I bought a Honda service manual for this mower and the section on cleaning the fuel filter said NOTHING about taking the 3 10mm bolts off to access the part of the fuel tube you need to undo to get to the fuel filter! I had to look on RUclips and saw this video and then cursed a blue storm since this is the first time I've ever had to do it and Honda couldn't be bothered to include this nugget! Thanks for posting this, it really helped and now my mower runs like a greased pig (after I messed with the governor spring to get the max recommended RPMs!).
You just saved me a lot of bucks from buying a new lawnmower. I got this exact type of lawnmowers and went through 2 new carburetors that leaked fuel out the air filter. The latest carburetor I bought off Amazon for about $20, an genuine Honda carburetor but MANUAL CHOKE not an AUTOMATIC CHOKE I needed. I was struggling to make mine run until I watch your video and make a little manual switch and now it runs like a pro. Thank you so much!👍👍
Appreciate you showing how to replace the fuel filter. Should be pretty straightforward now that I’ve watched your video, thanks for taking the time to put it together.
I used a toro as a kid. My older brother mowed the daylights out of that thing with a modest lawn business he ran. Sharpen the blade and a tune up once a year and that thing was like the energizer bunny. I thought Honda would be an upgrade but this hr217 has been nothing but trouble. I regret buying this pos mower!
Have this exact same model. Took it to a pro who replaced the carb with an OEM part. He must have also adjusted the throttle cable. It revs and runs much stronger now. At 10 years old I didn't feel bad.
thanks! I have been troubleshooting my GCV 160 for about 2 days on and off and never thought to look for a filter within the line. Hopefully it fixes my issue of the carb staying open after a few minutes.
Thanks for the video. My auto choke honda starts fine from cold but once it's warm it starts to hunt/race up and down. I stripped and cleaned the carb but I'm now thinking it's the fuel filter you've shown here. Will try cleaning and refitting it and seeing how it responds
I have 1 of these mowers. I have 2 issues! 1) I need to take the air filter off and spray starting fluid a tiny bit to get it started. It has a clean filter. 2) It won't shut off when I let the cable go. I sprayed wd 40 on the kill cable itself and still could see that there was no problem w/ the cable. I pressed back on the throttle itself to shut it off. Thanks!!
i have same mower runs great best mower ever but one small issue when it sits awhile the automatic choke sticks closed and won,t start lucky for me i work on mowers and figured out if you tilt the mower on left side till gas drips out of carb then tilt back to right forcing gas into carb with airfilter out it will start right up and run fine usally all saeson long i know the chock needs to be cleaned by removing carb but doeing this primes the carb and gets you going or removes carb and fix it that way
Thank you so much I I took out my carburetor dipped it in the gasoline for 15 minutes my gas line was clear as brand new started right up thanks 11/22/2021 you the man
On my unit the auto-choke had been removed ! It would only start with a squirt of "Quick Start". I had one successfull start by replacing the plug with an identical NGK heat rangeNo6 but then back to the same old problem ! Now I have gone to the NGK hotest plug No5. No more problem!
I was wondering where the fuel filter was.. for tuneup kits they always just show the canister type external filter. My wifes HRX 217 mower, stalls when she cuts grass usually every other day. We have tall fescue and it is very thick and cut it to 4 inches it grows almost 1 inch a day.. So she is cutting 2 inches of fescue off and mower stalls about 20 times per acre. I will take out the inline filter and put an external in somewhere..
Right young man - very impressed with the methodical way you tackled that. Been catching up with your last few vids......don't comment much but do watch them all ...... eventually lol Keep having fun :)
My Honda is hard starting. I have a Honda HRX217VLA there is a spring mechanism next to the fuel on/off knob. I think that mechanism opens the carb but the spring doesn't move when I grab the blade break bar to start. Wouldn't start until someone moved that mechanism while I pulled the rope. It seems to start and restart easily once the initial start is made.
Good video. That crappy half ass fuel filter that Honda puts in the fuel line is useless. My mower is a little different than yours in that it doesn’t have the auto choke but everyone should install an external fuel filter and avoid problems with the fuel line.
