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Honda engineering is dong some service research on certain mowers. I'd like your help, if you meet the following three conditions:

(1) The mower must be an HRR216VKA or HRR216PKA.
(2) The serial number (on the back edge of the mower deck) must be higher than MZCG-8400000.
(3) Had some hard-to-start or won't-start issues (past or current).

If you own a mower that meets all (1), (2) and (3) conditions, I'd like to contact you further with a few more questions. Please leave me a Private Message with your serial number "MZCG-84xxxxx" and a point of contact (email, phone number, or mailing address).

I thank you and Honda thanks you for any help you can provide.

Wish I could help but i returned my "hard to start", or "won't properly run", HRR216VKA to Home Depot today. After two encounters with an engine that sounds like it's not getting the proper gas/air mixture I decided to take it back, because if it's behaving like it did after three months out-of-the-box who knows what it will do after six months. I love my Honda Accord but the HRR216VKA reminds me of a WWII Corsair firing up............my mower sounded something like this when pulling the cord.....no joke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiW4t-03_2Y

guadalcanal said:

Wish I could help but i returned my "hard to start", or "won't properly run", HRR216VKA to Home Depot today. After two encounters with an engine that sounds like it's not getting the proper gas/air mixture I decided to take it back, because if it's behaving like it did after three months out-of-the-box who knows what it will do after six months. I love my Honda Accord but the HRR216VKA reminds me of a WWII Corsair firing up............my mower sounded something like this when pulling the cord.....no joke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiW4t-03_2Y

Click to expand...

Don't give up on Honda mowers yet! :laughing: You could get a Honda HRX217HYA. I LOVE mine!

I found this on a another review/comment forum:


"The dealer to whom I returned this mower shared a Honda memo or service bulletin about the HRR ilne. This line of mowers has an automatic choke problem which causes flooding in the carburetor. Honda's solution is for the user to wait several minutes after turning the mower off before starting again, in order that the fuel can drain from the carburetor. The problem I had was that after sitting for a couple of hours the mower would not start again. "

lawn mower fanatic said:

Don't give up on Honda mowers yet! :laughing: You could get a Honda HRX217HYA. I LOVE mine!

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Perhaps, but my old Toro ran for ten years on bad gas an bad oil.....I never even changed the spark plug! The self propelled mechanism went bad so i decided to "upgrade" to a Honda mower. Don't get me wrong; I know that Honda's engineering acumen is stellar, but the HRR series apparently has a track record related to the auto-choke mechanism. I believe in Honda and hope that they can resolve the issue.

guadalcanal said:

Wish I could help but i returned my "hard to start", or "won't properly run", HRR216VKA to Home Depot today. After two encounters with an engine that sounds like it's not getting the proper gas/air mixture I decided to take it back, because if it's behaving like it did after three months out-of-the-box who knows what it will do after six months. I love my Honda Accord but the HRR216VKA reminds me of a WWII Corsair firing up............my mower sounded something like this when pulling the cord.....no joke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiW4t-03_2Y

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear of the troubles with your VKA. What else can you share with me about the problem? Was it hard to start? Under what conditions (outside air temp, engine temp). Was it hard to start only after being shut down, or hard to start when totally cold? Thanks for any details; they will help the engineers a great deal.

The video of the warbird and your username...I can't resist:

Semper Fi FLY NAVY! :biggrin:

robert@honda said:

Sorry to hear of the troubles with your VKA. What else can you share with me about the problem? Was it hard to start? Under what conditions (outside air temp, engine temp). Was it hard to start only after being shut down, or hard to start when totally cold? Thanks for any details; they will help the engineers a great deal.

The video of the warbird and your username...I can't resist:

Semper Fi FLY NAVY! :biggrin:

Click to expand...

LOL! Too funny. My lawnmower must have reminded of some of the battles in the Pacific on the History Channel, hence the username and screen name.

