Honda HRX217K5VAA dead engine options

[Chathamite]

I am looking for advice on a Honda HRX217K5VKAA mower (manufactured 2-14-2016) with a dead engine. The engine has no compression – I did a compression test, checked to see if a valve was stuck open (both opened and closed fine) and have reached the conclusion it has a broken rod. I removed the spark plug and inserted a dowel rod to see if the piston would move the rod when pulling the starter rope and it did not. Am I missing something else to check?


The deck is in pristine condition and the self-propelled appears to work when moving the belt by hand.

My options are I think:

1. Part it out-many of the engine components, the wheels and blades are in nearly-new condition

2. Find a donor GVC190 engine on another machine and transfer the new engine to the current deck

3. Find a GVC160 engine (plenty around with decks rusted beyond repair) and install it on the HRX217 if possible.

4. Repair the current GVC190 engine.

5. Buy a new engine

I considered repairing it and giving it to my son (although he is a die-hard Toro fan) or selling the mower as-is on Facebook Marketplace.

I have viewed many YouTube videos and visited other forums to see if a GVC160 to GVC190 is possible and have mixed results. Many say it is possible, except for the mounting bolt-holes may be slightly different.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

I am looking for advice on a Honda HRX217K5VKAA mower (manufactured 2-14-2016) with a dead engine. The engine has no compression – I did a compression test, checked to see if a valve was stuck open (both opened and closed fine) and have reached the conclusion it has a broken rod. I removed the spark plug and inserted a dowel rod to see if the piston would move the rod when pulling the starter rope and it did not. Am I missing something else to check?


The deck is in pristine condition and the self-propelled appears to work when moving the belt by hand.

My options are I think:

1. Part it out-many of the engine components, the wheels and blades are in nearly-new condition

2. Find a donor GVC190 engine on another machine and transfer the new engine to the current deck

3. Find a GVC160 engine (plenty around with decks rusted beyond repair) and install it on the HRX217 if possible.

4. Repair the current GVC190 engine.

5. Buy a new engine

I considered repairing it and giving it to my son (although he is a die-hard Toro fan) or selling the mower as-is on Facebook Marketplace.

I have viewed many YouTube videos and visited other forums to see if a GVC160 to GVC190 is possible and have mixed results. Many say it is possible, except for the mounting bolt-holes may be slightly different.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Option 6 would be scrap it. Attempting engine swaps on Honda self-propelled mowers can be a pain. In order for it to be easy, finding a GCV190 would be best, and also difficult to find. You would be better off buying a used Honda mower over most of the options.

 

[Chathamite]

Thank you for your reply. I already have a HRX217K6 model purchased last year from Home Depot, and it truly is a great mower. I have noticed that many of the parts for the K5 and K6 are interchangeable, so keeping the parts (wheels, transmission, blades) may be a good choice if no donor engine becomes available.

 

[Auto Doc's]

I am looking for advice on a Honda HRX217K5VKAA mower (manufactured 2-14-2016) with a dead engine. The engine has no compression – I did a compression test, checked to see if a valve was stuck open (both opened and closed fine) and have reached the conclusion it has a broken rod. I removed the spark plug and inserted a dowel rod to see if the piston would move the rod when pulling the starter rope and it did not. Am I missing something else to check?


The deck is in pristine condition and the self-propelled appears to work when moving the belt by hand.

My options are I think:

1. Part it out-many of the engine components, the wheels and blades are in nearly-new condition

2. Find a donor GVC190 engine on another machine and transfer the new engine to the current deck

3. Find a GVC160 engine (plenty around with decks rusted beyond repair) and install it on the HRX217 if possible.

4. Repair the current GVC190 engine.

5. Buy a new engine

I considered repairing it and giving it to my son (although he is a die-hard Toro fan) or selling the mower as-is on Facebook Marketplace.

I have viewed many YouTube videos and visited other forums to see if a GVC160 to GVC190 is possible and have mixed results. Many say it is possible, except for the mounting bolt-holes may be slightly different.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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