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Found Junked HRR2163VXA Starts, Runs, but Shakes Badly
#1
D
Dindu_Nuffins
D
Dindu_Nuffins
Someone dumped a load of trash in a vacant lot by my house. Looks like someone's tenant was evicted and the landlord hauled off his stuff and (illegally) dumped it. I've picked a few good things out, the best of which is a Honda lawnmower. Today I fixed the starter. The end of the spring broke, so I bent the end, lubricated it, adjusted spring tension, etc... and it works fine now.
Reattached starter and the mower started on the 1st pull! (The Good News)
The Bad News is that while running it was REALLY rough. It did that "run-up, run-down" thing I hear mowers do where it's like someone is making the engine go fast, slow, fast, slow. I can post a video if anyone wants. But worst, the engine shakes terrible, to much shaking to simply be (in my opinion) a problem with a rough-running engine. Like there is a weight that is missing or something. It shakes a LOT. Imagine the worst shaking engine you've ever seen and this is twice as bad. Like there is something mechanically off-balance somewhere.
The blades are not spinning. I have the clutch disconnected because the roto-handle thing is broken. I've done some reading and that's common and a new handle will be $34, but I want to make certain the rest of the mower is good before spending money. Point is that, whatever it is that is "off balance" on the mower, it's not the blades because they aren't spinning. I checked and looked.
At idle the shaking is reduced quite a bit, but still is too extreme to be normal. Does anyone have any ideas on what could be causing all this shaking?
Reattached starter and the mower started on the 1st pull! (The Good News)
The Bad News is that while running it was REALLY rough. It did that "run-up, run-down" thing I hear mowers do where it's like someone is making the engine go fast, slow, fast, slow. I can post a video if anyone wants. But worst, the engine shakes terrible, to much shaking to simply be (in my opinion) a problem with a rough-running engine. Like there is a weight that is missing or something. It shakes a LOT. Imagine the worst shaking engine you've ever seen and this is twice as bad. Like there is something mechanically off-balance somewhere.
The blades are not spinning. I have the clutch disconnected because the roto-handle thing is broken. I've done some reading and that's common and a new handle will be $34, but I want to make certain the rest of the mower is good before spending money. Point is that, whatever it is that is "off balance" on the mower, it's not the blades because they aren't spinning. I checked and looked.
At idle the shaking is reduced quite a bit, but still is too extreme to be normal. Does anyone have any ideas on what could be causing all this shaking?
#2
RDA.Lawns
RDA.Lawns
Sounds like a flywheel weight or maybe a bent crank.
#3
D
Dindu_Nuffins
After I posted this I did some searching and found several threads and YouTube vids about Honda lawn mowers with bent crank shafts, so I went outside, tipped it sideways about 45 degrees, slowly pulled the starter rope and could clearly see a wobble in the crankshaft. The whole clutch assemble is wobbling around with it.
So now I want to know how big of a job is it to replace a bent crank shaft and if there could be something else beside the crank shaft that could be bent. Think I found a exploded diagram of this mower yesterday, so I'll take a look at all the parts involved. Main question is, if crank shaft is bent, does that mean it's a waste of time to mess with it?
D
Dindu_Nuffins
Sounds like a flywheel weight or maybe a bent crank.
After I posted this I did some searching and found several threads and YouTube vids about Honda lawn mowers with bent crank shafts, so I went outside, tipped it sideways about 45 degrees, slowly pulled the starter rope and could clearly see a wobble in the crankshaft. The whole clutch assemble is wobbling around with it.
So now I want to know how big of a job is it to replace a bent crank shaft and if there could be something else beside the crank shaft that could be bent. Think I found a exploded diagram of this mower yesterday, so I'll take a look at all the parts involved. Main question is, if crank shaft is bent, does that mean it's a waste of time to mess with it?
#4
RDA.Lawns
RDA.Lawns
You said it needs other parts too plus the cost of crank gaskets oil time assuming you don't find more wrong when tore down. I'd toss it and move on.