- the mower would start fine 95% of the time (one pull)
- it failed to start properly on two occasions (sputtering, surging, white smoke) and I returned it after the second mishap
- both incidences occurred around 8 a.m. (fairly humid Florida morning, 83 degrees and up) when starting cold
- The last time it happened I shut of the fuel valve and it slowly began running better until the carburetor ran out of fuel. Like one final "coming to life" surge in the engine and then nothing.

robert@honda said:

Honda engineering is dong some service research on certain mowers. I'd like your help, if you meet the following three conditions:

(1) The mower must be an HRR216VKA or HRR216PKA.
(2) The serial number (on the back edge of the mower deck) must be higher than MZCG-8400000.
(3) Had some hard-to-start or won't-start issues (past or current).

If you own a mower that meets all (1), (2) and (3) conditions, I'd like to contact you further with a few more questions. Please leave me a Private Message with your serial number "MZCG-84xxxxx" and a point of contact (email, phone number, or mailing address).

I thank you and Honda thanks you for any help you can provide.

Click to expand...

Hello and I hope Honda will do something about this problem. I am a senior citizen and bought this new at home depot in August 2012 and its still under the full warranty . It was easy to start at first but got progressively harder and harder to start. Now my son tried to start it and it started after he told me he had to pull his guts out in order to start it(He happens to be an iron worker) no joke. I am very disappointed and dissatisfied that I ever bought it and if I could receive a full refund I would gladly return it. I paid top dollar for it and expected top performance. #1 - HRR2168VKA . #2 - SER.MZCG-8557806 . #3 - (3) Had some hard-to-start or won't-start issues (past or current). Thanks for your time and interest in this matter.

briggstoro said:

Hello and I hope Honda will do something about this problem. I am a senior citizen and bought this new at home depot in August 2012 and its still under the full warranty . It was easy to start at first but got progressively harder and harder to start. Now my son tried to start it and it started after he told me he had to pull his guts out in order to start it(He happens to be an iron worker) no joke. I am very disappointed and dissatisfied that I ever bought it and if I could receive a full refund I would gladly return it. I paid top dollar for it and expected top performance. #1 - HRR2168VKA . #2 - SER.MZCG-8557806 . #3 - (3) Had some hard-to-start or won't-start issues (past or current). Thanks for your time and interest in this matter.

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How fresh was the gas in it? Do you drain your tank and carb at the end of the season? Do you use fuel stabilizer? Our crappy gas in circa 2014 with ethanol (back in the 80's we could easily get away without doing the above) when used without stabilizer will gum up/destroy your carb in less than 3 months (sometimes in 1 month) if none of the above is followed. Majority of small gas engines today are carb issues. And unfortunately Honda (and really no one else-if you don't believe me, please read Briggs/Toros warranty fine print) will not warranty a lawn mower hit by stale gas.

briggstoro said:

Hello and I hope Honda will do something about this problem. I am a senior citizen and bought this new at home depot in August 2012 and its still under the full warranty . It was easy to start at first but got progressively harder and harder to start. Now my son tried to start it and it started after he told me he had to pull his guts out in order to start it(He happens to be an iron worker) no joke. I am very disappointed and dissatisfied that I ever bought it and if I could receive a full refund I would gladly return it. I paid top dollar for it and expected top performance. #1 - HRR2168VKA . #2 - SER.MZCG-8557806 . #3 - (3) Had some hard-to-start or won't-start issues (past or current). Thanks for your time and interest in this matter.

Click to expand...

As you are still under warranty, best to have a servicing Honda dealer inspect the mower and determine the actual, root problem for the hard starting. Honda issued a Service Bulletin for a defective autochoke and your mower's serial number is in the range of mower that may be affected. Not all mowers in the range have a defective autochoke, nor can I say your mower for sure is having an autochoke problem. But, it is something that should be looked at first when there is a hard starting problem. If it is found to be a factory defect, it will generally be repaired at no charge.

If the actual problem is not a factory defect (for example, old stale fuel, clogged air cleaner, etc.) the dealer can still make repairs, but at your expense. Be sure to authorize any repairs before any work is done on your mower.

