Good morning, guys. I purchased a new Honda HRX2176HYA this past summer. It has the new 200 engine which runs very smooth, plenty and power and I just love it. I replace an older HRX217 that had the 190 engine and had a manual choke. If you had to pull it over twice to start their was something wrong with it no matter if it had been setting over the winter or what. This new Honda has the automatic choke and once you get it started it will start on the first pull while using it or maybe even the next day. But it you try to start it a week later it is very hard to start. I have taken the air filter off and the choke butterfly is closing completely so I can't come up with any idea why it is hard to start after sitting a few days. I'm just curious whether anyone else has this mower and is experiencing the same problem and if this is just the way of the new Hondas. If anyone knows of a reason that could cause it to be hard to start with the automatic choke I would appreciate hearing that. Thanks!
Honda HRX2176HYA Hard to Start
- Thread starter Rednec
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mechanic mark
Lawn Pro
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If you store your mower in a climate controlled building should have no problem. If in an out building without heat you may have a problem.
It did it all summer long. After it would start once it would start on first pull for the rest of that mowing. I usually mowed every week and when it sat for a week and I got ready to use it again was when the problem would appear. Sometimes I had to pull on it at least 10-12 times which is highly unusual for the Hondas I am accustomed to with a manual choke. Usually 1 or 2 pulls would do the trick. As I stated in my earlier post the choke butterfly is closing so I don't see how the automatic choke has anything to do with it. This is what puzzles me as I can't figure out what would be causing the hard starting.
First, your mower ought to be under warranty so your best bet may be to take it in. But the link below is what worked for me on an out of warranty HRX217 and I send it along because you have some experience with, and liked, a manual choke.
www.lawnmowerforum.com
Convert HRX217 autochoke to manual
Got my first (used) mower with the autochoke, a "feature" that many folks dislike. I, too, had problems with it's operation even though the thermowax part seemed to be working properly. I decided to see if I could simply convert it to manual since I have a bunch of Honda carb parts that I saved...
www.lawnmowerforum.com
Thanks for the tip. I had considered trying to convert it to a manual choke but never dreamed it could be done so simple. I am definitely going to try that on mine. Hope it works so I can again have a Honda that will always start on the first or second pull.
bertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
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Converting auto chokes to manual chokes and smart switches to dumb key switches has become bread & butter jobs over recient times.
My Honda GCV160 got so hard to start that I thought I would pull my arm out of socket, until I found this video on Youtube......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlxVZCtPpHA.............ordered the parts to match my specific engine from Ebay.....problem solved. It started on the first crank. It fixed the auto choke problem I was having for $19. But be sure you look up the parts diagram for your specific engine to be sure you're ordering the correct parts.
Just an update on the Honda HRX2176HYA. I started taking the carb off of the mower this afternoon to start making the auto choke to manual choke conversion that JBtoro posted about. When I got the carb off I noticed that the choke butterfly didn't fill the throat up. I had an older carb that I had taken off an old mower that had a manual choke and when I looked at the butterfly in it I noticed that it was a bit bigger than the new one. I pulled the butterfly out of both carbs and replaced the butterfly in the new carb with the older butterfly. After putting it back together and adding a little bit of gas to the tank (I had already winterized it by burning all the fuel out of it) I pulled it and lo and behold it started on the first pull. It had been about 3 weeks since it had been started and as I said I had winterized it then. I am attaching a photo of the two butterflies. As you can see the butterfly on the left is a little larger and it is from the older honda carb that I had laying around that had a manual choke. You wouldn't think that that little bit of size would make that much difference but I think it definitely fixed my problem. So anyone that is having a problem with one of the auto choke honda's starting when it is cold you might try this fix. If you don't have an old carb setting around I'm sure if you know anyone that fixes honda mowers they will have an old one lying around that you can steal a butterfly from. Thanks to everyone that offered suggestions on how to remedy my situation.
