What's wrong with my Honda Lawnmower? Almost pulled my arm off! Repair? New mower?

[MowerMark]

This wonderful Honda Lawnmower has been reliable. Occasionally there's initial white exhaust, but it always starts with two pulls. Last oil change was three years ago, last spark plug change six years ago. The mower is used 0-2x/week on 1500 sq. ft. of lawn.

Today half of the lawn was mowed, then emptied the bag. Tried restarting the mower and OUCH. The cord pulled back about halfway during the pull. Never has done this before. Pulled again once, and it would not start. Pulled again and the cord met with extreme resistance halfway through the pull again. I gave up and left the section not done.

What would you now do? Seems it's better to buy a new mower than to endure taking it in for repair. I do have replacement oil and a new spark plug.

If a new mower is indicated, which one to get? California will stop selling gas mowers in the future, but it's difficult to imagine mowing with a long extension cord.

 

[kbowley]

Hard to diag via text. However, my guess is the either the plastic overhead cam broke or the nylon timing belt broke. remove the valve cover and have a peak. It is quite easy to remove the cover.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

Remove the spark plug and check the spark timing with compression simultaneously . A helper to pull the rope .

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

This wonderful Honda Lawnmower has been reliable. Occasionally there's initial white exhaust, but it always starts with two pulls. Last oil change was three years ago, last spark plug change six years ago. The mower is used 0-2x/week on 1500 sq. ft. of lawn.

Today half of the lawn was mowed, then emptied the bag. Tried restarting the mower and OUCH. The cord pulled back about halfway during the pull. Never has done this before. Pulled again once, and it would not start. Pulled again and the cord met with extreme resistance halfway through the pull again. I gave up and left the section not done.

What would you now do? Seems it's better to buy a new mower than to endure taking it in for repair. I do have replacement oil and a new spark plug.

If a new mower is indicated, which one to get? California will stop selling gas mowers in the future, but it's difficult to imagine mowing with a long extension cord.

Remove the spark plug and see how it feels while pulling the rope.
If the cam or timing belt broke, there will be no compression.
Removing the valve cover on a Honda requires a heat gun, small pry tool, and patience. Uses RTV sealant, not gasket.
Did you hit something? A recoil rope pulling back hard when trying to start is often a sheared flywheel key?
If you live in California, now is the time to buy a real lawnmower with an engine. Fix your Honda. They are solid machines.

 

[kbowley]

Remove the spark plug and see how it feels while pulling the rope.
If the cam or timing belt broke, there will be no compression.
Removing the valve cover on a Honda requires a heat gun, small pry tool, and patience. Uses RTV sealant, not gasket.
Did you hit something? A recoil rope pulling back hard when trying to start is often a sheared flywheel key?
If you live in California, now is the time to buy a real lawnmower with an engine. Fix your Honda. They are solid machines.

If both valves are closed there will be compression if the belt broke. But I agree that the flywheel may have slipped if something was hit solid. Hopefully that's the problem but he didnt mention a blade strike so I doubt it. If that was the case you would not have abnormal resistance when pulling it over which leads me to the mylar cam belt. Try removing the plug and pulling it over, it will likely pull without any resistance. It is not hard to take the valve cover off. if it is RTV simply tap a very small screwdriver into the mating surface and gently pry it off. I have seen many of those GCV's cam belts break. If you are not comfortable taking the cover off, bring to a shop and have it diagnosed.

 

[MowerMark]

No blade strike. Spark plug looks good. Picture taken. Replaced plug--->. still won't start. Two local repair shops not answering the phone. This mower its at least 15 years old and I'm not skilled enough to repair it myself. Some of your repair troubleshooting is like a foreign language!!

Thinking of getting a battery-operated self-propelled mower, such as

• Ryobi 40V Brushless 20 inch with 6.0 Ah Battery and Charger. ($429)
• Greenworks 40V. 21" with 5.0 Ah battery & charger ($359)
• EGO Power. 21". 56 V. 5.0Ah
• Greenworks 48V. 17". 4.0 Ah. ($239)

Any comments or suggestions?

 

[hlw49]

Broken compression release.

 

[MowerMark]

Broken compression release.

Is it cost-effective to have a "compression release" repaired on this old mower?

 

[kbowley]

Not on a 15 yr. old Honda. The engine must be fully disassembled. Tons of good used ones for sale on Criag's list and Facebook marketplace.

 

[StarTech]

Not on a 15 yr. old Honda. The engine must be fully disassembled. Tons of good used ones for sale on Criag's list and Facebook marketplace.

First depends on the overall condition. Some are ragged out and other are in very good condition.

It also depends on the engine. Many Honda engines on walk behinds the camshaft pulley (which has the ACR on it) can be remove without full disassembly but engine must removed from the mower deck. The camshaft on the GCV 160 and 190 can be removed once the rocker cover is remove (which is pain unless the cover is sheared off). It is when the timing belt is damage that the engine must fully disassemble.

Also the instructions on checking the crankshaft to cam timing is in the following image.