Wondering what my options are with my honda mower (SN MAGA-2062682). My dad has had honda mowers, blowers for a long time, never a problem, so my wife and I replaced her toro that wouldn't run consistently with a honda. Found a deal on CL for a new, in the box mower. Picked it up, and ran like a top that first season. The whole summer, all it saw was non-oxy fuel, btw. Winter comes, and I winterized it according to the book, and dumped any remaining fuel from the gas can in my car. Next season, starts hard, and surges when not under load. Over the course of the summer, it gets worse, until it won't run at all. I have the local small engine guy give it a tune up, and it starts right up, although the surging is still there. Again, winterize according to the book. This year, I go out, and I can't get the thing to run. My dad's never had this many problems with his honda. Whats going on?
I tried calling honda to ask about the warranty (I was the one who registered it), and I would just get recordings saying to go to the dealer. Dealers tell me that they'll tune it up, for a fee. It doesn't seem like I should have to have the carb cleaned 2x/year to have a decent mower. Is there something I'm missing here? The SN is too early for a recall under the auto-choke tsb, but my engine does say it has that "feature".
#2
robert@honda
Surging can almost always be tied to a fuel/air mixture issue. Often, it's a bit of slime or debris clogging up the tiny holes and passageways inside the carburetor. Further, if determined to due to the fuel, that's typically not considered a factory defect and repair(s) is not covered under the warranty terms.
Your HRX is fitted with an Autochoke, which works by changing the position of the choke plate by responding to cylinder head temps. If the autochoke is not making good contact, or any part of the linkage is binding, sticking, etc., that affects the ease (difficulty) of starting as well. Repairs due to defective Autochoke are usually covered under warranty.
Since the mower has plenty of factory warranty available, probably should have a Honda dealer look over the mower for a full inspection and evaluation.
