Honda mower difficult to start

F

FreemanL

Forum Newbie
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.
 
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:
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
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Thank goodness for the "it" :laughing:

If it is a manual choke, then perhaps you do have a carburettor problem!
 
davbell22602 said:
If its the carb dont waste your time in cleaning it. You can buy new one for $16.
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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.
 
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
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He is going to clean the carburetor himself - No labour costs!
 
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