New HRX Frustration

[Gescha]

I am just waiting for a call from them at the moment. Due to having my car in the shop for service I won't be able to get the mower to the dealer until later this week. While I may be experiencing a bit of buyers remorse, I do know what's at stake; not being able buy a new Honda mower come spring 2024.

I currently have an HRS216 that runs well and after 3 seasons continues to amaze me with its cut quality and reliability. The hope was that this HRX would take over for the HRS in having a bagging option and superior mulching capabilities. I would hold onto the HRS as a backup mower and possibly for side jobs where it light weight and side discharge capabilities are useful.

I guess I am torn at the moment!

It is so unfortunate when these type things happen. I know you'd like to have that Honda. I also am a Honda fan.
But, once I have this kind of problem with something that is new......well, I would have to return it.
I restore old Honda Motorcycles and have rebuilt Honda mowers and generators for people. I'm about as careful as a person can be....but, I've made mistakes. Trust me, I'm sure they have a good tech.....but, he doesn't care about your equipment at the same level as you do. I just simply would not accept what should be a brand new machine that has already been torn down once and now perhaps has to be done again. Even if by some miracle they get it running correctly, there will always be doubt and concern with it.
Get a full refund.
Even Honda makes bad items.
We bought a brand new Accord that pulled to the right so bad it was physically tiring to drive. The Honda dealer actually told us it was a safety device so that if you fell asleep while on a 2 lane road the car would run off the road to the right which would avoid a head on collision. We fought with that dealership for weeks and they couldn't fix that problem. It ruined that "new car experience ".
I finally called Honda Corporate in Japan. It took 10 minutes for them to find someone who could speak English. They flew a guy in from the Honda zone office in Dallas within 2 days. And we got a full refund.
Do what you have to do to return that mower that's giving you trouble from the very beginning.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

If it was me I'd get rid of it asap. If they won't refund your money, get it repaired at their expense and sell it. Don't spend any of your own money repairing it if the dealer can't (or won't) fix it. In any case sell it for whatever you can get, and buy a cheap gas or a high rated electric mower. Nobody makes a really good gas powered walk behind anymore. Maybe Toro, but for what price?

Why?
1. Honda isn't what it used be, in fact they have abandoned the gasoline powered walk behind mower business. Don't expect great customer service or great availability of supplies after year 4.
2. Honda has been underinvesting in the gas mower business for about a decade, doing only marginal cosmetic and engineering improvements so the mowers just met EPA requirements. The result is what you are seeing: recalls and finicky engines that won't start.
3. You've got a non working new and recalled unit and the dealer didn't fix right and isn't being helpful. What makes you expect anything to improve either the mower or dealer?
4. The EPA is putting the screws to the small gas engine powered mower, making them hard to make and keep running. Don't buy one if you can avoid it (buy electric). If you must buy gas, buy the cheapest one you can find that will do the job, because no small gas mower engine made today is going to last for long.

I loved Honda mowers. Not anymore. I managed our little community beach and two homes, so I kept several Honda mid level mowers around. Yes, they were more expensive, but they lasted and would start even if an incompetent 16 YO kid mowed the beach with one. However the last one I purchased (for my own home) 2 years ago was a disaster. From the first use it was hard starting, smoked after starting, and vibrated so much that I used padded gloves. I immediately took it back to the dealer, driving 40 miles each way. The dealer took the engine apart and replaced the shaft. I brought it home and it still vibrated, although he'd fixed the smoking and starting issues. So back it went to try again. I sold it after the second attempt failed to fix the vibrations. In desperation I bought what I could find, which was a cheap Craftsman mower with the stupid Chinese "Briggs and Stratton" engine that claims I will never have to change the oil. It will die at an early age, but its so cheap I could have bought two for the price of one Honda.

Dad7432 says “no small gas engines made today are going to last long.”
This is such a totally wrong statement. So all Kawasaki, Kohler, and Briggs and Stratton engines that are new have short lives? Couldn’t be farther from the truth. Please explain why this is the case.

 

[cruzenmike]

Thank you for all of the feedback. I ended up returning the mower. It is the end of the season here in SE Michigan and I was really hoping to use this mower for my final fall cleanup but due to timing I ended up having to do without. While they did offer to come pick the mower up, as they should have, I was not able to set something up for them to get it so I ended up driving it to the dealer one day after work. They did not have an issue returning it, so I am not at all disappointed in their service, just bummed that things did not work out the way that I had hoped.

I currently mow about 3/4 of an acre of grass, and while a 21" mower is not ideal, we still find a use whether it be intermittently mowing just our fenced in back yard, mowing the perimeter of the property and under the trees, or if we are feeling like it, we even mow our large front yard. My wife really likes to push mow for exercise even though she doesn't have to. This was the main reason for selling off my Exmark Radius.

Between now and next year I will just keep an eye on the used marked and see if anything good pops up that I might want to get. For a short period of time I was using a Lawn Boy (Toro made) with the self-propelled system similar to Personal Pace and really liked it. Maybe if I find a used Super Recycler in good condition I might give it a try.

Thanks again!

 

[Scott_HRR]

Sorry, this is a long one….

