New Honda 217 HRX

[KevinsDMAX]

Hello All,

Just purchased a new Honda 217 HRX with the GCV 190. AWESOME mower...now time to decide what oil and ask you all for your assistance. Manual calls for 10W30, so at the 5 hour mark I changed the oil and put in some Rotella T5 10w30 that I had left over.

I was able to score many gallons of Mobil Delvac 15W40 that I use in my truck and wanted to see if you all think that would be good so I wouldn't have to have multiple types of oil around the house.

Please advise!
Kevin

 

[FlyNavyP3]

Kevin,

I'm also in Florida and I'm currently running 15w40 Napa All Fleet in my HRC216 Honda mower. I see no reason not to use it in your climate.

 

[mitsuman47]

I've been running M1 HM 10w30 in my HRX for years in Texas heat. Runs great. No consumption and oil comes out clean after a season of mowing (40-50hours per year). I believe my mower is a 2005-2006 model.

You chose a great mower!

Edit: didn't read the OP close enough. I'm sure the 15w40 would work fine, but the honda uses about half a quart. So, it's not like you'll have jugs and jugs of it around. I figure that I paid for a nice mower, and keeping one jug of oil around for it isn't too much of a hassle. I actually go 100% against the normal BITOG cheapskatedness and buy 1 (one) quart of M1 HM 10w30 to last me 2 years.

 

[apwillard1986]

Sweet mower! Did you get the Hydrostatic drive? The only problem with a Honda mower is you so rarely get to buy a new one. All my neighbors get a shiney new mower every few years and I'm still rocking a 25 year old HR215 HX. Enjoy!

I buy the Honda OPE oil for my Honda equipment. Everything else gets M1 10w40HM. I used 15w40 for a season and saw more sparkle in the used oil than I was used to seeing. YMMV and it's purely subjective. A lot of folks use 15w40 to great effect in their aircooled OPE so you should be fine.

 

[meep]

Note - I just posted in another thread - I advise against using M1 5-30 in these from personal experience. 10-30 is the lightest M1 I'd run. My first honda mower developed problems on 5-30 that stopped progressing when I moved to 10-30. the second one I owned I used 10-30 and it never developed those problems.

-m

 

[MrFixerUpper]

I have the same mower. I run Rotella T5 in 10W-30. The first few changes I made were with low hours, ~5 hours to clean out any metal from break-in and manufacturing.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: apwillard1986
Sweet mower! Did you get the Hydrostatic drive? The only problem with a Honda mower is you so rarely get to buy a new one. All my neighbors get a shiney new mower every few years and I'm still rocking a 25 year old HR215 HX. Enjoy!


We really cant compare Honda mowers from 25 years ago to Honda mowers today. A new HR215HX would sell for $1200 if they still sold the same quality today.

Originally Posted By: KevinsDMAX
I was able to score many gallons of Mobil Delvac 15W40 that I use in my truck and wanted to see if you all think that would be good so I wouldn't have to have multiple types of oil around the house.


I would ABSOLUTELY run Delvac 15W40 in your Honda mower, in Florida. Its a great choice.

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: meep
Note - I just posted in another thread - I advise against using M1 5-30 in these from personal experience. 10-30 is the lightest M1 I'd run. My first honda mower developed problems on 5-30 that stopped progressing when I moved to 10-30. the second one I owned I used 10-30 and it never developed those problems.

-m
Both M1 5w30 and M1 10w30 have same HTHS at either 3.0 or 3.1.

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: apwillard1986

I buy the Honda OPE oil for my Honda equipment. Everything else gets M1 10w40HM. I used 15w40 for a season and saw more sparkle in the used oil than I was used to seeing. YMMV and it's purely subjective. A lot of folks use 15w40 to great effect in their aircooled OPE so you should be fine.



Why not use M1 10w40HM in your Honda? Its probably better than Honda's OPE oil. Also, maybe the 15w40 was cleaning more of your engine since it has more detergent in it.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Originally Posted By: NH73
Both M1 5w30 and M1 10w30 have same HTHS at either 3.0 or 3.1.

I'm not sure why 10w30 even exists anymore, given the starting advantages of 5w30 and its equal or better performance at operating temperature.

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: Astro_Guy
Originally Posted By: NH73
Both M1 5w30 and M1 10w30 have same HTHS at either 3.0 or 3.1.

I'm not sure why 10w30 even exists anymore, given the starting advantages of 5w30 and its equal or better performance at operating temperature.
Enough people like it, stuck in the old days. There is a lot on here that uses it yet.

 

[meep]

Originally Posted By: NH73
Originally Posted By: meep
Note - I just posted in another thread - I advise against using M1 5-30 in these from personal experience. 10-30 is the lightest M1 I'd run. My first honda mower developed problems on 5-30 that stopped progressing when I moved to 10-30. the second one I owned I used 10-30 and it never developed those problems.

-m
Both M1 5w30 and M1 10w30 have same HTHS at either 3.0 or 3.1.


