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I pull the starter rope, and it feels like no compression. Previously, the mower would always start on the second pull. When I've used the motor, I generally run it out of gas before storing. The tank was completely empty of gas when I pulled it out of storage this time around, which confirms to me that I didn't forget to do what I usually do.

I have not taken apart the carburetor. I have also never drained the carburetor bowl, because the amount of disassembly required just to even see the carburetor, much less access it, appeared intimidating. I thought that running the mower completely out of gas would be enough. Maybe it isn't?

Yet, even if I had a brand new carburetor, it doesn't feel like there is any compression when I pull the start rope. It feels very different than it used to from previous years. I can hear that the motor is turning, but I can't feel any resistance through the start rope like I previously was able to feel.

The mower has a GXV140 engine, Engine Serial # GJAB-7402xxx.

The mower is an HRB215HXA, Mower Serial # is MZBA-6336xxx. It was manufactured in the USA. I purchased it brand new in 1998, for around $700.00 at the time.

Any help or suggestions as to how I can get this mower running again would be greatly appreciated!

HON said:

but I can't feel any resistance through the start rope like I previously was able to feel.

The mower has a GXV140 engine, Engine Serial # GJAB-7402xxx.

The mower is an HRB215HXA, Mower Serial # is MZBA-6336xxx. It was manufactured in the USA. I purchased it brand new in 1998, for around $700.00 at the time.

Any help or suggestions as to how I can get this mower running again would be greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

No compression possibles:

Loose spark plug
Valve(s) stuck open
Broken compression release

Start with the easy stuff. Remove and inspect/replace spark plug.

Any chance somebody else used it since you last did?

Thank you Robert, for your suggestions. I was hoping you would visit this thread. I joined due to reading your previous posts.

The spark plug was sufficiently tight... no leakage there. I removed and reinstalled it anyway.

I ve only read about Hondas having a compression release mechanism, but I have no idea what it is, where it is located, or how to check to see if that is the issue. And that seems like the next logical step to for me to do. How do I do that.?

HON said:

Thank you Robert, for your suggestions. I was hoping you would visit this thread. I joined due to reading your previous posts.

The spark plug was sufficiently tight... no leakage there. I removed and reinstalled it anyway.

I ve only read about Hondas having a compression release mechanism, but I have no idea what it is, where it is located, or how to check to see if that is the issue. And that seems like the next logical step to for me to do. How do I do that.?

Click to expand...

Did you do a spark check? Getting nice bright spark on the plug?

Getting to the decompressor means engine removal and partial tear down, as the device is mounted onto the backside of the driven gear of the camshaft.

Hello,

Here is a YouTube video, where the valve cover was dented enough in to keep the valves from closing.

https://youtu.be/qcBZTObWX28

Regards

Jeff

Good advice from Robert - New plug fixed mine, old would not work for some reason.

FYI - my 1999 HRB215HRX compression measured around 138 (psi) cold and 140 hot. I had to remove the exhaust valve lifter (easy to do) in order to get an accurate reading. Without the exhaust valve lifter removed it was reading around 50 - 60.

The 140 psi seemed too good to be true so I tried an older compression gauge and it read around 125 with a slow leak (gauge hose leak) so I'm curious if 140 psi is indeed possible.

Would be interested to know what readings you're getting.

HON said:

I pull the starter rope, and it feels like no compression. Previously, the mower would always start on the second pull. When I've used the motor, I generally run it out of gas before storing. The tank was completely empty of gas when I pulled it out of storage this time around, which confirms to me that I didn't forget to do what I usually do.

I have not taken apart the carburetor. I have also never drained the carburetor bowl, because the amount of disassembly required just to even see the carburetor, much less access it, appeared intimidating. I thought that running the mower completely out of gas would be enough. Maybe it isn't?

Yet, even if I had a brand new carburetor, it doesn't feel like there is any compression when I pull the start rope. It feels very different than it used to from previous years. I can hear that the motor is turning, but I can't feel any resistance through the start rope like I previously was able to feel.

The mower has a GXV140 engine, Engine Serial # GJAB-7402xxx.

The mower is an HRB215HXA, Mower Serial # is MZBA-6336xxx. It was manufactured in the USA. I purchased it brand new in 1998, for around $700.00 at the time.

Any help or suggestions as to how I can get this mower running again would be greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

If you can hold your thumb over the spark plug hole & pull the rope, & get no build up, you may have a 'hung valve' (Stuck open). You could add some Seafoam right into the spark plug hole & let it sit overnight, then try pulling the rope again.

