Honda Lawn Mower HRR2169VYA Issue

[pete651]

What cracker-jack engineer designed the piece-of-crap self-propelled mechanics on the Honda HRR2169VYA self-propelled mower?

It worked flawlessly and marvelously the first few years, but since then, I wouldn’t recommend a Honda lawn mower to my worst enemy.

I literally cannot even make it 4 times around my 80 x 110 lot without one or the other self-propelled drive wheels “jamming up,” stop turning, resulting in me having to stop and put this piece of crap mower back together or hauling it to my local “authorized Honda dealer” for repair.

The issue? When I mow, one or the other of the self-propelled drive rear wheels “lock up”, resulting in my having to stop, shut off the mower, and push it to my garage.

The fix? I contact my local authorized Honda service center, haul this piece of crap mower over to them, pay countless dollars to them to replace not once … not twice ... but three times now a whole array of parts.

Viewing my receipts, here are the parts that have been replaced way too frickin’ many times, using genuine Honda parts:
Rear wheels PN 42710-VE2-M02ZE
Rear pinion gears 42661-VE2-800
Thrust washers PN 90502-VE2-800
Circlips PN 90651-VE2-800
Pinion gear collars PN 91559-VE2--800
Ratchet keys PN 42672-VE2-800
And … since it was all torn down, the drive belt as well once

Even after all of the above work and part replacements, I still cannot make it around my 80 x 110 more than 4 or 5 times without one or the other self-propelled drive wheels “jamming up,” stop turning, and resulting in me having to pull the offending wheel off and finding the circlip, washers, and pinion gears off the axle and ripping the “hades” out of the plastic splines of the offending wheel!!!

This mower is a bottomless money pit. I have a mechanical background and even after having the “experts” service this piece of crap mower, I’ve never seen anything so poorly engineered as this piece of crap!!!

P.S.
I thoroughly wash and clean my mower after each mowing.
I religiously change the oil in it annually.

 

[gotomow]

Have the bushings that support the drive shaft been replaced?

 

[bertsmobile1]

All that you need to do to have the drive working well is to lubricate the ratchets with some dry lithium chassis grease at the end of each season
While this is a PIA job because access is not easy, most of my customers have no problems doing it.
Water & mowers do not mix. particular if you have just finished mowing so parts are hot
Use an air duster to clean off the mower and never a pressure washer or even a high pressure nozzel on a garden tap.
Mowers are not designed to be used under water so things like the wheel drive mechanism is not water tight.

When you take the mower to an authorised daler, they will replace all parts that show wear thus many parts that are still within service limits get replaced so when it leave their shop it is returned to as near to "as new" condition as they can make it.

The contractors pull the wheels off weekly in season ~ 40 to 60 hours mowing.
Then they blow out the drive spray some grease in there rebuild the wheel and it is good to go for another week or so
Most do it weekly when they change the blades, some stretch it out to monthly.
Ratchet pinions last them around 3 season for the aftermarket ones or 4 seasons for the genuine Honda ones .
The major problem they have is tyres wearing bald so most go through a set of drive wheels every second season.
None of them ever wash their mowers.

 

[gotomow]

The HHR, HRX series works great on small to medium flat suburban yards where there is little to no areas of patchy grass. Those owners who never cut in wet or damp or dusty conditions can expect trouble free operation for many years. Dusty dirt, dampness, wet conditions will cause owners like yourself grief. Do yourself a favor and get a nice Toro or upper range MTD Craftsman mower and enjoy the mow. I used an MTD Craftsman mower on 3/4 acre for over 18 years and just replaced a couple of drive prawl's and a couple sets of wheels. The right hand operating drive control with it's thumb wheel adjuster built into it's housing was miles ahead of using 2 10mm wrenches on the Honda. The engineering superiority of the MTD over the Honda was striking. If you like the Honda engines look at the Toro with Honda engine.

 

[pete651]

All that you need to do to have the drive working well is to lubricate the ratchets with some dry lithium chassis grease at the end of each season
While this is a PIA job because access is not easy, most of my customers have no problems doing it.
Water & mowers do not mix. particular if you have just finished mowing so parts are hot
Use an air duster to clean off the mower and never a pressure washer or even a high pressure nozzel on a garden tap.
Mowers are not designed to be used under water so things like the wheel drive mechanism is not water tight.