I have been a loyal fan and owner of Honda lawnmowers, having had at least one Honda walk behind mower while also buying, using and selling every kind of riding mower and zero turn you can think of. Earlier this year I purchased an HRX217K4VKA from a recent divorcee who didn’t want to mess with mowing her own lawn. The mower needed a tuneup and some replacement parts to get it running properly and after all of the work was done I really enjoyed using it. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I decided to purchase a brand new one with the more powerful GCV200 engine. I ended up selling the older HRX a couple of months ago and right when I wanted to “pull the trigger” on the new mower the stop sale order that Honda issued had just happened so I was now waiting until dealers could start selling them again.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and I got word that the dealer was given the authorization to start making repairs to new stock and selling them. After another two weeks of waiting I got the call that my mower was ready to pick up. This time I opted for the HRX217K6VYA with Roto Stop. Figuring that I mow some rather large areas and deal with many sticks and frequent bag dumping, this seemed like a logical decision.

Now for the frustrating part….

When I got the call from the dealer on Monday I was told that my mower would be ready the next day but my sales person was not going to be in. So I decided to wait until Wednesday to pick it up. After work Wednesday I drove (20 miles) out of my way on an already long day (late start day) to arrive at the dealer to find out after the sales person searched around for my mower for 15 minutes that it was never repaired (recall work). The sales person spoke with the Manager who said that as a courtesy they would deliver it to wherever I wanted (work or home) after the repairs would be completed the next day. Of course I was concerned that now the fix would be “rushed” and I was told that it was no big deal to get it done in a couple of hours. Mind you, one of my first conversations with the sales person when I started the process of buying the mower was that I had concerns about a brand new mower being torn apart when there was a 75% chance that the mower was unaffected by the recall to begin with.

The new day my mower is delivered to my work and I took it home and put it away for a couple of days until the ground dried out a bit. Closing in on winter I figured that I would be using it once or twice and then putting it away until next spring. Come Saturday I go outside to start it up and it will not start. I started second guessing if so had done anything wrong, because this is slightly different than my last two (VKA variants). Checked oil, full, gas tank topped off with fresh ethanol-free fuel, fuel shut-off in the open position, throttle in the run position and pull….. nothing. As I kept pulling I would intermittently hear a very faint popping sound, but not a backfire, and a small puff of smoke would come out of the muffler. I double checked everything again and kept trying but it never started.

I called the dealer and spoke with the sales person who then got me on FaceTime with the technician who made the recall repairs on my mower and he had me try starting it and asked me a handful of questions. He was trying to figure out if there was sufficient compression when pulling on the string. I believe that what I am feeling when I pull the string is “normal” so I am not sure if it has anything to do with compression. Thinking that the engine might have been flooded he suggested that I check the spark plug which I did. It was not wet or fouled out. I had a brand new spark plug on the shelf so I went ahead and changed it anyway just in case there was something wrong with the one that was in there. It still would not start. The sales person and technician advised that I would need to bring it in to have it looked at.

At this point I just don’t know what to do. This is a brand new mower that cost me $950 out the door and will have the engine torn apart for the second time now without ever being ran and now with the leaves having already fallen in my yard I don’t need to cut anymore this year. So now I just have a really bad “taste in my mouth” and feel as if I should just try and return it. I know that these mowers will no longer be available in the future but maybe I would have better luck buying a two year old HRX with the GCV200 that was manufactured before the issue began and is still under some sort of warranty.

If you care to comment, what would you do?

Thanks in advance!

The recall was for defective cam shafts which does not require a tear down to replace, it’s actually a pretty easy job. My guess is they had some kid throw the cam in there and never made sure it was timed properly. It should be easily corrected if this is what the problem is, but they need someone who has basic knowledge to insure the cam is timed properly before the timing belt is put on.

Fuel below the carb is an indication the needle seat in the carb is not seating properly. Also another easy fix but once the mower starts it would run normally even if the float wasn’t seating.

 

[cruzenmike]

The recall was for defective cam shafts which does not require a tear down to replace, it’s actually a pretty easy job. My guess is they had some kid throw the cam in there and never made sure it was timed properly. It should be easily corrected if this is what the problem is, but they need someone who has basic knowledge to insure the cam is timed properly before the timing belt is put on.

Fuel below the carb is an indication the needle seat in the carb is not seating properly. Also another easy fix but once the mower starts it would run normally even if the float wasn’t seating.

I am quite certain that it would be an easy fix, but it should not have had to be done. At this point I am just going to continue on mowing with my HRS and old Craftsman rider. I am really hoping to move in the next year or so. At that point I will either being downsizing my yard and will likely get by just fine with the HRS or we will be getting more property which will require a much larger mower (tractor) than what I currently have. With that being said, I am quite content just accepting what has happened. If a good deal on a used 190cc HRX or a Toro Recycler/Super Recycler comes up, I may entertain the idea, but I do not see myself buying a new self-propelled mower anytime soon.

 

[cruzenmike]

Found a brand new HRX217VYA still in the box and unaffected by the recall. Picking it up this weekend. Doesn't get any better than that!

 

[Wolfepack88]

Found a brand new HRX217VYA still in the box and unaffected by the recall. Picking it up this weekend. Doesn't get any better than that!

That's sweet!!