I have a roughly 8 year old Honda Harmony (2 speed) self propelled mower.
Once, if not twice per season, the mower begins slipping while engaged.
This will cause the mower to slow, then catch, then slow, than catch.
Releasing the clutch and re-engaging helps to re-engage most of the time. I
have tried to tighten the cable myself after paying the repair shop several
times. Nothing seems to last longer than 20 - 25 mowings (1/3 acre) before
the problem appears again.

Any suggestions for stabilizing or fixing this? Perhaps hints to tightening
the cable properly would help.

"Jeff" wrote in message ...
I have a roughly 8 year old Honda Harmony (2 speed) self propelled mower.
Once, if not twice per season, the mower begins slipping while engaged.
This will cause the mower to slow, then catch, then slow, than catch.
Releasing the clutch and re-engaging helps to re-engage most of the time. I
have tried to tighten the cable myself after paying the repair shop several
times. Nothing seems to last longer than 20 - 25 mowings (1/3 acre) before
the problem appears again.

Any suggestions for stabilizing or fixing this? Perhaps hints to tightening
the cable properly would help.

Hello Jeff,

I have had problems with my 1993 Honda Harmony mower also, that is
with the self-propelled system. My first problem was within the first
two years of ownership where the cable that engages the self-drive
broke...it was fixed under warranty. Now here in May 2003, I have the
problem again but just the opposite... Now the self-propelled drive
won't DISENGAGE! Their must be a spring that has broken that puts
tension on the cable to assist the pull of the drive lever... Anyhow,
it works fine but there is about a 7 second delay in the drive
disengaging...probably the time it takes for the mowers vibration to
work the drive lever in the bottom of the mower...down (=disengage).

So its back to the shop for the second time for self-propelled
problems. The mower is 10 years old and has been a good mower. The
engine is starting to act up a little like its not getting fuel and it
does smoke most times on start-up, always has... Always change the
oil at the begining of our short summer season here in Northern
Michigan and always use premium gas fresh.

It well be getting a tune up along with the fix....its about time as
the last time was when the self-propelled cable broke in 1995.

Jason

Jason,

I am wondering if the cable adjustment is just really sensitive. Perhaps
±1/16 " makes a big difference? I say this because I notice that the entire
plastic structure that the cable is mounted to (at the adjustment point in
the handle) flexes every time I engage and dis-engage the clutch. Maybe
yours is adjusted too tight ... mine too loose.

Jeff


Jason wrote in message
om...
"Jeff" wrote in message
...
I have a roughly 8 year old Honda Harmony (2 speed) self propelled
mower.
Once, if not twice per season, the mower begins slipping while engaged.
This will cause the mower to slow, then catch, then slow, than catch.
Releasing the clutch and re-engaging helps to re-engage most of the
time. I
have tried to tighten the cable myself after paying the repair shop
several
times. Nothing seems to last longer than 20 - 25 mowings (1/3 acre)
before
the problem appears again.

Any suggestions for stabilizing or fixing this? Perhaps hints to
tightening
the cable properly would help.

Hello Jeff,

I have had problems with my 1993 Honda Harmony mower also, that is
with the self-propelled system. My first problem was within the first
two years of ownership where the cable that engages the self-drive
broke...it was fixed under warranty. Now here in May 2003, I have the
problem again but just the opposite... Now the self-propelled drive
won't DISENGAGE! Their must be a spring that has broken that puts
tension on the cable to assist the pull of the drive lever... Anyhow,
it works fine but there is about a 7 second delay in the drive
disengaging...probably the time it takes for the mowers vibration to
work the drive lever in the bottom of the mower...down (=disengage).

So its back to the shop for the second time for self-propelled
problems. The mower is 10 years old and has been a good mower. The
engine is starting to act up a little like its not getting fuel and it
does smoke most times on start-up, always has... Always change the
oil at the begining of our short summer season here in Northern
Michigan and always use premium gas fresh.

It well be getting a tune up along with the fix....its about time as
the last time was when the self-propelled cable broke in 1995.

Jason

Hello Jeff,

(Honda Self-Propelled mower HRM215SDA - 1993/4)

Ok, here is what has happened since I last posted... I located the
place where the missing spring should be connected. The area is under
the mower deck and the spring in question is part of the
self-propelled mechanism. It took me a lot of looking to finally
figure out "what" was missing. I was thinking I was going to have to
take a look at a mower like mine and compare parts...but nope, I
finally located the area of the missing "spring." Funny thing, about
four days later I actually FOUND the broken spring on my garage floor!
Sure enough one of the spring's "hooked" ends was missing, it had
broken off.

I placed an order with "Plano Power Lawn Equipment" out of Plano, TX.
They have a pretty nice web-page with pictures of parts so that I was
able to make my selection on my own...pretty sure I got the right
part! The spring should be here tomorrow 5/21/03 UPS. Not sure how
difficult it will be to get the spring back where it belongs... its a
very tough spring, can hardly even bend it! (now I know why my
fingers are about to fall off after mowing!)

I also ordered the rear-side grass shute. I have been using a "loner"
from my grand father for years...thought it is time to get my very
own.

**I have noticed over the last couple of seasons that my Honda mower
has begun running rough at times, like something gets stuck. I've
found that when the mower kicks into "rough" running mode, if I take
the butt end of a screwdriver and tap the carburator float reservior,
it appears that the float becomes free and the engine starts to run
like a "honda" again... I must say that I haven't winterized my mower
probably as well as I should have over the last 10 years. I usually
just run the mower out of gas and then let it sit until spring. I
now, after a little research, understand the importance of stabilzing
the fuel that is left in the carburator...to resist varnishing... My
plan is to either clean or replace the float and give things a going
over in the float reservior to remedy the sticky float...

Other than that I really enjoy the Honda Harmony HRM215SDA (1993).
Its been a great experience and I just today took receipt of a new
HHT25S Honda Trimmer. Wow, is it nice... My wallet is a little
thinner now, but if it serves as well as the Honda mower, I'll be more
than a happy camper.

I'll update my progress on the self-propelled spring fix...let anyone
know who may be interested, how things went. By the way the spring
itself was only 98 cents, so I got two. The shipping was about 5
bucks...

Happy Mowing

Jason
Traverse City, MI

Hello Folks,

Ok, got the "spring" (marked #4 in the blow-out). It was pretty easy
to install into the place where it belonged. The use of a pair of
needle-nose vise-grips really helped get that sucker in there...
Works Perfect and the spring coast $1.16 here locally...

Happy Mowing!

Jason
TC, MI

Folks, I am having the same problem. I ordered and received the part you suggested. My problem is I guess I am not as mechanically inclined. Can you provide more information on where the spring connects up? I have located the "area" but I do not see the connection points. Thanks in advance for your help. Ralph