#5
D
Dindu_Nuffins
I'm asking if the crank shaft replacement alone means it's not worth doing.
D
Dindu_Nuffins
You said it needs other parts too plus the cost of crank gaskets oil time assuming you don't find more wrong when tore down. I'd toss it and move on.
I'm asking if the crank shaft replacement alone means it's not worth doing.
#6
RDA.Lawns
RDA.Lawns
To me yes it would. But others such as Bert's Mobil may have a different take on it.
#7
RDA.Lawns
RDA.Lawns
You wouldn't get to replace just the crank. Your that deep replace rob bearings if the rod is ok .
#8
D
dana a
D
dana a
The first thing I would do is take the crankshaft out and see where it is bent. If it's bent up inside the crankcase then the bushing in the bottom is probably wallowed out some and will most likely get worse as time goes by with the new crankshaft. If it's bent out side of the crankcase I would then price the crankshaft and if it was reasonable I'd fix it. If not put it back in the trash pile or you could keep it and hope to find another engine. If it's a good deck any engine will work.
#9
D
Dindu_Nuffins
Thanks they sell these cranks on ebay for $30. I haven't been this deep in an engine since high school, 30 years ago.
and the engine splits diagonal which is weird. Do I have to buy new gaskets, etc... just for opening the engine?
D
Dindu_Nuffins
The first thing I would do is take the crankshaft out and see where it is bent. If it's bent up inside the crankcase then the bushing in the bottom is probably wallowed out some and will most likely get worse as time goes by with the new crankshaft. If it's bent out side of the crankcase I would then price the crankshaft and if it was reasonable I'd fix it. If not put it back in the trash pile or you could keep it and hope to find another engine. If it's a good deck any engine will work.
Thanks they sell these cranks on ebay for $30. I haven't been this deep in an engine since high school, 30 years ago.
and the engine splits diagonal which is weird. Do I have to buy new gaskets, etc... just for opening the engine?
#10
D
dana a
D
dana a
I have never been in a Honda before but I've been in about everything else and I have never bought any gaskets. I try to take them apart very carefully so as not to tear the gasket. I'm sure others would say get gaskets. I saved a bunch of cereal boxes to use to make gaskets also. I suppose you could use silicone too. I used it on the oil pans on a Cummins diesel and 6.2 Chevy diesel and they didn't leak. I made a head gasket out of cardboard once to see if an engine would run and it worked. Probably after a while it would have burned.
#11
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
Gaskets have 2 functions
1) to take up imperfections in th surface
2) to allow surfaces with different expansion & contraction rates to move slightly with respect to each other while maintaining an sealed surface.
So you can make a gasket out of a lot of things.
We used a ton of No 2 silk crochet thread to seal crankcases on motorcycles.
1) to take up imperfections in th surface
2) to allow surfaces with different expansion & contraction rates to move slightly with respect to each other while maintaining an sealed surface.
So you can make a gasket out of a lot of things.
We used a ton of No 2 silk crochet thread to seal crankcases on motorcycles.
#12
D
Dindu_Nuffins
When I was a kid I thought my father was a weirdo. He's cut-up cereal boxes and make gaskets; meticulously cutting them out with a razor blade. I thought he was completely bonkers. "Normal" people went to the store and bought pre-made stuff and nobody did goofy stuff like that.
After he died I moved to the other side of the country and started working for an old German man. He do all the very same thing my father (also German) did. Stored small parts in baby food and jelly jars, never threw anything away. Was always doing things in odd ways, using odd materials and odd methods.
Years later a customer asked me to make some kind of "return spring" so that his wooden fence gate would automatically close when someone went out, because his dogs kept getting loose. So I looked around and found a bunch of heavy springs from a hammock in my junk pile, and an old plastic-coated steel cable that used to be used as a dog run. Long story short, using wooden blocks, 3" coarse drywall screws, the dog cable and the heavy springs, I "jury rigged" a super-strong, super heavy-duty tensioner that would allow you to open the gate and pass, but would pull the 4ft gate CLOSED when you (negligently) let it go.