And you not draining the carb bowl completely by removing it, I would suggest you use a gas stabilizer like Seafoam* to keep the gas good till next use.

Still have same mower, still have same problem.

I solved my issues previously be simply using a different mower.

This season, I'd like to get back to using my Honda.

Where is the best place to obtain a factory service manual for the HRB215HXA with the GXV140 vertical shaft engine?

I hate to pull this thing apart myself, but the hourly labor rates at all the local repair shops exceed my weekly pay at the moment.

HON said:

Still have same mower, still have same problem.

I solved my issues previously be simply using a different mower.

This season, I'd like to get back to using my Honda.

Where is the best place to obtain a factory service manual for the HRB215HXA with the GXV140 vertical shaft engine?

I hate to pull this thing apart myself, but the hourly labor rates at all the local repair shops exceed my weekly pay at the moment.

Click to expand...

I was under the impression that Honda had free factory service manuals available, but this is all I could find.

https://publications.powerequipment.honda.com/details/61VE2640E5

Here is a free PDF for the engine alone.

http://www.honda-engines-eu.com/shop-manuals?e=0_66&p=all&d=all&l=all&t=all

HON said:

Still have same mower, still have same problem.

I solved my issues previously be simply using a different mower.

This season, I'd like to get back to using my Honda.

Where is the best place to obtain a factory service manual for the HRB215HXA with the GXV140 vertical shaft engine?

I hate to pull this thing apart myself, but the hourly labor rates at all the local repair shops exceed my weekly pay at the moment.

Click to expand...

Honda put their factory manuals on ebay and Amazon.
They are not much chop if you are not mechanically competiant & familiar with small engines.
A funny format that probably suits Japanese more than English.
I can see you hate working on your mower as the things you were asked to check back then have not been done.

So start by cleaning the mower.
Then remove the rocker cover
Note that Honda use metric fasteners.
Depending upon which variation you have the rocker cover could have a gasket or be glued on with silicon.
When you have it off turn the engine over by hand and watch the valves.
The valves are the same length so should sit at the same height when fully closed.'So if one is stuck it will be lower than the other on the firing stroke.
Back in 16 you were given the possible causes.
1) stuck valve
2) stuck decompressor ( very rare )
3) blown head gasket
4) hole in the piston
5) stuck rings

These have not changed.
Assuming you lost compression during storage the prime suspects are
1) stuck valve
2) stuck rings.

Running your engine dry before storage is always a good thing to do but depending upon your local weather , removing the spark plug and tipping around a teaspoon worth of oil into the cylinder then turning the engine over slowly a few times plug removed is a good idea to prevent rust happening inside over the off season.
It does not take much to condense enough water inside the cylinder to allow rust to happen.

Now if you have problems with wrenching because your 5 thumbs get in the way, no worries.If you do not understand how to do a task we will happily show you.
But it has to be a two way street as all we have to go on is what you type and we read.

Sparkland said:

I was under the impression that Honda had free factory service manuals available, but this is all I could find.

https://publications.powerequipment.honda.com/details/61VE2640E5

Here is a free PDF for the engine alone.

http://www.honda-engines-eu.com/shop-manuals?e=0_66&p=all&d=all&l=all&t=all

Click to expand...

Thank you Sparkland.

I went ahead and purchased the HRB215 Lawn Mower Service manual from the American Honda Power Equipment website you linked to... and the Parts lists for both the K3 (what I have) and K4 (what superceded my model), as well as the 7 ring binder to keep the three publications neat and tidy. I feel like a fool for spending so much ($92) when it seems like after 20 years, this information should be available online somewhere... but I have found that paper manuals are a lot easier for me to browse and refer back to than manuals that require a computer to be on and running in order to see them.

Plus I've lost a few harddrives, as well as entire computers, to both failure and theft. But no one seems to want to steal books, and books don't have head crashes... so maybe that was my way of justifying spending so much to avoid messing up the lawnmower in ignorance. Not knowing what I don't know is a conundrum.

I did go to the European Honda website and grabbed the pdf file for the GXV140 engine, which saved $39.00. It is hard to read, as the pdf interleaves several languages in between the pages, even though the download section offers the manual seemingly in five separate languages. The truth appears to be that all five links point to the same mulit language manual, which disrupts the continuity of trying to scroll up and down with Adobe's latest version of their pdf reader, wondering if a paragraph in English was missed along the way while wading through the other languages interspersed in the pages. I might end up ordering the manual in print after all.

