Hi Guys Does any one know where I am likely to find a bargain head for a Honda GX160 stationery engine. This belongs to a friend of mine and came off from his chipper/mulcher. He developed a problem which a few other members have had with the governor and the machine only ran at very high revs and was unresponsive to the throttle. Being the sort of fellow who likes to get the job done he kept working with it. I would guess that one of the valve retainers dropped out, but whatever happened part of the valve is embedded in the head and their is a hole in the piston. I can locate very cheap overhaul kits which include the piston on Ebay but the only price I can find for a head is in the US at about $140.00 (I will be able to get an Australian price on Monday) and I would still need two valves at a cost of about $30.00. As the motor has done very little, probably no more than 3 tanks of fuel, and there is no scratches or marks on the cylinder it may be worth repairing. I have not pulled the bottom off from the engine but the piston runs smoothly up and down the bore. As the piston has had a severe enough blow to make a hole in it, one may be wise to replace the conrod as well which would add to the cost. I note that I can buy a Chinese copy of the engine (slightly better specs) delivered for $139.00 which makes it a little doubtful to repair other than the satisfaction factor. These Honda engines have a great reputation and are priced accordingly. I wonder if they are not made in China now and are not the old Japanese quality but the new Chinese quality. I would be interested in any ones thoughts on the current Chinese motors. I personally have bought one of the pole saws two years ago and (excluding the fact that it is not possible for one person to operate it if you extend it to the full 5 metres as you cannot reach the accelerator from the point of balance) I can not fault it, but in two years I have only used a bit over two tanks of fuel. My friend has had this mulcher for more than five years so it does not get much work either. As I know him pretty well I think it would be better to get him an electric motor any how. Thanks for any suggestions
If I can get a large enough hammer it will run for awhile just trying to get away from me
Other than "Australia" where are you located? I have a dead genuine Honda GX160 here that I could pull the head off. I don't know it's condition yet though as I haven't had it apart although the valve operation seems okay.
Cannot really take credit for that as I just updated my profile. Any thoughts on the current Chondas. Just spoke to local Honda dealer $637.00 for a new motor, makes the Chonda for $140.00 look better. The dealer offered me a GP160 for $360.00 and said it was the same except it did not have cast cylinder liners
If I can get a large enough hammer it will run for awhile just trying to get away from me
The Chondas seem to be reasonable, and for the dollar difference you can buy 4 of them compared to the Honda and much cheaper for your mate to blow a Chonda up
GX's are made in China or Thailand. I bought a genuine GX200 last year for a customers Deutscher re power job and it was made in Thailand. The white GP is definitely made in China as a cheap throwaway. Honda Manufacturing Locations
I don't know what the current Chonda's are like internally, but the ones 5 years ago had very thin crankcase walls compared to a genuine GX.
Thanks LRT, From the link you supplied it is a bit of a lottery as to where your next Honda GX comes from. I have been told that the difference between the GX and the same Honda motor only cheaper (I think it is called the GP) is that the GX has a cast cylinder liner. I guess on the one hand Honda would be supervising the manufacturing process to maintain a certain level of quality on the other side Chondas would be leaning towards making it cheaper. I have experienced in the past (with toys) where the genuine product and the cheap copy were both made in the same factory from the same materials with a little less emphasis on quality control sometimes using the rejects from the first to complete the later. There appears to be several Chinese manufactures making the same motor you could be lucky and get one from the Honda factory but it is just as likely to be a cheaper one. It is possible that Honda has components manufactured at several different Chinese factories and assembled and completed in there own. I think if you were working and relying on these machines it would be wise to buy the genuine article (not necessarily Honda) as they are probably still better and half a day of down time could cost you more than you will save. Not so significant to a retired tinkerer. I am going to spend a little more time looking at the Chinese stuff before making up my mind and see
If I can get a large enough hammer it will run for awhile just trying to get away from me
In China what happens is as the moulds go out of tolerance for the genuine manufacturer they move them on down the line to one of the many Chonda makers. As there aren't enough ex Honda moulds to go around they start making moulds off the moulds so depending on what generation of mould you are buying determines the closeness to the original so it is super pot luck. Having said that I bought a GX200 clone on a 3" water pump five years ago and use it regularly, especially in Summer to water my place via six large agricultural style sprinkler heads and the only thing I've ever had to do to it was reset the valve clearance correctly and weld the cheap thin tube roll over cage a few times. I could pull the piston and conrod out of the machine and check what they are like for you if you do decide to rebuild the original.
Yes at least Honda is overseeing the manufacturing with their engines.
A few years ago there were Hondas for sale with the serial numbers that had been ground off as they are only sold for the China market. These should be better than a clone as they are real Honda's but illegally exported.
I have a new Millers Falls GX for a project but I want to pull it apart to have a look and check that the conrod bolts are tight! Comparing it to a real Honda, the governor and hand throttle mechanism is very flimsy.
Thanks LRT and Aussietrev, I have found the parts pretty cheap out of China, complete assembled cylinder head, piston, rings, gaskets and con rod. Pretty much everything except for the push rods for USD $65.00 delivered. So I jumped in while the exchange rate was good and it has come out to $83.28 including the credit card charges. It is coming via air parcel which is still 7 to 21 days so if the weather clears up I will go fishing. Probably not very logical to spend $83.00 to turn a broken Honda into a Chonda which will still have a carburettor or governor problem which I will be relying on the help of you guys to fix I do seem to find some joy or accomplishment in making something work. If you are looking for some cheap Honda or Stihl parts here is the link: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/2380006?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.5KkFcJ Aliexpress is sort a Chinese EBay. I will let you know how it comes out.
If I can get a large enough hammer it will run for awhile just trying to get away from me