Client (a doctor) comes home, looks at my contraption and says that I'm a fine example of a "bricoleur", and I'm like, thanks but what's a Brick o'Lure? So he tells me and it doesn't sit well with me. Feels French, who are effeminate and always surrendering to something or someone. So I look it up online:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricolage
My father made a go-cart out of oak hardwood and a 3.5 hp Briggs and Stratton engine. He had a welder, but had a pile oak hardwood laying around just collecting dust, so one summer he turned it into a bright-red go-cart. I flipped it upside down the 1st time out, burned my arm on the muffler, and never got to ride it again. I remember my mother carping and complaining about how all the other neighbors had "professionals" come out to repair things when they broke, and we always had "home made" repairs. 20 years later, long after he was dead, she confidently informed me that women at her age, they don't care about looks or money or any of that stuff most people think are important, no, women her age want "a man that can fix things". I didn't bother to tell her that, when she had that man, she didn't appreciate him.
So that's my point. Appreciate the alpha males that can fix things, using springs, dog leashes and cereal boxes. The whole world depends on you for it's very survival, and don't pay any attention to the idiots that think otherwise. Alt-Right.
D
Dindu_Nuffins
I have never been in a Honda before but I've been in about everything else and I have never bought any gaskets. I try to take them apart very carefully so as not to tear the gasket. I'm sure others would say get gaskets. I saved a bunch of cereal boxes to use to make gaskets also. I suppose you could use silicone too. I used it on the oil pans on a Cummins diesel and 6.2 Chevy diesel and they didn't leak. I made a head gasket out of cardboard once to see if an engine would run and it worked. Probably after a while it would have burned.
When I was a kid I thought my father was a weirdo. He's cut-up cereal boxes and make gaskets; meticulously cutting them out with a razor blade. I thought he was completely bonkers. "Normal" people went to the store and bought pre-made stuff and nobody did goofy stuff like that.
After he died I moved to the other side of the country and started working for an old German man. He do all the very same thing my father (also German) did. Stored small parts in baby food and jelly jars, never threw anything away. Was always doing things in odd ways, using odd materials and odd methods.
Years later a customer asked me to make some kind of "return spring" so that his wooden fence gate would automatically close when someone went out, because his dogs kept getting loose. So I looked around and found a bunch of heavy springs from a hammock in my junk pile, and an old plastic-coated steel cable that used to be used as a dog run. Long story short, using wooden blocks, 3" coarse drywall screws, the dog cable and the heavy springs, I "jury rigged" a super-strong, super heavy-duty tensioner that would allow you to open the gate and pass, but would pull the 4ft gate CLOSED when you (negligently) let it go.
Client (a doctor) comes home, looks at my contraption and says that I'm a fine example of a "bricoleur", and I'm like, thanks but what's a Brick o'Lure? So he tells me and it doesn't sit well with me. Feels French, who are effeminate and always surrendering to something or someone. So I look it up online:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricolage
My father made a go-cart out of oak hardwood and a 3.5 hp Briggs and Stratton engine. He had a welder, but had a pile oak hardwood laying around just collecting dust, so one summer he turned it into a bright-red go-cart. I flipped it upside down the 1st time out, burned my arm on the muffler, and never got to ride it again. I remember my mother carping and complaining about how all the other neighbors had "professionals" come out to repair things when they broke, and we always had "home made" repairs. 20 years later, long after he was dead, she confidently informed me that women at her age, they don't care about looks or money or any of that stuff most people think are important, no, women her age want "a man that can fix things". I didn't bother to tell her that, when she had that man, she didn't appreciate him.
So that's my point. Appreciate the alpha males that can fix things, using springs, dog leashes and cereal boxes. The whole world depends on you for it's very survival, and don't pay any attention to the idiots that think otherwise. Alt-Right.
