Hello all,
Just joined this forum and looking forward to watching and participating in the future.
I am a member of various other forums and find them to be very informative and is often a two way street as I am able at times to offer input and gratefully accept information from others. This forum looks as a very active one so I am looking forward to checking it often.
My story is about my newly acquired Honda HR214SX mower, actually I just got two of them in the last two days. Bought one for $20.00 and the other for $10.00. I am so happy to have this mower in my possession again as many years ago I bought one brand new and regrettably sold it a couple of years ago when I received (for free) a Honda HRX217. So, the new Honda mows nicely, mulches better than the old model, has the hydrostatic drive and all but it just does not feel like it is built as a tank like the HR214SX. There is truly something about these older mowers that is simply not available today.
The $20.00 unit was in decent shape but the engine would not run past idle, no power at all. So I checked the normal stuff even the compression which held at 148PSI for 24 hours with the exhaust valve disconnected. I then took the spark plug out and while it fit physically in the head, the gap was way too large. Bought a new correct plug and just as these GVX120 engines do, started and ran fine two pulls later! Of course there is the usual smoke at start-up. Mosquitoes beware!
So, since I am very OCD, the cleanup and detailing began including washing the grass bag. Tires need to be replaced but deck is in great shape as is everything else. It does not look like it has many hours on it from the overall looks including the cylinder and piston head, which were very clean. This unit is a very early model imported from Japan which makes it even more special. I'll try and post pictures soon.
The $10.00 unit looks like it spent the last 10 years sitting unused outside so it is not as nice looking as the other one but for $10.00 I can't go wrong. I used the clutch cable to replace a rusty one on the first unit and one handle knob. I then power washed the whole thing just to see what it looked like under all the dirt and leaves. The next day I thought what the heck, check the oil put a cup of gas in it and let's see. Four pulls later she starts! These things are amazing!
So right now I have two, not sure what I am going to do with the second one at this point.
Do have one question, both carburetors leak fuel after I shut them off. I replaced the bowl gasket on one and it still leaks. I found a bad o-ring on the black plastic plug that sits just below the idle seed screw that may be the culprit, we'll see. Not even sure what that plug is. Has anyone seen this as the cause for the fuel leaks on these carburetors?
Thanks for reading my long post, just excited to be here.
All over a silly lawn mower! HA
Just joined this forum and looking forward to watching and participating in the future.
I am a member of various other forums and find them to be very informative and is often a two way street as I am able at times to offer input and gratefully accept information from others. This forum looks as a very active one so I am looking forward to checking it often.
My story is about my newly acquired Honda HR214SX mower, actually I just got two of them in the last two days. Bought one for $20.00 and the other for $10.00. I am so happy to have this mower in my possession again as many years ago I bought one brand new and regrettably sold it a couple of years ago when I received (for free) a Honda HRX217. So, the new Honda mows nicely, mulches better than the old model, has the hydrostatic drive and all but it just does not feel like it is built as a tank like the HR214SX. There is truly something about these older mowers that is simply not available today.
The $20.00 unit was in decent shape but the engine would not run past idle, no power at all. So I checked the normal stuff even the compression which held at 148PSI for 24 hours with the exhaust valve disconnected. I then took the spark plug out and while it fit physically in the head, the gap was way too large. Bought a new correct plug and just as these GVX120 engines do, started and ran fine two pulls later! Of course there is the usual smoke at start-up. Mosquitoes beware!
So, since I am very OCD, the cleanup and detailing began including washing the grass bag. Tires need to be replaced but deck is in great shape as is everything else. It does not look like it has many hours on it from the overall looks including the cylinder and piston head, which were very clean. This unit is a very early model imported from Japan which makes it even more special. I'll try and post pictures soon.
The $10.00 unit looks like it spent the last 10 years sitting unused outside so it is not as nice looking as the other one but for $10.00 I can't go wrong. I used the clutch cable to replace a rusty one on the first unit and one handle knob. I then power washed the whole thing just to see what it looked like under all the dirt and leaves. The next day I thought what the heck, check the oil put a cup of gas in it and let's see. Four pulls later she starts! These things are amazing!
So right now I have two, not sure what I am going to do with the second one at this point.
Do have one question, both carburetors leak fuel after I shut them off. I replaced the bowl gasket on one and it still leaks. I found a bad o-ring on the black plastic plug that sits just below the idle seed screw that may be the culprit, we'll see. Not even sure what that plug is. Has anyone seen this as the cause for the fuel leaks on these carburetors?
Thanks for reading my long post, just excited to be here.
All over a silly lawn mower! HA
