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Hello, I saw a post where someone asked if they could swap a GCV 190 from a power washer to a HRX217 Lawn mower. It never got answered because the person found another fix.

I have the same issue where I have a trashed lawn mower that has a GCV 190 in it (HRX217) and I have the option to purchase a power washer pretty cheap.

The lawn mower info is HRX217K5VKAA - MAGA-2461322 (on the block also shows GJAAA-3155348 MU8)
The power washer is GCV190LA G5B 104 - GJAAA-7733599 G5B

So they both seem very similar, but I am worried about the possibility of the crankshaft length, and or the sump cover being slightly different and not mating up.

The reason for using vertical shaft engines in pressure washers is because they are the cheapest engines it is possible to make
So ordering engines with a non standard crankshaft that would push the price up is counter productive to cost cutting
Pressure washers with the far better quality horizontal shaft engine will often have a shorter or custom PTO shaft because the cheapest possible price is not as important when you are making a quality product and not a throw away product .

bertsmobile1 said:

The reason for using vertical shaft engines in pressure washers is because they are the cheapest engines it is possible to make
So ordering engines with a non standard crankshaft that would push the price up is counter productive to cost cutting
Pressure washers with the far better quality horizontal shaft engine will often have a shorter or custom PTO shaft because the cheapest possible price is not as important when you are making a quality product and not a throw away product .

Click to expand...

So what you are say is, a pressure washer engine that is vertical shaft just might work, provided the crankshaft is correct length and diameter on a mower for an engine swap?

I do not do many but all the ones I have seen were a std 7/8 ø" PTO with full length key slot

Ok, so I think I may have found an answer to my question. Everything is in spec except for one huge issue. The crank isn't threaded on any of the other model types except the ones exclusive to lawn mowers. You would have to get a machine shop to tap the crank (which is a hardened steel) with the correct thread pitch to work. Hopefully this will answer this for anyone else looking to try and do the same thing.

Yes, I did this 2 years ago so I am on my 3rd mowing season. Acquired an good deck, good transmission (important!) HRX that threw a rod & busted the top end but everything else in the engine looked fine even, surprisingly, the crank. The 190 was off a unneeded PW that I had lying around. So, in short: sump, governor gear, & crank from HRX; rod, top end, piston, rings, valves, & cam from PW. Actually the latter 4 parts were probably okay on the HRX but the PW parts seemed a little less worn ... judgement call. Sump on PW 190 was in good shape but it had unthreaded bolt holes which is common with PW's because the engine bolts to the frame vs being threaded into the engine thru the mower deck. Being able to use the crank from the mower was especially fortunate because it was the version used on the HRX blade clutch models.