#13
D
dana a
Right on. People who can improvise will eventually find a working solution.
Dana
D
dana a
Gaskets have 2 functions
1) to take up imperfections in th surface
2) to allow surfaces with different expansion & contraction rates to move slightly with respect to each other while maintaining an sealed surface.
So you can make a gasket out of a lot of things.
We used a ton of No 2 silk crochet thread to seal crankcases on motorcycles.
Right on. People who can improvise will eventually find a working solution.
Dana
#14
D
dana a
My dad was like that too, saving parts, nuts, bolts and anything that might be useful and could make or fix about anything. The apple didn't fall far from the tree. Be thankful you have the ability to improvise.
Dana
D
dana a
When I was a kid I thought my father was a weirdo. He's cut-up cereal boxes and make gaskets; meticulously cutting them out with a razor blade. I thought he was completely bonkers. "Normal" people went to the store and bought pre-made stuff and nobody did goofy stuff like that.
After he died I moved to the other side of the country and started working for an old German man. He do all the very same thing my father (also German) did. Stored small parts in baby food and jelly jars, never threw anything away. Was always doing things in odd ways, using odd materials and odd methods.
Years later a customer asked me to make some kind of "return spring" so that his wooden fence gate would automatically close when someone went out, because his dogs kept getting loose. So I looked around and found a bunch of heavy springs from a hammock in my junk pile, and an old plastic-coated steel cable that used to be used as a dog run. Long story short, using wooden blocks, 3" coarse drywall screws, the dog cable and the heavy springs, I "jury rigged" a super-strong, super heavy-duty tensioner that would allow you to open the gate and pass, but would pull the 4ft gate CLOSED when you (negligently) let it go.
Client (a doctor) comes home, looks at my contraption and says that I'm a fine example of a "bricoleur", and I'm like, thanks but what's a Brick o'Lure? So he tells me and it doesn't sit well with me. Feels French, who are effeminate and always surrendering to something or someone. So I look it up online:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricolage
My father made a go-cart out of oak hardwood and a 3.5 hp Briggs and Stratton engine. He had a welder, but had a pile oak hardwood laying around just collecting dust, so one summer he turned it into a bright-red go-cart. I flipped it upside down the 1st time out, burned my arm on the muffler, and never got to ride it again. I remember my mother carping and complaining about how all the other neighbors had "professionals" come out to repair things when they broke, and we always had "home made" repairs. 20 years later, long after he was dead, she confidently informed me that women at her age, they don't care about looks or money or any of that stuff most people think are important, no, women her age want "a man that can fix things". I didn't bother to tell her that, when she had that man, she didn't appreciate him.
So that's my point. Appreciate the alpha males that can fix things, using springs, dog leashes and cereal boxes. The whole world depends on you for it's very survival, and don't pay any attention to the idiots that think otherwise. Alt-Right.
My dad was like that too, saving parts, nuts, bolts and anything that might be useful and could make or fix about anything. The apple didn't fall far from the tree. Be thankful you have the ability to improvise.
Dana
#15
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
At one time or another the French have been at war with just about every country in Europe.
Lorraine would have been lucky if it remained under a single country for more than 5 years so I would be a little careful about throw away lines concerning French valour.
A lot of French men & women died and a very large number of US ( and all allied ) troups owe their lives to the French, Polish & Dutch resistance. all of whom were shot when caught rather than becoming POW's
Fighting to the death might evoke some schoolboy notions of honour & glory, but if you all die it is a bit pointless.
Lorraine would have been lucky if it remained under a single country for more than 5 years so I would be a little careful about throw away lines concerning French valour.
A lot of French men & women died and a very large number of US ( and all allied ) troups owe their lives to the French, Polish & Dutch resistance. all of whom were shot when caught rather than becoming POW's
Fighting to the death might evoke some schoolboy notions of honour & glory, but if you all die it is a bit pointless.