Honda Harmony 215 Transmission Problems

I have a Harmony HR216 and the wheels move in all speeds when you lift the mower up on its front legs and appear to change speeds but when on the ground the mower will not push through the grass like it used to. It needs me to push it. Have had it for over 7 years and this just started. Also seems to get stuck when you lift it up ons its rear wheels to turn direction and the wheel digs into the turf

The right rear wheel broke off Sheereed the metal. I cant tell from tne diagrams if it is the wheel bolt or the axle. How long is the bolt that attacbes tne wheel. Just need to know if i can buy a new bolt or axle.

My Honda Harmony 215 SX will roll forward for a few steps then the back wheels will lock up an not move. I took the Right wheel off and the entire gear,clip, washer set fell off when I pulled the wheel off. Any insight on what the problem may be would be greatly appreciated. This more is truly a great piece of machinery.

I have a HRR216 S3DC Mower. I recently replaced the belt and drive cable. Worked great for one month and today the transmission seams to have seized. Is tit worth taking apart before replacing the transmission? I'm wondering if it is the grease in the transmission has dried up

If you can please give me insight as to what the possible cause might be.

Thank you,

Jamie

All that is required to stop Rhonda's Honda is one simple chip of wood getting wedged between the belt pulley and transmission housing guide. It locks up the transmission and you can push it forward, but the great design won't allow you to pull it backwards.

Wow ! The transmission looks like it could drive a small riding mower

I read ur article on your honda 215 about transmission..i know u said it was the drift key on axle how did u fix can u replace drift key or did u have to get new axle??

Thanks!!

I have a HR215MZAM 06231101 that runs great but I cannot get the transmission to disengage when I release the handle. Is there and adjustment that I should look for?

Please help if you can.

I have a HRM215-SXA. The drive clutch cable broke AND the shift cable did also.

2 problems:

1.) I'm not sure if I have the right drive clutch cable, I know I'm also missing the clutch return spring, but I can't find any photos or useful drawings (yes I did find the owners manual online) that can help me verify how this connection to the handle is supposed to look. Any photos or drawings of those connections would be immensely helpful.

2.) I can't even find a "shift cable" to order for this model. Every search I do on it comes up with either a clutch cable or a throttle cable. AND, I can't see on where on the transmission the shift cable connects. (The clutch cable is easy to see where it connects)

Any help greatly appreciated.

I have two questions How are you propping up the mower so you can easily get under the mower deck? How to you put the transmission back with the belt on? I'm guessing that would be difficult as it is difficult to get off.

I have Honda Harmony HRM215 CB Serial Number: MZBB6004459 SXA. In second gear, the wheel will spin when they are in the air but when they hit the ground they stop. Every now and then the mower will spurt forward for a second in second gear but then stop. It runs perfectly fine in first gear. A few months after the slipping started, the drive stopped disengaging when I let go of the Drive Clutch Lever. It eventually disengages, usually when I'm going down hill or I manually lift up handle bars and the rear wheels off the ground and then push the handle downs and lift the front ones as it seems when the rear wheels are higher than the front it disengages. If I go down a very step bank it ALWAYS disengages.

For the slipping in second gear issue, I've tried the simple fix of removing the left real wheel and then fixing the gear piece right there to make sure all the parts are situated correctly. It helped making sure the wheels spun when in the air in second gear but that's it.

I've also seen your video that talks about the Clutch and Shift levers becoming lose due to stretching in the rectangular slots. Haven't pursued that yet.

I don't want to give up on this mower as I really don't like that you have to keep the blade running on the new mowers to keep the engine running which sucks when you have to go over something but don't want the blade running or you want to stop and move something out of the way.

Greatly appreciate your help. Thanks.

Hi Eddie-

I am trying to repair my HR215HXA mower.

I need one small ratcheting drive gear on the end of the axle shaft (shown in the first photo of your article), and also the oil seals and nylon bushings that fit the axle ends. All of the parts diagrams that I find on the internet show a rear wheel that is driven by a racheting hub that is totally different from my mower. Do you know the part numbers of these three parts? I am on the VT/NH border...any idea where I might find them near here? Thanks for the help.

Eddie, gear shift lever does change the gears twice in the transmission, but pushing on it when its fully down does not make any change in the Xmsn.

Believe my son must have hit a stump trying to clean up a non-lawn back yard. Similar to an older outboard motor, does the lawnmower xmsn have a sheer pin to shear off when one hits an obstacle? There is absolutely no connection or movement between the drive pulley and the axle.