Did the owner put the linkages back on wrong? I did the first time and scared the crap out of me when it went full throttle constantly . not to mention the whole culdesac was outside and knew I was trying a self repair, lol. From bad to worse till I saw the correct connection.
Do You have a favorite Small Self-Propelled Mower that you can recommend for commercial yard work...?.......I am just beginning to mow lawns and I would appreciate knowing which model you think is best........Great Video......Thank You.
On mine the auto-choke sticks closed. It starts right up but when cold but it sputters and blows out black smoke because the choke plate is completely closed. After a couple minutes the thermo wax plunger does it’s thing and pushes the choke plate open then it runs fine, and it always retracts when the engine is cold so I know that is working as it should. The linkage isn’t sticking and everything is clean as can be so why the hell won’t the choke plate crack open when it’s first started, is there supposed to be a vacuum operated choke pull-off or something?
I kind of wish you had stated 'which HRX217 your working on, as mine is the HRX217 HXA, but there are many other HRX217's made, so knowing if this is the same as mine, it's truly hard to tell, but it seems the only way to tell if I have this same issue is to tear it apart, so see if I have the auto-choke (which I believe I have). Thought it would be nice to know this as a fact, before purchasing the parts though. Thanks for the video nonetheless!
My HRX217 wouldn't run after sitting for 4 months. I put new gas in it, but no results. I didn't realize you could move the choke linkage manually. After doing this the engine fired right up. (I used a bungee cord to hold the choke on. It was stuck off.) Once the engine warmed up, the choke unstuck and worked fine. It wouldn't start because it wouldn't start. GRrrr. Thank you for the ideas.
I have a hill and the rpm go up and down stone times and it back fires. It’s a Honda 217 . I need to start it with starting fluid for some reason choke is back . I bought it second hand . Probably 8-15 year old.
Hi, we have a Honda HRX 426 from 2011(Europe, Belgium) Every 10 days I have to pull 6 or 7 times before it starts, then it runs perfect. How come in the beginning it started after 1 pull and now 6 or 7? It has a manual choke.
I had a couple Chinese generators (Honda clone ) do this .. That plastic tube filter is a bad thing , It is just so hard to get to and does no more than an external filter !! Good fix man ..
I have an HRX217. I need to spray a little bit of stating fluid in the airfilter to get it going. I thought I cleaned the carb with the jets. Maybe not good enough? Any ideas?
I have the same mower, I believe I bought it in 07. Anyways Honda had a recall on the fuel tanks and fuel lines because the breather/fuel lines would get clogged up and cause the problem your having. It would also cause explosions because the fuel tank wouldn't breath and the fumes would get trapped. Mine had an entirely new fuel system installed for free and I never had this problem. I would look into it if I were you, totally worth it if your mower is covered under the recall!
I have a Model-HRX217HXA Honda Self Propelled mower that I just recently bought, and had to buy a new carb for it... I noticed today when using the mower on the side of a hill with the carb facing downward gas will come out from that direction, It is hard to pin point where its coming from with that breather housing in the way, I would not think it would be a stuck float cause of it doing it when I am mowing and only the side of a hill, does not leak at all if on flat ground.... any ideals where it could be coming from?
My autochoke isnt closing the choke all the way. it feels sticky not free moving like in your video. I was able to push it closed to get it to start and then it worked great. would soaking it in gasoline clean it?
I have a honda hrx217 I need to replace the handle bars that got bent by garage door closing on it do you have a video that shows how the handle parts go back together
Thank you very much I think I found the problem on my HRX217 which I bought from the Tool Rental Department at Home Depot about 7 years ago to replace an ancient 1 hp Craftsman. Where do I get a replacement fuel filter from Honda?
I enjoyed the video and I wish I knew y mine (Came model except it's a 216 goes up and down the entire time it's running. The running motion I mean is normal to almost not running in a constant motion. Like a see saw way of running. Hard to explain but I hope you might know what I mean and could drop a line to help. TY 4 the vid and I wish more people were more thoughtful like this. The world would be a better place!
mine runs for about 15 mins then coughs and dies until it cools off for 5-10 mins then will runs for another 15 mins then die again :( temps are high 90s btw
Mine is doing the same. New carb, fresh gas, and spark plug. It may be the thermowax choke. I just received the new one today. Will change out the part and report back in a few hours.
