Possible engine damage to Honda Mower?

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New homeowner so I invested in a Honda HRX217HYA with the GCV190cc engine. Iv'e been busy with school and work and never thought to change the oil until this weekend. The mower has about 50hours on the original oil that I put in when unboxed it. So I didn't change the oil after 5 hours like the manual said, and when I drained the oil out today it was a thick brownish color, and it had a slight metallic color to it. I refilled it with 12oz of Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 10w-30 and then mowed the back yard. It performs the same as it always has since day one. I'm just worried I may have shortened the life of the motor...thoughts?
 
You're good. The first change always looks glittery.
wink.gif
 
Sure it would have been great if you changed the oil at 5 hours like the manual suggests but in no way did you damage anything.

Just keep up on changing the oil and all of the other maintenance from now on and you will be fine. The engine will probably out last all of the other parts on the machine.
 
Ok thats good to hear that I probably didn't damage anything. I picked this mower because of the reputation of the engine and I thought I may have screwed up big time...
 
I didn't change mine in my GCV160 within the first 5 hours. I went a few months on the factory fill and changed it before winter. It looked perfectly fine when I checked it though, almost clear and no noticeable metal flakes in it. I probably went ~15 hours on the factory fill, maybe? All is fine after spring and I've used it a few times since. FWIW, my dad used to have a Briggs mower that he NEVER changed the oil in once, in the 10+ years that he owned it. It was quite black, but continued to run fine after I finally changed it for him after learning more about mower maintenance. He since got a mower similar to mine and he still refuses to change it, so I try to keep up on it when I'm there but it still inevitably gets neglected more than it should, and sometimes goes years without being changed. Still running fine, but the self propel system doesn't allow one of the wheels to turn properly anymore.
 
I did that too. I left it out in a torrential down pour for 3 hours one afternoon. It ran fine afterwards, but now thinking about it, the oil did look like it might have gotten water in it (not sure how thats possible on a sealed system).
 
Buddy of mine had an old flat head briggs from 2003 that he never changed the oil and only added oil when it needed it.
He threw it away a year or two ago stating that it was no good.
I offered to take it off his hands.
I got it running after investing 5 bucks for a new carb diaphragm kit.
My mom push mows an acre with it and it's still going strong.

You're good.
 
My Honda commercial mower is about 15 or so years old. It appears that the adjuster for one wheel has seized and can't be moved no matter how much liquid wrench I spray on it and whacking it with a hammer hasn't worked either. So, it appears that the chassis will fail long before the engine wears out.

I use 0w-30 Red Line left over from changing my car's oil and it also appears that multi-grade synthetic oil works just fine. I change the oil and clean the air filter every time I have to refill the 5 gallon gas can. I'm guessing that the amount of gasoline used equates to how much use the mower is getting. In other words if I use any other method I'll forget to change the oil.
 
I didn't do it on my Honda mower (it has the GCV160 engine, with same instructions). It is still running good after 10 years.

In fact, I only change oil every 2 years or so. Comes out looking pretty clean every time. (using cheap generic 10W-30 motor oil)
 
Your $700 push mower hates you for not changing the oil and leaving it out in the rain!!!! That is an expensive mower to go that long without changing or checking the oil. From what you described, a thick brownish color (chocolate milkshake) is what you get when you mix water with oil so hopefully everything will be okay.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
Lawn mowers are a poor investment.

Just sold my 15 year old mower on craigslist for 1/3 of what I paid for it new. That's actually a pretty good return on investment compared to say, cars. Few cars hold 1/3 of their value after 15 years except maybe some Japanese models.
 
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