Eddie, Honda HRR 216: Turning transmission pulley does not result in wheel shaft turning. Rotating wheel axles does not result in drive pulley turning. Does this mean transmission has to be replaced, or rebuilt?

The subject line says it all

Hey Eddie! Well I'm thrilled that you have this resource..... I purchased a Honda hrm 215 last month with the owner telling me that it was working the year prior and it prob needed a tune up.... anyway I bought it in hopes of using it.... little did I know that he canabalized it! Linkages were missing and off... carb was loose etc.... anyway got it all out back together... cleaned it and put a new bowl on it cause it had pitted badly..... I GOT IT TO RUN! I could believe it.... but much to my disappointment I noticed a small oil leak buy the cylinder head..... I'm hoping it's the gasket? :( any suggestions? And how difficult is it to change? Thanks

Thanks for taking the time to post such great info! Cheers!

So I have a problem with the top pinion Bering it is very loose and the pulley is very wobbly?

Does anyone know what the Bering part number is?

Or has anyone else ever seen this problem before?

I have the transmission out of the Mower already just haven't taken it apart yet.

If anyone has any ideas for the fix please let me know.

Hi Eddie,

I have an older Harmony HRB215 SXA MZBA 6339444, it's gotta be maybe 15+ yrs.old easy. So heres my problem I have , when I engage the drive I feel a studder like something is slipping and it will not go UNLESS I give it a shove OR lift the back up, the wheels start spining and I put it back down and the thing takes off strong most of the time sometimes a little slower ,then other times it wants to pull out of my hands, very inconsistent .....Mine has a plastic deck and I love the thing,it's nice and light and dont really want to get rid of it Any ideas.....Thanks!!!!!, Andrew

I have a Honda Hormany 215- 5horse.The belt for the self propulsion keeps coming off. Does the mower have an adjustment for this belt?

To close the loop on my questions about not getting enough torque, i figured it out. I thought I had put the axle gears on the right direction, but I didn't. They were backwards. So what was happening was when the mower was lifted up there wasn't enough friction to allow the wheels to move, but as soon as it was put down, the gears didn't engage. I turned the gears in the proper direction and my mower's working great! Lesson learned?--make sure gears are in proper direction...

Hi Eddie, you certainly seem like you know what you're doing. You were the only one that was able to help diagnose my initial transmission problem, which was being caused by stuck drift keys. So I got that fixed. Thanks! Now, I'm not getting enough torque to self propel the mower. When I lift the back wheels off the ground they freely move. As soon as I place it on the ground they stop. I replace the belt and tightened the tensioner. Any suggestions? Could really use some help! Thanks

To take tension off the spring I wrapped bailing wire around it and used a short screwdriver to tighten it. I've heard this called a Alabama u bolt.

Good Day Larry,

I recently had the transmission on my Honda HRB 215 Harmony mower worked on, got it back, and the rear wheel height adjustors will move forward and backward but does not raise or lower the mower. Go figure. I would take it back, but it took the repairman 4 months just to fix the transmission. The question I for you is is there away to and how to adjust the height adjustors?

Why would a hra 215sxa have uncontrollable high rpms?

unfortunately my fix doesn't work when the mower is all back together. It's weird because I tested it out before re-installing the transmission.

I figured out that put the spring on first before putting on the belt.

Found a video of a guy removing and putting the spring back to change the belt. He makes it look so easy to do with only his hand. My spring requires long pulling to get it back in the hole. Makes me wonder if someone put a different spring on here than the original one. I started to think I was using the wrong spring but I double checked that's the only large spring that removed from the mower. I'm considering to go buy a longer spring.

Yikes it's difficult to pull the spring and line it up for the belt tension. I cannot do it. I tried pulling it with a clothes hanger to do it without it slipping from my pliers but it's almost impossible to pull it enough and then line it up properly to slip it into the hole.

Is there some special tool for pulling a spring?

Wait. My lever has some play in it but it's not worn at all where yours was. In fact, my lever is plastic instead of metal and clearly designed to eliminate that point of failure that you found. Seems mine is a new model where the engineers tried to improve that weakness. It's now a large lever with a large body that fits down over the "arm" so that is has a lot of surface area to contact the arm and avoid wear and tear. In fact the lever is in perfect condition after many years of abuse.

However, I found the problem in my case was at the opposite end of the arm to engage/disengage the transmission. At that end the metal arm has a round plastic piece that is slotted to fit over the arm and fit into the transmission housing to give is a point to swivel. However, that plastic piece was broken at one side so it was flopping and giving play.