I have the same mower. Except the problem I JUST started having is I have compression coming out of the carburator as well as the exhaust. Any idea why air is blowing out of the carb?? It will run slowly until the choke opens up but then stalls. But not able to take in air
Hi DirtBike - I have a Honda HRX 217 did the mower sound like mine on this video I filmed of my brand new Honda running??? ruclips.net/video/dQHhsMWv92s/видео.html it seems to be getting a bit worse...
+Maui Landscape & Lawn Personally I do not use any seafoam or similar products, when I have problems usually just clean the carb and drain the fuel if I am not going to be using it for a while.
I bought a Honda service manual for this mower and the section on cleaning the fuel filter said NOTHING about taking the 3 10mm bolts off to access the part of the fuel tube you need to undo to get to the fuel filter! I had to look on RUclips and saw this video and then cursed a blue storm since this is the first time I've ever had to do it and Honda couldn't be bothered to include this nugget! Thanks for posting this, it really helped and now my mower runs like a greased pig (after I messed with the governor spring to get the max recommended RPMs!).
You just saved me a lot of bucks from buying a new lawnmower. I got this exact type of lawnmowers and went through 2 new carburetors that leaked fuel out the air filter. The latest carburetor I bought off Amazon for about $20, an genuine Honda carburetor but MANUAL CHOKE not an AUTOMATIC CHOKE I needed. I was struggling to make mine run until I watch your video and make a little manual switch and now it runs like a pro. Thank you so much!👍👍
Appreciate you showing how to replace the fuel filter. Should be pretty straightforward now that I’ve watched your video, thanks for taking the time to put it together.
I used a toro as a kid. My older brother mowed the daylights out of that thing with a modest lawn business he ran. Sharpen the blade and a tune up once a year and that thing was like the energizer bunny. I thought Honda would be an upgrade but this hr217 has been nothing but trouble. I regret buying this pos mower!
Have this exact same model. Took it to a pro who replaced the carb with an OEM part. He must have also adjusted the throttle cable. It revs and runs much stronger now. At 10 years old I didn't feel bad.
I'm going to pickup our mower from the shop and fix it myself. Thanks to you.
thanks! I have been troubleshooting my GCV 160 for about 2 days on and off and never thought to look for a filter within the line. Hopefully it fixes my issue of the carb staying open after a few minutes.
Thanks for the video. My auto choke honda starts fine from cold but once it's warm it starts to hunt/race up and down. I stripped and cleaned the carb but I'm now thinking it's the fuel filter you've shown here. Will try cleaning and refitting it and seeing how it responds
I have 1 of these mowers. I have 2 issues! 1) I need to take the air filter off and spray starting fluid a tiny bit to get it started. It has a clean filter. 2) It won't shut off when I let the cable go. I sprayed wd 40 on the kill cable itself and still could see that there was no problem w/ the cable. I pressed back on the throttle itself to shut it off. Thanks!!
With the nice midyear Vette in the background 👀👀
i have same mower runs great best mower ever but one small issue when it sits awhile the automatic choke sticks closed and won,t start lucky for me i work on mowers and figured out if you tilt the mower on left side till gas drips out of carb then tilt back to right forcing gas into carb with airfilter out it will start right up and run fine usally all saeson long i know the chock needs to be cleaned by removing carb but doeing this primes the carb and gets you going or removes carb and fix it that way
Thank you so much I I took out my carburetor dipped it in the gasoline for 15 minutes my gas line was clear as brand new started right up thanks 11/22/2021 you the man
On my unit the auto-choke had been removed ! It would only start with a squirt of "Quick Start". I had one successfull start by replacing the plug with an identical NGK heat rangeNo6 but then back to the same old problem ! Now I have gone to the NGK hotest plug No5. No more problem!
I was wondering where the fuel filter was.. for tuneup kits they always just show the canister type external filter. My wifes HRX 217 mower, stalls when she cuts grass usually every other day. We have tall fescue and it is very thick and cut it to 4 inches it grows almost 1 inch a day.. So she is cutting 2 inches of fescue off and mower stalls about 20 times per acre. I will take out the inline filter and put an external in somewhere..
