OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Honda Engines chonda i think

Hi bigted. The Honda engines with the C in their designation are the "residential" series, where those with the X are the "commercial" series. The Cs are overhead camshaft instead of pushrod, and are designed quite differently. The rubber cam belts wear and jump after a while, and the engines have to be split to replace them. They have an integral cylinder head, so the crankcase splits diagonally to enable the piston to be removed from the bottom, and this makes splitting the engine more difficult than usual. Of course, valve lapping is awkward from underneath, and the piston ring compressor has to be removed from inside the crankcase after installing the piston. Oil sealing is minimal - there is no oil seal on the governor shaft, which not-infrequently leaks - and the plastic camshaft and cam-sprocket is all in one piece with just one lobe: intake and exhaust rockers run on opposite sides of the same lobe, like on the old Triumph Dolomite Sprint car engine. The plastic camshaft is just a large sprocket with the single cam lobe moulded right on the back of it, so it is quite flat, but despite that has a reputation for fracturing. The camshaft rotates on a loose steel bar pushed through its center: you can just pull out the bar to lower the camshaft so you can time it on the belt. The carburetor is a slightly cheaper version of the Keihin, with a pressed-in tin idle jet that is quite awkward to service.

That is a basic outline of what I don't like. I see it as having been made as a throwaway engine for residential users, who are satisfied if it runs well for a few years. There is a market for that, but I don't admire the approach.