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Oil change on a Honda HRX217VYA

#1

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Pasote

Hello Everyone. A year ago, I decided that I needed a Honda lawnmower to help me bag cut my lawn and at the same time bag my leaves. (I had gotten tired of raking leaves). I bought a Honda HRX217VYA and I have been very pleased with it. It came with a 12 oz bottle of Honda 10w-30w motor oil with instructions to pour all the oil into the engine. Now it is time to change the oil, the instructions say that it will take 12 to 13.5 ozs of oil but not to overfill it. I did not read the instructions that say to change the oil while the engine oil is warm because then the oil drains quickly and completely so When I poured it out, I only got about 8 ounces of oil. I poured it in slowly, checking the level to be careful not to overfill it and now it is full of oil but again it only took 8 ozs. Is it ok to run my lawnmower the way it is as long as I did not overfill it with oil? Thank you for your help in this matter.


#2

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bertsmobile1

Hondas are dipped with the cap sitting on the top of the tube,, NOT SCREWED DOWN .
If you are screwing the dip stick in then you will be under filling the engine .
Never likes he tip it over drain method as it can take quite a long time for all the oil to drain out and if tipped with the cylinder pointing slightly down the old oil can easily end up under the piston.


#3

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Pasote

Thank you for your response. How would you do it then?


#4

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1saxman

So the Hondas are now taking only 12 oz of oil? After 19 oz for many years? I've had GCV 160 and GSV 190 engines. Anyway, I use a vacuum device to remove the oil from my mowers.


#5

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Pasote

Ok. Thank You. Good Idea. Do you take the oil out when it is warm or as I did, cold.


#6

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bertsmobile1

I would tell you that I use a pump, but that will cause the tipper to chime in and we get into a Chevy vs Ford type of discussion


#7

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cruzenmike

I changed the oil on my HRX for 7 years not paying any attention to the amount of oil coming out of the engine, but I did always run it first for 5-10 minutes before turning it over to drain. If you have the ability to, you can also pull oh so gently on the pull cord while it is on it's side just enough to get the piston to move a bit and a small amount of additional oil will come out. I thought that the oil capacity was 18 oz but it would only take 10-12 to refill after a change?

Either way, bertsmobile1 is correct in that you should always check the oil with the dip stick just resting on the top of the filler tube and NOT screwed in. I would simply add a couple of ounces and check, and if it needed more, add a bit and check again. The entire time to do an oil change on these machines with warming up is less than 10 minutes so take your time getting the level just right. I have never used a pump, but they can certainly be beneficial for engines were the crankcase simply won't allow all of the oil to come out and with "suction" power it might help pick up extra deposits sitting on the bottom of the engine. Heck, tip and use a pump!!

Seeing as these engines do not have filters, I would typically run, drain, fill, run, drain and fill. This would help to flush out any deposits that would not come out with the first draining. I would also use Genuine Honda SAE30 since I wouldn't mower when outside air temps were under 50 degrees. If you mow in temps cooler than that, use their 10w30. 7 years later, the oil still came out clean after every oil change and I would typically average 25-35 hours per year of use.


#8

P

Pasote

cruzenmike said:
I changed the oil on my HRX for 7 years not paying any attention to the amount of oil coming out of the engine, but I did always run it first for 5-10 minutes before turning it over to drain. If you have the ability to, you can also pull oh so gently on the pull cord while it is on it's side just enough to get the piston to move a bit and a small amount of additional oil will come out. I thought that the oil capacity was 18 oz but it would only take 10-12 to refill after a change?

Either way, bertsmobile1 is correct in that you should always check the oil with the dip stick just resting on the top of the filler tube and NOT screwed in. I would simply add a couple of ounces and check, and if it needed more, add a bit and check again. The entire time to do an oil change on these machines with warming up is less than 10 minutes so take your time getting the level just right. I have never used a pump, but they can certainly be beneficial for engines were the crankcase simply won't allow all of the oil to come out and with "suction" power it might help pick up extra deposits sitting on the bottom of the engine. Heck, tip and use a pump!!

Seeing as these engines do not have filters, I would typically run, drain, fill, run, drain and fill. This would help to flush out any deposits that would not come out with the first draining. I would also use Genuine Honda SAE30 since I wouldn't mower when outside air temps were under 50 degrees. If you mow in temps cooler than that, use their 10w30. 7 years later, the oil still came out clean after every oil change and I would typically average 25-35 hours per year of use.
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Great! Exactly as you said, after I drained the oil cold, I added a little bit, then measured, then added, then measured until i got to the correct level. I did not want to overfill the machine. I feel that I can now use the mower since I did not overfill it with oil. Next time, I will do as you say and I will let the machine warm up for 10-15 minutes before I drain it. I talked to Honda customer service and they told me how to measure the oil correctly but he did not tell me that I had to warm up the machine first.Thank you for your help!


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