Right young man - very impressed with the methodical way you tackled that. Been catching up with your last few vids......don't comment much but do watch them all ...... eventually lol Keep having fun :)
Thanks Malc!
Excellent video. Very informative. I learned a lot...thanks for sharing...
My Honda is hard starting. I have a Honda HRX217VLA there is a spring mechanism next to the fuel on/off knob. I think that mechanism opens the carb but the spring doesn't move when I grab the blade break bar to start. Wouldn't start until someone moved that mechanism while I pulled the rope. It seems to start and restart easily once the initial start is made.
Nice job young fella, what do you know about snowmobiles.
Good video. That crappy half ass fuel filter that Honda puts in the fuel line is useless. My mower is a little different than yours in that it doesn’t have the auto choke but everyone should install an external fuel filter and avoid problems with the fuel line.
Did the owner put the linkages back on wrong? I did the first time and scared the crap out of me when it went full throttle constantly . not to mention the whole culdesac was outside and knew I was trying a self repair, lol. From bad to worse till I saw the correct connection.
Do You have a favorite Small Self-Propelled Mower that you can recommend for commercial yard work...?.......I am just beginning to mow lawns and I would appreciate knowing which model you think is best........Great Video......Thank You.
Most people I know are using the Honda Machines.
Is it worth fixing the piston rings? I have to add oil to mine after every mow. Not sure what it is.
On mine the auto-choke sticks closed. It starts right up but when cold but it sputters and blows out black smoke because the choke plate is completely closed. After a couple minutes the thermo wax plunger does it’s thing and pushes the choke plate open then it runs fine, and it always retracts when the engine is cold so I know that is working as it should. The linkage isn’t sticking and everything is clean as can be so why the hell won’t the choke plate crack open when it’s first started, is there supposed to be a vacuum operated choke pull-off or something?
Well, well..I often wondered why there was no fuel filter! There is but who would know it was there! Thank you.
How to tighten the blade control cable?
Great mower but hate the autochoke Thermowax issue
Where did u find the fuel filter?
THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO
I kind of wish you had stated 'which HRX217 your working on, as mine is the HRX217 HXA, but there are many other HRX217's made, so knowing if this is the same as mine, it's truly hard to tell, but it seems the only way to tell if I have this same issue is to tear it apart, so see if I have the auto-choke (which I believe I have). Thought it would be nice to know this as a fact, before purchasing the parts though. Thanks for the video nonetheless!
If you don't have a choke lever aka a manual choke😂 you have auto choke ya goof
My HRX217 wouldn't run after sitting for 4 months. I put new gas in it, but no results. I didn't realize you could move the choke linkage manually. After doing this the engine fired right up. (I used a bungee cord to hold the choke on. It was stuck off.) Once the engine warmed up, the choke unstuck and worked fine. It wouldn't start because it wouldn't start. GRrrr. Thank you for the ideas.
I have a hill and the rpm go up and down stone times and it back fires. It’s a Honda 217 . I need to start it with starting fluid for some reason choke is back . I bought it second hand . Probably 8-15 year old.
Hi, we have a Honda HRX 426 from 2011(Europe, Belgium) Every 10 days I have to pull 6 or 7 times before it starts, then it runs perfect. How come in the beginning it started after 1 pull and now 6 or 7? It has a manual choke.
Love you giving your train of thought when problem solving this mower.
+WachdByBigBrother Glad you enjoyed!
I had a couple Chinese generators (Honda clone ) do this .. That plastic tube filter is a bad thing , It is just so hard to get to and does no more than an external filter !! Good fix man ..
Yeah Iwouldn't had known that filter was there either! Glad I know about it now
Yea .. man all honda and clones have that thing even some of the motor cycles !!
Fist thing I would of checked was the tank vent system.
My quad had that problem once...took me a while to figure it out!
dirtbike5100 My sears tractor was the same way , But a little pin hole fixed her :)
+dirtbike5100 ,
I have an HRX217. I need to spray a little bit of stating fluid in the airfilter to get it going. I thought I cleaned the carb with the jets. Maybe not good enough? Any ideas?