When you take the mower to an authorised daler, they will replace all parts that show wear thus many parts that are still within service limits get replaced so when it leave their shop it is returned to as near to "as new" condition as they can make it.

The contractors pull the wheels off weekly in season ~ 40 to 60 hours mowing.
Then they blow out the drive spray some grease in there rebuild the wheel and it is good to go for another week or so
Most do it weekly when they change the blades, some stretch it out to monthly.
Ratchet pinions last them around 3 season for the aftermarket ones or 4 seasons for the genuine Honda ones .
The major problem they have is tyres wearing bald so most go through a set of drive wheels every second season.
None of them ever wash their mowers.

Thanks for the response.
As I indicated in my original post, I have hauled this mower to the authorized dealer so often, we are literally on first name basis. On occasion the dealer replaced a part or two at no charge (most likely out of sympathy for me or to maintain any kind of reputation) and more often than not replaced a few more parts also.
H - E - double hockey sticks!!! The drive system on this mower has been repaired more often than Cher's face.
As for preventative maintenance and servicing, this mower is used on an 80x110 residential lawn only. If there is a need for me to pull the wheels weekly or monthly... Honda has some serious quality and craftsmanship issues.
As for the longevity of parts, The wheels have been replaced each year for the past three years, and all the other parts I listed above have already been replaced at least twice this mowing season (which started late April).
I am beyond frustrated!!!!! As I stated before, even after returning from having it serviced at the authorized dealer, I can't make it thru a single mowing without having to stop this piece of excrement 2, 3, 5 times to put it back together.

 

[pete651]

Have the bushings that support the drive shaft been replaced?

I would need to pull my phone book stack of service tickets and receipts to confirm.
Having said that, the "authorized Honda" service center I have hauled this piece of excrement to far far too many times just this year, should have. If not, they need to be reprimanded for tarnishing Honda's image and lose their "authorization" as a Honda service center.

 

[gotomow]

Toro, Craftsman, any upper range MTD will be better. Trade in, Facebook marketplace, push to curb, etc

 

[busa2000]

What cracker-jack engineer designed the piece-of-crap self-propelled mechanics on the Honda HRR2169VYA self-propelled mower?

It worked flawlessly and marvelously the first few years, but since then, I wouldn’t recommend a Honda lawn mower to my worst enemy.

I literally cannot even make it 4 times around my 80 x 110 lot without one or the other self-propelled drive wheels “jamming up,” stop turning, resulting in me having to stop and put this piece of crap mower back together or hauling it to my local “authorized Honda dealer” for repair.

The issue? When I mow, one or the other of the self-propelled drive rear wheels “lock up”, resulting in my having to stop, shut off the mower, and push it to my garage.

The fix? I contact my local authorized Honda service center, haul this piece of crap mower over to them, pay countless dollars to them to replace not once … not twice ... but three times now a whole array of parts.

Viewing my receipts, here are the parts that have been replaced way too frickin’ many times, using genuine Honda parts:
Rear wheels PN 42710-VE2-M02ZE
Rear pinion gears 42661-VE2-800
Thrust washers PN 90502-VE2-800
Circlips PN 90651-VE2-800
Pinion gear collars PN 91559-VE2--800
Ratchet keys PN 42672-VE2-800
And … since it was all torn down, the drive belt as well once

Even after all of the above work and part replacements, I still cannot make it around my 80 x 110 more than 4 or 5 times without one or the other self-propelled drive wheels “jamming up,” stop turning, and resulting in me having to pull the offending wheel off and finding the circlip, washers, and pinion gears off the axle and ripping the “hades” out of the plastic splines of the offending wheel!!!

This mower is a bottomless money pit. I have a mechanical background and even after having the “experts” service this piece of crap mower, I’ve never seen anything so poorly engineered as this piece of crap!!!

P.S.
I thoroughly wash and clean my mower after each mowing.
I religiously change the oil in it annually.

 

[busa2000]

I have used this mower for 11 trouble free years, and have recommended this mower to many.

 

[gotomow]

I have used this mower for 11 trouble free years, and have recommended this mower to many.

For many, if not most it's a good mower. Given the wrong circumstances or conditions it's a heap.