Then I noticed the other level to change gears was designed the same and the plastic piece there was not broken so I swapped them. And I think I was able to reassemble the transmission so that the it doesn't matter the other one is broken, it is firmly seated and won't come lose since the gear shifter gets much less abuse than engage/disengage.

Now it only remains me to re-install the transmission!

Thanks for all the videos and help, you really gave the confidence to give it a while and fix it myself.

Oh wow. Good idea to create a shim. But how did you do create a shim? I'm googling this. But never created a shim before. I'm one of those, just replace it guys but I love to repair things rather than replace if possible. That just feels more awesome. So I want to learn how to make shims.

Nevermind. There's 2 holes in the pulley. When put a screw driver into each of them then it held still enough to pop the knot off with a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar. Wow it was on tight. Now I'm watching your video about the fix to the transmission.

Well found out about flipping on its side via google. Got the snap ring off and the transmission is out!

Now how to get the pulley off it to get to the other bolts to open up the transmission? There's whole in the pulley..looks like to put a shaft through it to hold it still but the nut (even with wd-40) seems to be frozen...it won't move even with a 1/2 inch breaker bar.

Am I doing something wrong?

Yes. There is another snap ring! I looked for one before but didn't see it. Now I do see it. But it's difficult to get to it unless I flip the mower on the other side. The guy who sold it to me told me it's "dangerous" to flip the mower on one of it's sides. Is that true? I saw in your video you had it flipped on the short shaft side to work on it. So I guessed that is okay. But what if I flip it to the long shaft side to get this o-ring off?

I joined hub now. hoping to get notified when you reply.

Eddie. Wow your Honda Harmony video is so helpful. However, the height adjuster won't come off. I already remove the 1st snap ring, the gear, then the plastic cover and the second snap ring. But the height adjuster still won't come off. I put lot of WD-40 on it, banged and pried on it but only moved about 1/16 inch. My next try will be be to buy a "puller" tool.

It's annoying since the transmission and shaft can freely move back and forth and so it's almost free. But since the height adjuster is still on, transmission shaft cannot swivel out enough to come off.

What am I missing? or is getting a puller the right move?

Where can I find internal parts for honda transmission? Looking for the clutch arms that shift speeds and engage forward motion.

Amazing how things work properly when you have the right parts! Picked up the new wheels on my way home from work on Friday. First thing I noticed was how much beefier the wheel sprocket is on the new wheel as opposed to the old wheel. I also noticed that the new sprocket is a little larger so it meshes with the axle sprocket better. No slop or play in the wheel. Both sprockets now line up perfectly.

I got home, $80 lighter and sitting at my front door were the new parts for the drive assembly. Twenty minutes later and the mower was back in business.

I did a search also and I couldn't find the 42710-VE2-800 wheels any cheaper than my local guy's $40 per. I did see a bunch of the 42710-VE2-MOOZA wheels for alot cheaper. They also popped up when I put in the 800 number, had to take a real close look at the associated information and pics to make sure.

Anyway, I'll send you the pics when it's back together...parts are due in Friday.

Wow, $40 for a wheel!! But my local outdoor power equipment dealer has 6 in stock . And $80 is still a cheap price to keep this mower running for many more years.

Figure I'll take the old MOOZA wheel with me to compare it to the 800 model. If it's a go, I'm replacing both rear wheels. If it works, and as soon as I figure out how to post pics, I'll update this thread.

No, I have looked at the transmission and the axle and it's all r9ock solid....BUT, I do believe I have figured out my problem. I think the current rear wheels are a 42710-VE2-MOOZA. What I should have put on were 42710-VE2-800. If you look at the placement of the sprocket on the 800 you'll see that it's more in line with the end of the wheel bearing. It looks like the sprocket on the MOOZA is set back about 1/4". I think the 800 wheels are what I need.

Thoughts?

So after looking at the current wheels I see that the wheel gear needs to be about 5/16" closer to the outside of the wheel. Almost in line with the end of the wheel bearing.

So any suggestions? How do I find out if there are different sprocket dimensions for other wheels?

Thanks but I know it's not a washer. With nothing on the shaft but the wheel and with the wheel fully seated on the shaft, it only catches the outer 1/8" of the drive gear.

I'm beginning to think that maybe, just maybe I was sent the wrong wheels when I first repaired the mower. Once I get home I'm breaking out the micrometer and taking some measurements of both rear wheels.

Sounds like you may have a washer mounted on the wrong side of the wheel. The wheel should fully mesh with the gear drive.