I don't doubt it - it's just what I experienced with my first GC engine and those oils.

-m

 

[Best F100]

In my Honda 217 HRX, I'm using an oil that has not been mentioned. I am a fan of the Delo Severe Duty 15W30. It merits your consideration because:

A) It meets the Honda recommended 30 wt viscosity for this mower. B) It can be had, for relatively cheap, as compared to some synthetic oils. (I bought a few gallons at O'Reillys, for as cheap as $7.50/gallon, at closeout). and C) According to the Chevron advertising, it outperformed several HDEO competitors (both mineral & synthetic based 10W30 & 5W40, under HEAT related conditions (Southwest Research Institute testing), that I looked at - with their names listed. That was good enough for me in Tennessee. With you living in Florida, that should be good enough for you, as well.

I am also using it my air cooled generator, which could potentially be running for days, under summer power outage conditions. This oil is kind of hard to find now, so look up your local Chevron distributor, if you want to try it.

A great mower, by the way, the Honda 217 HRX, was enough to relegate my old Lawn Boy 22261 2 cycle mower, (still in great condition), to back up status.

 

[Duffyjr]

I'm pretty sure if I just spent $800 on a mower with a five year warranty I'd use what the manual called for.

 

[Best F100]

Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
I'm pretty sure if I just spent $800 on a mower with a five year warranty I'd use what the manual called for.






Not necessarily. I would be more likely to use the type of oils what the commercial and landscaping guys use. They accumulate much higher hours on their equipment than residential users. Owners manuals just specify straight 30 wt oils, in most cases.

 

[Duffyjr]

Originally Posted By: Best F100
Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
I'm pretty sure if I just spent $800 on a mower with a five year warranty I'd use what the manual called for.






Not necessarily. I would be more likely to use the type of oils what the commercial and landscaping guys use. They accumulate much higher hours on their equipment than residential users. Owners manuals just specify straight 30 wt oils, in most cases.


All I'm saying is it would be my luck to have something go wrong and the dealer figuring out some how that I used 15w40 instead of 10w30 and have them void the warranty. I'm all for using an HD oil in my mower.

IF I was going to use the 15w40 I'd make sure the dealer was ok with it.

 

[JTK]

I just pulled my 18yr/old HRS216 out of the shed last week. I hadn't used it in ~3yrs. Fuel tank sat dry. Fueled it up, checked the oil, plopped it on the grass and it fired up on the second pull! It's SOOOO much quieter and lighter than my ~$700 Snapper Ninja Commercial series 21" mulcher. I'm glad I pulled it out for quick trimming in tight spots, etc.

Do the new Honda HR series mowers still have real throttle controls on them? You can idle my Honda down to a super low putt-putt-putt and it would sit there all day. One flick of the throttle lever and it blips right up to max governed speed. My Snapper with the 180cc Briggs professional series engine on it has a throttle lever, but the carb only allows for fast and ludicrous RPM. It will not idle.

 

[Rand]

I wouldnt have a problem using 15w40 in it.. but 2 quarts should last you 3 years..
I would probably use valvoline syn vr1 10w30 or buy a gallon of t5 10w30

how many hours a year do you mow. I usually go 1-2 years in my trimming mower.. it only gets about 15min a week.

The 35 year old deere 212 tractor I change every 25hours or so.. but it has worn rings... and I still have 6 gallons of rotella t5 15w40* and a case of havoline 20w50

The oil gets well over 250F so thick doesnt bother me. Have a 316 deere with over 2000 hours on quaker state 20w50.


*yes I said t5 15w40...

 

[JTK]

I don't understand people's hesitation with using 15w40 or 20w50 in small air-cooled engines. Fact still remains, you can use any engine oil you want from 20, 30, 40 or 50 weight variants. As long as a proper level is maintained and the stuff flows, the engine is going to function.

I still believe most small air cooled OPE engine manufactures recommend 10w30 or 5w30 because it's an easily available and recognizable oil, that covers a decent range of operating conditions. This does not mean it's the best oil choice for every application. I'm pretty sure I know a lot of folks that wouldn't even recognize anything other than 5w30, 10w30, SAE30 or 10w40. Anything else they'd avoid just because they don't know what it is.

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
Originally Posted By: Best F100
Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
I'm pretty sure if I just spent $800 on a mower with a five year warranty I'd use what the manual called for.






Not necessarily. I would be more likely to use the type of oils what the commercial and landscaping guys use. They accumulate much higher hours on their equipment than residential users. Owners manuals just specify straight 30 wt oils, in most cases.


All I'm saying is it would be my luck to have something go wrong and the dealer figuring out some how that I used 15w40 instead of 10w30 and have them void the warranty. I'm all for using an HD oil in my mower.

IF I was going to use the 15w40 I'd make sure the dealer was ok with it.
Its not the dealer that has the final say, its the manufacturer. Its the manufacturer that has to honor warranties, not the dealer.