What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?

kbowley

Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2011
Threads
0
Messages
24
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?
The issue with the electric mowers is if they fail, who is going to fix it? The two most common issues are battery and motor failure. The motors will overheat in heavy, thick grass and melt the windings. Good luck getting a new motor. However, no need to worry about gas and oil. Just the blade and put a little grease on the self-propelled gear on each wheel once a year. just a little bit. You must get parts from Ego as they are proprietary. You should be fine. just don't try to mow very thick, tall grass on a sweltering day.
 

bill.g

Forum Newbie
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Threads
1
Messages
8
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?
No blade strike. Spark plug looks good. Picture taken. Replaced plug--->. still won't start. Two local repair shops not answering the phone. This mower its at least 15 years old and I'm not skilled enough to repair it myself. Some of your repair troubleshooting is like a foreign language!!

Thinking of getting a battery-operated self-propelled mower, such as

• Ryobi 40V Brushless 20 inch with 6.0 Ah Battery and Charger. ($429)
• Greenworks 40V. 21" with 5.0 Ah battery & charger ($359)
• EGO Power. 21". 56 V. 5.0Ah
• Greenworks 48V. 17". 4.0 Ah. ($239)

Any comments or suggestions?
Hahahahaha!
 

Timbuktu

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2020
Threads
1
Messages
12
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?
The first thing to fix would be to move out of California!
 

MowerMark

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Threads
57
Messages
287
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?
Without the blades on, it will be very hard to pull thru. As stated previously the blades act as a flywheel. It looks like the key way is chewed up. Did you order a new key also?
Example shown below

Oh no. I put new blades on and three new bolts, but I wondered why there was that channel. So, no "keyway" installed. Is it important?

With the blades in place, the problem still exists. If the sparks plug is removed, I can pull the handle/cord easily. With the spark plug installed, it's too hard to pull the cord, and it's hard to pull with or with the boot is on the plug.

How to know if electricity is getting to the plug? When looking into the boot, there's very little metal.... looks like a sheet. Is this the way it should look?
 

Attachments

  • Inside boot.jpg
    Inside boot.jpg
    256.8 KB · Views: 2

MowerMark

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Threads
57
Messages
287
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?
Personal opinion. What little you use your mower, you made a good choice grabbing that EGO.
I've got 2 pieces of their power equipment, blower and trimmer, which have worked great now for 5+ years. Batteries have not been an issue at all.
Scrap that Honda....
Agree, but this challenge is slightly exciting, and I now have invested in the blades & bolts, and tomorrow a new plug is arriving.
 

MowerMark

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Threads
57
Messages
287
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?

MowerMark

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Threads
57
Messages
287
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?
New spark plug will be installed later today. When pulling on the cord, the blades turn. I thought the key is required for the blades to turn.
 

tadawson

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
150
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?
New spark plug will be installed later today. When pulling on the cord, the blades turn. I thought the key is required for the blades to turn.
Yes and no. Friction will get them to turn somewhat, but under load, the blade to crankshaft coupling will slip without the key. (A solid connection vs. friction only).
 
Last edited:

MowerMark

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Threads
57
Messages
287
  • / What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?
This wonderful Honda Lawnmower has been reliable. Occasionally there's initial white exhaust, but it always starts with two pulls. Last oil change was three years ago, last spark plug change six years ago. The mower is used 0-2x/week on 1500 sq. ft. of lawn.

Today half of the lawn was mowed, then emptied the bag. Tried restarting the mower and OUCH. The cord pulled back about halfway during the pull. Never has done this before. Pulled again once, and it would not start. Pulled again and the cord met with extreme resistance halfway through the pull again. I gave up and left the section not done.

What would you now do? Seems it's better to buy a new mower than to endure taking it in for repair. I do have replacement oil and a new spark plug.

If a new mower is indicated, which one to get? California will stop selling gas mowers in the future, but it's difficult to imagine mowing with a long extension cord.


Although last oil change to synthetic was three years ago, a small portion every year was sent in for analysis, some oil added to replace the aliquot, and each analysis was normal. No degradation.
Yes and no. Friction will get them to turn somewhat, but under load, the blade to crankshaft coupling will slil without the key. (A solid connection vs. friction only).
Thank you. I have purchased part #13331-357-000 Key (25X18). Is this the correct part?

If this doesn't make everything work, will donate this mower to a non-profit.
 
Top