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Honda hrr216 wheels lock when making a turn

11 years ago

I replaced the direct drive transmission. Everything seems to work well except the rear wheels fight me when making a turn.

I didn't have that problem before so I sure I didn't assemble something correctly.

I don't have a shop manual, I'm wondering if the small metal dogs that are part of the wheel assembly might be the problem.

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Comments (13)

1saxman
11 years ago
Do the ratchets click when pushing the mower forward with the engine off?
bushyiii
Original Author
11 years ago
I don't hear anything I would describe as ratcheting. I can push it forward and pull it in reverse, with power off, but I cannot make a turn.
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I read all of your posts and thank you for you input. However if your cable is activating the lever on top of your gear box, there is two thing it could be. For me it was both. I removed the rear axel assm. then removed the pan off the bottom of the tranny to find a pile of brass shavings at the bottom. the worm gear was fine but the crown gear, mesh side, was mashed. one trick if you want to save money you can remove the crown and turn it 180 Deg. giving you a fresh side of the gear to use. By the way , the cause of the problem was that there was about 1 ounce of gear oil put in by the factory. ``how nice``. Anyway I put it back together just to find out that it still slips. Took it apart again and added a washer in with the clutch plated adding pressure when drive is engaged. filled it with gear oil, reassembled the transmission and it works like the the day i bought it. Or you can just buy a new one. 400.00 dealer or about 150.00 on the net. I took it as a challange.
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Rod, sounds like your dealer was working a little scam on you. His price reduction to $599 is what I paid for mine at Home Depot, its their every day price. Thats one of the problems with locally owned small dealers. They drop their price to what the big guys charge every day and make you think they are doing you a favor, or its a limited time special deal...so buy now. David, your yard is about the size of mine. The HRX may be overkill, but its just made a little better and hopefully will last a little longer. As I said, with Honda your not going to go wrong regardless if you buy the bottom or top of the line, IMO. Thats a choice you need to make based on what you want vs. what you have to spend. I'm thinking my HRX mower will last longer than I will remain in my current house and who knows what kind of yard the next house will have. Could be small, could be much bigger. To answer your question on switching between mulching and bagging on the HRX line, it can't be more simple. Your right, to switch between mulching and bagging on the HRR line you have to remove the bag and insert the "mulching plug". The HRX line has the versamow system. There is a lever that has 10 setting from 100% bag, to 100% mulch with 8 levels in between where you can partially bag. I found this most useful in my lawn by getting rid of some leaf accumulation I had. Chop them up into smaller pieces for a little mulch and bag the excess in one pass. I don't do this but if you had a compost pile and wanted to mulch as well it would be great. I'm not sure if I have the patience for composting.
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tomplum
11 years ago
Were the keys inserted rounded side down and lubed well/
bushyiii
Original Author
11 years ago
Frankly I don't remember, but I didn't do anything to grease them. I'll check tomorrow evening and make sure they are inserted round side down.

Any special grease to use?
1saxman
11 years ago
Basically any good grease, but I like to stay on the lighter side. Those axle-end gears/ratchets have to be cleaned and lubed yearly. You can use the spray can of white lithium grease sold most places, even Wal Mart. Use the straw that comes with it and really dope it up.
The HRR216 is a nice mower. I just finished re-habbing my stepson's. I put new wheels on, including the new-style front wheels with ball bearings, a new blade set, spark plug, changed oil and air filter, cleaned/lubed the rear end and got him a mulch plug and side discharge chute. They got it from his wife's mom who gave up housekeeping and all it had was a bag, no plug or chute. Plus, a general cleaning/fixing-up. It has some hours on it but runs fine. I still don't think it's going to be around but a few more years. Grass had been allowed to build up and the discharge port housing is very close to being rusted out. The job I did on it would have cost way more than its worth at a shop, but when I take it over there I'll just say 'Happy Father's Day'!
BTW, I found a really good mower cleaner - car wheel cleaner! Safe for aluminum, painted surfaces and polymers. Wet down mower, spray the cleaner on, use a soft-bristle brush all over, hose off - you're done.
bushyiii
Original Author
11 years ago
What is the mower cleaner you are using?
1saxman
11 years ago
Auto wheel cleaner - just one I had hanging around, but it's Armor-All 'Extreme' for coated, painted and uncoated wheels. I didn't mention that it's also an aluminum brightener. Don't use it on a hot mower - cold only, and spray it down first. Don't let it dry before rinsing off. It's best to brush before rinsing, but if you don't have a long-handled soft-bristle wheel brush, you can just rinse it off after a few minutes.
cseyer
11 years ago
You definetly need to lube the ratcheting gears, I had the same problem and fixed it on my Harmony.

Also see this thread "Honda HRB216TDA Transmission Post Mortem" for good pictures of how to reassemble the gears and keys with the correct orientation. I used some disc brake grease that I had on hand and used liberally. Plan to clean/regrease at least every couple of years, its amazing how much easier the mower moves around now.
bushyiii
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for suggesting the "Tranny Post Mortem" thread. However, in trying to understand the difference between the two photos of the ratcheting drive gears I struggle to understand why one is marked wrong vs the other marked right. Can you tell me what is being pointed out that is different between the two?
bushyiii
Original Author
11 years ago
Life is good, it now turns. It was the keys, I had them in bass ackwards. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and help.
1saxman
11 years ago
Another winner for the team!
luige
11 years ago
My HRR216 quadracut mower , the transmission will not pull the unit forward at all , by lifting the drive wheels off the ground the wheels now are turning in all 3 gears any suggestion thanks mike
HU-852944196
9 months ago
I had the same problem with rear wheels not making the turns, sure am glad I found this thread, put the keyways in rounded down and no more problems!

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