OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Honda Engines some sort of honda.......help

hi guys,

i was given this self propelled honda today from a mate who no longer wanted it, i stuffed around with the trottle and coke linkage and got that sorted out and working properly.

i need to get a starter for it and a throttle cable and it appears some sort of linkage for one of the cables to the right lever by the look of it, also a cover for the levers? i dont know.

any idea what these parts are worth i can only find a throttle cable price.

I don't recognise the engine, missing starter and air cleaner remove most of my favourite clues. The frame looks like generic HRU. If you take a look at the valve cover, it will either have "OHV" or OHC" pressed into it: which is it? That might give me a start.

hi grumpy,

the valve cover has ohv and here is a photo of the air filter cover i do not have the starter for it will have to track one down.

ok just had a look on side of engine it says gxv140

I recognise the air cleaner, and I should have recognised the top cowl (which is the only one on a pushrod Honda that is integral with the fuel tank), it is my favourite Honda mower engine. It is 140 cc (actually 135, but who's counting?), 5 hp, and a particularly lightweight engine for a Honda. The mower is most likely an HRU195, assuming it is 19" cut - it doesn't look like a 21" cut, which would be an HRU215.

There is a black spot on the top of the deck near the left front wheel which might be a stone-hole. You should also check for a crack in the base near the left rear wheel, right at the bottom of the vertical part where it meets the horizontal part. While you are at it, look for a vertical fatigue crack on the left midway between the front and rear wheels. Those are all sometimes found on ex-contractor Hondas with that base, whether they have the 4 hp (GXV120), 5 hp (GXV140) or 5.5 hp (GXV160) engine. So far as pleasability, quiet running, and light weight are concerned, the one you have is the pick of the bunch. My own favourite Honda has the GXV120, because the GXV140 has a plastic camshaft unless you have the self-propelled version, but I've personally never seen a worn out plastic camshaft on a Honda. Nevertheless heavy-handed repairers have been known to destroy the plastic timing gear, so I tend to look askance at ex-contractor GXV140s. If it hasn't been butchered along the way, though, it is the one I'd choose.

If it is free of the defects I mentioned, that should be an exceptionally good mower. My HRU195 is a pleasure to use, even though I prefer my 30 year old HR194 in the summer, just because it is a classic and an almost indestructible mower. As you'll gather from my warnings about cracks in the base, the HRU bases are rather tender by comparison.

cheers grumpy,

the deck is very dirty but otherwise in good condition i will have to look for the cracks you mention later this arvo [hopefully they are not there] as its our dauhters 4th birthday party today.

it is a 21" self propelled im amazed by how much bigger it is than my honda powered victa panther 19"

im hoping to track down a starter for it soon and get it running i cant wait to mow with it.

The self-propelled GXV140 engine uses the cast iron camshaft from the self-propelled GXV120 engine, so you've dodged the only weakness I can think of in the GXV140 engine (the plastic camshaft). 21" self-propelled Hondas are very heavy machines, and mainly for that reason I don't like them. The first time you lift it up onto the bench you'll understand why.

While I have said that the GXV140 has no weaknesses except for the plastic camshaft, to be fair I have to say that it is the only Honda engine I know of, with a tin-pot starter. The GXV120s is robust and reliable, while the GXV160s is bulletproof, but the quest for light weight on the GXV140 led them astray I'm afraid. The starter on mine was too beaten up to use when I got the mower. It was repairable: a metal disk glued to the plastic pulley, which was split; a bolt through the center to substitute for the sort of glorified giant roll-pin which had been the main shaft until somebody got at it with a cold chisel and mallee-root, a new cord, and some TLC here and there to keep it from eating its cord, and it was a usable starter.

Replacement starters for GXV140s are available on ebay - here is an example that at least shows you what they look like:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LAWN-MOW...mowerAccessories&hash=item27d3c41b77

Be careful of advertisements that show pictures of GXV160 starters and say they fit both GXV140 and GXV160: as far as I know, that is wrong.

yes this machine is very heavy,

how do i attach this cable in the photo you can see the end of it the other cable that goes to the handlebar lever has a spring on it,should the one that isnt connected to anything also have a spring?

also need to get a cover for the levers are they available or doihave to find a used one somewhere?

Can you put a photo front veiw of the top end of the handle bars showing the throttle and gear change levers of both sides showing all controls please. I have the gxv120 ( hru 214) 2speed gearbox. I'm not sure they are the same setup but might be able to copy.

Look at the second cable from the left in both of these illustrations from the service manual:

there is no throttle cable fitted here.

the spring on the cable going to the handlebar lever [the clutch i believe] is way too big for the other lever [gear change i believe]is there a shorter spring for this?
and where that cable attaches to the gearbox seems to be siezed as it wont move no matter what i try does the mower have to be running to be able to put it into gear?

cheers.

I will get some photos from my mower of the cable setup and of the gearbox cable setup tomorrow which I think is the same as yours.

Thanks Rob, that sounds like a clearer, better solution than working from diagrams in this case.

From left to right looking at it from underneath ,
Left/Drive cable linked to drive lever,
Middle/Throttle cable,
Right/gear change cable .



The cable at the bottom to the gearbox is gear shift connection , 1st and 2 nd gear choice.
The cable at the top runs back to the drive lever.

So the two-speed gearbox is separate from the axle drive box? Can you show us a picture of the two speed box, so we can understand where it is fitted and what drives it please Rob? It makes sense if they offered the single and dual speed systems as options, since they'd use the same axle drive box in both cases, I suppose.

Did Honda fit those two grease nipples on the axle drive box, or did you add them yourself?

Yes Grumpy, I did put those two grease nipples there and there was only need for one. It is still filled with gear oil I just put them there so if I need to change the oil or want to put grease I don't have to pull the whole axle off again and everything else that goes with it ,eg cables.
The gear box is one with two cables, I'm not sure what you ment.

Sorry Rob, my error. I missed the third cable at the top of the last picture in your previous post. I thought the one that follows the drive shaft toward the engine, must have been the speed-change cable. It must really be the engine-speed control cable on its way to the engine. So, there are two external levers on the transmission housing: one for clutch and one for low speed or high speed. In your new picture the one at the bottom, on the drive-shaft side of the transmission, operates a bellcrank which operates a pull-push rod going inside. I take it that moves a sliding back-gear to change speed. The one at the top of the picture (the back of the transmission) must be the clutch? It is all about as complicated, and as neatly executed, as I'd expect from Honda.

ok i need the short spring that is on the gear cable, icant find one online anywhere only the longer clutch one, willhave to check out the local mower shop tomorrow.

Pretty strongly built, this is in the position I would pull the gearbox apart , held in a vice up this way . Less chance of any parts to fall out.

Can you show us the speed change mechanism Rob? It looks as if the input shaft drives the shaft with the smaller gears and the step-down in shaft diameter, and that shaft goes through the end of the housing and can be pulled and pushed axially, or perhaps it is spring-loaded so it only has to be pushed? It is evident that the sliding gear is the one on that shaft.

I like the O ring seal right around the housing - that is a similar concept to the way Honda seals car engine sumps. Pity they don't use it on mower engine crankcase covers as well.