I have the same mower, I believe I bought it in 07. Anyways Honda had a recall on the fuel tanks and fuel lines because the breather/fuel lines would get clogged up and cause the problem your having. It would also cause explosions because the fuel tank wouldn't breath and the fumes would get trapped. Mine had an entirely new fuel system installed for free and I never had this problem. I would look into it if I were you, totally worth it if your mower is covered under the recall!
How about that! Honda probably wouldn't take it because I fixed it myself though!
How do I fix the clinkage
I have a Model-HRX217HXA Honda Self Propelled mower that I just recently bought, and had to buy a new carb for it... I noticed today when using the mower on the side of a hill with the carb facing downward gas will come out from that direction, It is hard to pin point where its coming from with that breather housing in the way, I would not think it would be a stuck float cause of it doing it when I am mowing and only the side of a hill, does not leak at all if on flat ground.... any ideals where it could be coming from?
Does it run okay otherwise? Check your fuel line connections and make sure the float boat on the carb is tight.
Nice lawnmower.
Thanks for stopping by!
My autochoke isnt closing the choke all the way. it feels sticky not free moving like in your video. I was able to push it closed to get it to start and then it worked great. would soaking it in gasoline clean it?
Yes, that might help if it's all gummed up causing it to move slowly.
I have a honda hrx217 I need to replace the handle bars that got bent by garage door closing on it do you have a video that shows how the handle parts go back together
Very helpful thanks for the video
Thank you very much I think I found the problem on my HRX217 which I bought from the Tool Rental Department at Home Depot about 7 years ago to replace an ancient 1 hp Craftsman. Where do I get a replacement fuel filter from Honda?
Nicely done..very thorough! :) Jack
Thank you Jack!
Number in the glove. I assume that’s so you can sort your videos? Smart
Excellent video! I have same mower
Do you have a drive belt/select drive cable replacement video for hrx217vka?
+Henry Lovell No I don't, sorry!
I enjoyed the video and I wish I knew y mine (Came model except it's a 216 goes up and down the entire time it's running. The running motion I mean is normal to almost not running in a constant motion. Like a see saw way of running. Hard to explain but I hope you might know what I mean and could drop a line to help. TY 4 the vid and I wish more people were more thoughtful like this. The world would be a better place!
+Joseph Hampel Glad you liked the vid
I never thought there was a inline filter
sorry i made a slight mistake the choke sticks open not closed causing it not to choke
Honda lawnmower are hard to work on I have found I have worked on 5 + of them and I still hate working on them I would much rather work on a 3.5hp b&s
Same here! It's good to get experience with the other brands too though
Yes but my fav motor to work on is b&s I have a b&s 3.5 hp I got to rev up to 4500 rpm then I blue the motor but I am rebuilding it this winter
mine runs for about 15 mins then coughs and dies until it cools off for 5-10 mins then will runs for another 15 mins then die again :( temps are high 90s btw
Mine is doing the same. New carb, fresh gas, and spark plug. It may be the thermowax choke. I just received the new one today. Will change out the part and report back in a few hours.
I also have a new external fuel filter on it.
I have the same mower. Except the problem I JUST started having is I have compression coming out of the carburator as well as the exhaust. Any idea why air is blowing out of the carb?? It will run slowly until the choke opens up but then stalls. But not able to take in air
Hi, who know to make a adjustment L=lawn mower Honda 126 GCV Clutch Cable? I need help.
Wooter
Hi DirtBike - I have a Honda HRX 217 did the mower sound like mine on this video I filmed of my brand new Honda running??? ruclips.net/video/dQHhsMWv92s/видео.html it seems to be getting a bit worse...
+Maui Landscape & Lawn Sounds like a carb which needs cleaning, old fuel, or something fuel related
+dirtbike5100 do you think using seafoam or something similar would be a good idea
+Maui Landscape & Lawn Personally I do not use any seafoam or similar products, when I have problems usually just clean the carb and drain the fuel if I am not going to be using it for a while.
clean the carb and use right gasolin and then never have problem again