Jmurray point. Time you go to dealer to buy the carburetor, pay tax it it's a lot more then 16 dollars. When just a quick cleaning for a little of your own labor would fix it why not and if you still have problims then time for throw away and buy new.


#13

reynoldston

reynoldston

I forgot to add this. If you are having a dirt problem it is just important to take care of where is is coming from as the carburetor work or the problem will just keep coming back.


#14

jmurray01

jmurray01

reynoldston said:
!6 dollars for a new carburetor, can' beat that price. Is that the price retail from a dealer? Anytime it seems I look at new carburetors it is always over 100 dollars. For 16 dollars you can't mess with the old one very much. I can also understand Jmurray point. Time you go to dealer to buy the carburetor, pay tax it it's a lot more then 16 dollars. When just a quick cleaning for a little of your own labor would fix it why not and if you still have problims then time for throw away and buy new.
Click to expand...
Exactly :thumbsup:


#15

davbell22602

davbell22602

reynoldston said:
!6 dollars for a new carburetor, can' beat that price. Is that the price retail from a dealer? Anytime it seems I look at new carburetors it is always over 100 dollars. For 16 dollars you can't mess with the old one very much. I can also understand Jmurray point. Time you go to dealer to buy the carburetor, pay tax it it's a lot more then 16 dollars. When just a quick cleaning for a little of your own labor would fix it why not and if you still have problims then time for throw away and buy new.
Click to expand...

$16 dollars is retail price.


#16

davbell22602

davbell22602

reynoldston said:
!6 dollars for a new carburetor, can' beat that price. Is that the price retail from a dealer? Anytime it seems I look at new carburetors it is always over 100 dollars. For 16 dollars you can't mess with the old one very much. I can also understand Jmurray point. Time you go to dealer to buy the carburetor, pay tax it it's a lot more then 16 dollars. When just a quick cleaning for a little of your own labor would fix it why not and if you still have problims then time for throw away and buy new.
Click to expand...

reynoldston said:
I forgot to add this. If you are having a dirt problem it is just important to take care of where is is coming from as the carburetor work or the problem will just keep coming back.
Click to expand...

You guys must have way too much free time to be cleaning worthless carbs that can easily be replaced for $16 bucks.


#17

jmurray01

jmurray01

davbell22602 said:
You guys must have way too much free time to be cleaning worthless carbs that can easily be replaced for $16 bucks.
Click to expand...
It is what is called using what you have.


#18

reynoldston

reynoldston

davbell22602 said:
You guys must have way too much free time to be cleaning worthless carbs that can easily be replaced for $16 bucks.
Click to expand...

Lets talk about time and money. The closest Honda dealer is 25 miles from here, that is 50 miles at 3.60 a gallon for gas and sales tax with lots of stop lights and traffic. The carburetor has to be R&R no matter what new or cleaning. The only Honda carburetor I have cleaned was on a generator this pass summer and I thought it was just a simple job. The cleaning part haft hour tops. Now what do you think I would have charge the coustomer more for the 2hr. trip plus gas or the haft hour cleaning job. Now if the carbureator needs major work and worthless yes a new carburetor. I thing I can't get over is the price of the carburetor 16 dollaars for a new carburetor I had to buy a new B&S carburetor for a John Deere last year and my cost was 130 dollars. Must be the differant between John Deere and Honda. I just payed 30 dollars last week for a used B&S carburetor from a salvage yard and I had to clean that.


#19

bwdbrn1

bwdbrn1

This site will help you in getting that carb clean. Just go to the service tab and look at the Service information and service movies on the drop down menu.

Honda Engines Europe EEC

Want to buy a replacement carb and have it delivered to your door, these two places offer some pretty darn good prices. I've bought from both myself.
http://www.boats.net/
http://www.planopower.com/store/honda/mower_key.shtml#42


#20

jmurray01

jmurray01

reynoldston said:
Lets talk about time and money. The closest Honda dealer is 25 miles from here, that is 50 miles at 3.60 a gallon for gas and sales tax with lots of stop lights and traffic. The carburetor has to be R&R no matter what new or cleaning. The only Honda carburetor I have cleaned was on a generator this pass summer and I thought it was just a simple job. The cleaning part haft hour tops. Now what do you think I would have charge the coustomer more for the 2hr. trip plus gas or the haft hour cleaning job. Now if the carbureator needs major work and worthless yes a new carburetor. I thing I can't get over is the price of the carburetor 16 dollaars for a new carburetor I had to buy a new B&S carburetor for a John Deere last year and my cost was 130 dollars. Must be the differant between John Deere and Honda. I just payed 30 dollars last week for a used B&S carburetor from a salvage yard and I had to clean that.
Click to expand...
Amen!

I'm not saying $16 isn't a good deal, and I would go for it (if I didn't live in Scotland!) it I needed to, but if the carburettor was simply dirty, I'd clean it rather than replace it.


#21

davbell22602

davbell22602

jmurray01 said:
Amen!

I'm not saying $16 isn't a good deal, and I would go for it (if I didn't live in Scotland!) it I needed to, but if the carburettor was simply dirty, I'd clean it rather than replace it.
Click to expand...

Sometimes cleaning it doesnt always work.


#22

jmurray01

jmurray01

davbell22602 said:
Sometimes cleaning it doesnt always work.
Click to expand...
I know, that's why I said if I needed to I would buy the new carb, but I'd try and clean the current one first.


#23

reynoldston

reynoldston

there is different carburetor cleaning job. Dirt in gas and plugs high speed jet, quick blow out dirt job and run fine afterwords. Don't forget to repair the dirt problim. The other one is mower sat around for years with gas and water in carburetor. The carburetor is full of rust and varnish. That is where you have to let the carburetor set of days in cleaner and all the jets and small holes are plugged. This is the job where you have to take it apart more then once to get the engine running right. By all means this is new carburetor time at any price, that is if you can find one. Had this problem with a Honda Spree a while back they don't make replacement parts for this bike anymore.


#24

davbell22602

davbell22602

reynoldston said:
there is different carburetor cleaning job. Dirt in gas and plugs high speed jet, quick blow out dirt job and run fine afterwords. Don't forget to repair the dirt problim. The other one is mower sat around for years with gas and water in carburetor. The carburetor is full of rust and varnish. That is where you have to let the carburetor set of days in cleaner and all the jets and small holes are plugged. This is the job where you have to take it apart more then once to get the engine running right. By all means this is new carburetor time at any price, that is if you can find one. Had this problem with a Honda Spree a while back they don't make replacement parts for this bike anymore.
Click to expand...

I been running into that alot when repairing used equipment to resell.


#25

D

Dusty4mile

Took the advice to clean the automatic choke linkage. Problem was that the spring-return lever was very stiff. I used brake parts cleaner sprayed onto the swivel point between the black plastic body and the metal lever. Exercised it a few times and continued to apply cleaner till it worked freely. Oiled with light machine oil.
When you take the carburetor off, don't pull the bolts free. That way all the parts will stay aligned. Only the motor-to-choke gasket and, of course, the black plastic choke body need to be separated from the carburetor. The gasket goes back on with the square corner down and towards the front of the mower. Mower started on 3rd pull after it would not start after about 15 pulls before.


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