Use this link to find a Honda dealer close to your location in New Jersey; just click on MOWERS and SERVICE and enter your ZIP code:

Find A Honda Dealer

robert@honda said:

As you are still under warranty, best to have a servicing Honda dealer inspect the mower and determine the actual, root problem for the hard starting. Honda issued a Service Bulletin for a defective autochoke and your mower's serial number is in the range of mower that may be affected. Not all mowers in the range have a defective autochoke, nor can I say your mower for sure is having an autochoke problem. But, it is something that should be looked at first when there is a hard starting problem. If it is found to be a factory defect, it will generally be repaired at no charge.

If the actual problem is not a factory defect (for example, old stale fuel, clogged air cleaner, etc.) the dealer can still make repairs, but at your expense. Be sure to authorize any repairs before any work is done on your mower.

Use this link to find a Honda dealer close to your location in New Jersey; just click on MOWERS and SERVICE and enter your ZIP code:

Find A Honda Dealer

Click to expand...

Hello : I am taking it to a Honda dealer and service center in Deptford New Jersey tomorrow .It is still under warranty and I hope Honda will do whatever is necessary to repair or replace any defective parts. It does seem to be the carb. I will let everyone know how this go's . Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and time to give a helping hand. I trust Honda will do the right thing.

robert@honda said:

As you are still under warranty, best to have a servicing Honda dealer inspect the mower and determine the actual, root problem for the hard starting. Honda issued a Service Bulletin for a defective autochoke and your mower's serial number is in the range of mower that may be affected. Not all mowers in the range have a defective autochoke, nor can I say your mower for sure is having an autochoke problem. But, it is something that should be looked at first when there is a hard starting problem. If it is found to be a factory defect, it will generally be repaired at no charge.

If the actual problem is not a factory defect (for example, old stale fuel, clogged air cleaner, etc.) the dealer can still make repairs, but at your expense. Be sure to authorize any repairs before any work is done on your mower.

Use this link to find a Honda dealer close to your location in New Jersey; just click on MOWERS and SERVICE and enter your ZIP code:

Find A Honda Dealer

Click to expand...

this afternoon I took my mower to Deptford New Jersey Honda dealer. The man that looked at it tried to start it after I told him about the " extremely hard to start problem " and he had the same results. He then fiddled around with the choke . Then he tried to start it again and it started right up on the first pull. Then he told me he would install a " new larger choke plate " that would remedy this condition at no cost to me. Sounds good to me as long as it works. There shop is one of the best I have ever seen. Thanks again ; Dan. I will let all of you know how it performs at our home when I pick it up.

briggstoro said:

this afternoon I took my mower to Deptford New Jersey Honda dealer. The man that looked at it tried to start it after I told him about the " extremely hard to start problem " and he had the same results. He then fiddled around with the choke . Then he tried to start it again and it started right up on the first pull. Then he told me he would install a " new larger choke plate " that would remedy this condition at no cost to me. Sounds good to me as long as it works. There shop is one of the best I have ever seen. Thanks again ; Dan. I will let all of you know how it performs at our home when I pick it up.

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Dan- Any updates here?

Also, has anyone tried converting to a manual choke?

Here is my update . Depfort Honda said they would order the replacement choke plate form the Honda parts distribution center down south ; so I waited a week and gave them a call . I was told the part hasn't arrived yet ; so I waited another week and called them again ; still no part . Days later I called again and , by now , my lawn is was overdue for a cutting. Feed-up I called the Honda distribution center and informed them of the situation . The representative I spoke to told me she would look into it and call me back with a status report . Sure enough she did . She apologized for Honda and informed me my mower was being repaired as we spoke and I could pick it up later that day . Sense then I haven't had a problem with it . I am glad to have it back . I needed to get more involved than I wanted to but that's what made the difference . Now , only time will tell if this problem surfaces again . The representative at the Honda distribution center did tell me they are aware of the problem with this fault and would be monitoring this model and make all the necessary changes to the auto-choke . Thanks Dan.