'I also acquired a HR214 SX and it smokes like crazy. I checked the oil and it looks clean but way overfilled. Is the appropriate amount of motor oil 20 ounces? I suspect the previous owner dumped a quart in it. Sounds like draining from teh filler spout might be the ticket. Any other advice?' 20 oz is a little too much in most Honda LM engines. I didn't know this when I posted '20 oz' above. 18.5 is the usual Honda fill, so 20 oz really shouldn't cause any problems. Anytime you encounter a high oil situation, you have to give it the smell test to see if it's saturated with gas, which indicates a carb problem. If the smell test is inconclusive, put a small amount of the oil in a good stout container and try to light it off - if there's enough gas in it to burn, you are flooding the crankcase with fuel. Otherwise just dump the excess out and make it right on the dipstick or mark in the filler tube, whichever applies. Alternatively, dump it all out and refill with the correct amount.

HRR2162TDA, will not drive. Belt is good, cable engages transmission but wheels do not turn. Wheel gears are good. Seems like transmission is bad? Any thoughts?

I'm not very familiar with honda mower models, but I have an HR214SX that I am doing some minor repair work in preparation to sell. If you are interested, let me know.

i removed about 2 oz of oil to make sure it wasn't that stupid. dad didn't seem concerned about that saying it was an insignificant amount. difficult to get an accurate read on the oil level due to the stupid plastic dipstick design but it seems at the correct level. i probably should stick a screwdriver in it to get an accurate read, but like i said, it isn't over-filled oil. i know the symptoms of too much oil -- heavy black smoke and very erratic performance. this is a slight black smoke, excessive fuel consumption (rich burn, burning fuel 4 times faster than it should), slight erratic performance, and degraded rpm. new spark plug was installed and gapped to 0.76mm (factory gap was actually correct). removal of air filter was tested. it is a new air filter replaced 2-3 weeks ago and frequently dusted -- i also typically use a very porous 2ndary filter (similiar to the filling of a comforter) as well to keep larger stuff off the air filter. it isn't those things. i've used new gas from two different sources. i've thoroughly cleaned and checked the carb (needle valve was perfectly clean like brand new and functioning correctly with the floater, the bulb was perfectly clean like brand new except of course with clean gas in it), everything looks good, and really, there isn't much that could go wrong with the carb with everyday use, unless i was burning sand and sludge. i also examined and cleaned the breather and it looked in good condition. the breather was clean except for the expected oil and functioning perfectly. i'm really just asking for advice on what to expect for tearing down the engine, if there is anything special that i need to know. my dad thinks it ran hot with the choke getting stuck and not releasing fully. it is likely internal to the engine. hopefully, it is just a worn belt considering 500 hours (5-10 years of residential use) is about the life of a residential mower engine, but i may have to replace rings and hone the cylinders if it was because of the automatic choke release being used and not releasing even though the lever was fully released due to dirt build-up around the linkage for it. everything else was just fyi to give my review and experience with the craftsman mower and honda engine.