I did check eBay for manuals. eBay used to present a great value for such things 20 years ago, when dealerships closed or chucked out old service manuals to be replaced by updated ones. But nowadays, ebay has devolved to people selling crude photocopies of service manuals... for nearly the same price as professionally printed and bound versions from the manufacturer, so why give the hucksters on ebay nearly the same amount of money for an inferior reproduction of copyrighted material? (Again, more internal self justification for putting a near $100 hole in my savings to save from ignorance... and most of you probably aren't buying it.)

Thanks again for the links. I'll let you guys know when the manuals arrive.

bertsmobile1 said:

Honda put their factory manuals on ebay and Amazon.
They are not much chop if you are not mechanically competiant & familiar with small engines.
A funny format that probably suits Japanese more than English.
I can see you hate working on your mower as the things you were asked to check back then have not been done.

So start by cleaning the mower.
Then remove the rocker cover
Note that Honda use metric fasteners.
Depending upon which variation you have the rocker cover could have a gasket or be glued on with silicon.
When you have it off turn the engine over by hand and watch the valves.
The valves are the same length so should sit at the same height when fully closed.'So if one is stuck it will be lower than the other on the firing stroke.
Back in 16 you were given the possible causes.
1) stuck valve
2) stuck decompressor ( very rare )
3) blown head gasket
4) hole in the piston
5) stuck rings

These have not changed.
Assuming you lost compression during storage the prime suspects are
1) stuck valve
2) stuck rings.

Running your engine dry before storage is always a good thing to do but depending upon your local weather , removing the spark plug and tipping around a teaspoon worth of oil into the cylinder then turning the engine over slowly a few times plug removed is a good idea to prevent rust happening inside over the off season.
It does not take much to condense enough water inside the cylinder to allow rust to happen.

Now if you have problems with wrenching because your 5 thumbs get in the way, no worries.If you do not understand how to do a task we will happily show you.
But it has to be a two way street as all we have to go on is what you type and we read.

Click to expand...

Well, I can't recall a time when I have so much appreciated being upbraided.

And I mean that in all seriousness... I really DO very much appreciate all the time that you took to break down my predicament as you have done.

With limited indoor workspace, I'm still hampered by the rain, but when it lets up for a long enough spell for me to undertake the service/repair of my mower outside without running for cover, I will systematically go through the checklists suggested by your post as well as upthread, and report my findings. By then, I should be armed with a service manual to prevent me from messing up.

I've taken things apart in the past, and never put them back together... for numerous reasons... so once I decided to use a different mower to get me through last year, it seemed best to keep my non starting mower in one piece until I can complete the tear down, diagnostics, and repair in one fell swoop.

Thanks again for your post.

A local farmer is having a clearance auction this weekend.
For the past 3 months I have been doing one day a week to get all his old stuff up to running order
Included in this lot is a Ditch Witch M422 that was last used in 1981.
The Wisconsin engine had no compression whatsoever.
So we checked the valves were working & closing fully.
They were working so the problem must be rings.
40 minutes with a hot air gun down the plug hole and enough compression to fire & run.
20 minutes of running had the compression fully restored and last week when the listing was happening the agent almost had a heart attack when it fired up before the whole rope had come off the pulley.
Even more so as it was in gear and started to move towards him ( at about 0.2 mph, they are not really fast ).

If we can get you to tell us what is wrong, fixes are generally fairly simple.
The hot air gun fix is amazingly effective on engines that have been left standing for very long times.
It is quite random.
I can get abut 2 years on non use where I am before something rusts .
A friend right on the coast gets about 3 months if he is lucky even when he has oiled the engine properly .

Partial update... the Genuine Honda Factory Service Manual and Parts Catalog arrived, along with the Honda branded 7 ring binder I bought to put the 2 inch thick testaments in.

The second HRB215HXA I have wouldn't start (but had good compression, unlike the first mower of this thread), so I pulled the plug wire and plugged in a spark tester, verifying magneto generated spark.

Then I pulled the plug, connected the plug wire, but left the plug out of the cylinder head, and attached a jumper wire between the threaded body of the plug and the engine block. Spark present.

I did this all at night, so that the spark would be more easily seen. Still didn't start, even with fresh gas bought not 2 hours before hand.

Finally, I removed the plug a second time and sprayed one squirt of starting fluid directly into the cylinder from a rattle can. Fired right up on the first pull.

So the second mower is running now, although after using it I feel that the throttle cable assembly is out of adjustment, where "Choke" is never achieved, because it shuts off at "Slow" instead of "Stop".

The first mower... the one that this thread began with... still awaits attention. But I am now well armed with yet unread factory service information before launching my pathetic attack on it with tools.