Ed,

Great, great information. I have a HRM215K3 SDA that I rescued from a neighbors trash about 3 years ago. For $75 in parts, I had an awesome machine. I have encountered a slight problem that I didn't see mentioned in any of your previous postings.

The internal gear on the left side rear wheel engages the drive gear on the very outside edge. Only about 1/8". After awhile, the edge of the drive sprocket wears away and the drive stops working.

This is what caused the previous owner to dispose of it.. I'm now in the process of ordering another drive sprocket.

Any suggestions as to what I can do to get the gears to line up better?

Thanks.

I got mine running with cable adjustments. Had a shop double check and told me that it would need a new trans in the next year our two as it has maxed out adjustments. Thinking of selling this one now and then buying a new one this fall on clearance. Best cut over!

Hi Ed I looked at that site briefly but didn't see any Honda stuff. I will look at it more carefully this coming weekend. I seems that Honda wants you to buy the service manual.

Hi Ed been there and everywhere,any parts diagrams that I have seen don't show the trans parts that I need to see. I think I may have to buy a Honda service manual. I will probably start by looking this evening. I'll keep you posted. Maybe someone has one on ebay to start things off.

Al - go to PartsTree.com and look up your mower's model and serial number. They have generally helpful blow-up diagrams of the various subsystems of your mower, which will help show you how parts are arranged. Not quite as detailed as a service manual, but probably enough for you to know how things fit together. It worked well for me when I rebuilt the driveshaft bushings attached to the rear wheels of my Honda HRM215HXA. Also, your problem with one wheel turning freely opposite the other most likely means you installed the pinion gear (part # Honda 42661-VE2-800) backwards on one side. There are a number of YouTube videos that show how to install it correctly, and the issue is covered at the top of Eddie's original posting, telling you the drive gear (the pinion gear) is directional.

Hi Ed just an update. I pressed the shaft off part of the trany housing. I guess I bugged it up bad enough to buy a new shaft and the spring clips that go with it. My problem is finding the schematic to put it back togetherDo you have any ideas in that area? Thanks again Al

Hi Ed thanks for the quick reply,I have now taken the trany apart and I think I broke something inside by banging on the axle trying to get it freed up and turning. It seems that I forced a snap ring into the housing and it's suck or wedged there for now. I will take it to work in the am and press it out to see what can be done with it. The bad part of this story was that before I changed the seals on the trany after adding quite a bit of hydraulic oil the trans worked fine. The mower was a great find for $30.00 bucks,so I will definitely try to fix it. By the way thanks for the site and these mowers are built like tanks. I will let you know what happens.

Hi Eddie I have a 215 hxa hydrostatic drive mower that I recently changed the seals for the trans on. Before I did this job the mower would wheels would rotate in both forward and backwards directions no problem.Now the wheels will turn freely in one direction or the other depending on witch way I have the drive gears on the shafts. I can actually have one wheel lock up when going backwards and have the other wheel lock up going forwards.I've tried switching the gears from one side of the mower to the other and have the same problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Wow, what an amazing resource. A neighbor just threw his out because it wasn't running well. It's old, but it looks brand new! I know the engines are strong, but having some issues with the drive train. It will do self-propelled, but only in gear 3. It seems to be maxed out as the other 2 do nothing. It's somewhat inconsistent. I thought it was possibly the trans, but looking at all those amazing metal gear I agree with you that it's built to last. Where do you suggest I start trouble shooting?

Hi Eddie - I just wanted to share with your readers that just because you have a 15+ year old Honda mower, doesn't mean you need to forego modern features! I just ordered off eBay auction # 281261759274, a universal John Deere mower deck washdown kit for just $12.99. You just drill 2 small holes in the deck: one to accommodate the washdown port, which uses a quick-disconect to connect up to your hose, and the 2nd, smaller hole is to anchor the mounting piece. After you mow the yard, you just connect up your hose, turn on the water and turn on the mower with blade running for about 2 minutes. It'll completely clean out your mower's underside and get rid of clumped-up grass bits so you have a clean mower for your next yard job. I've been envying the built-in ports on new Toro's and Husqvarna mowers, but now I can incorporate this same feature on my Honda HRM215 for a measly $12.99 and that includes free shipping! What's more, the unit is made of aluminum, so it won't get corroded when installed through the Honda's

Xenoy deck. Who says our HRM 215's are outmoded?

Hi Eddie, thanks for this amazing hub!

Fellow New Hampshirite Here. I have an HRM 215 sxa. I cannot figure out where the drive belt sits on the drive shaft end. Any pictures or info you have would be greatly appreciated. I just can't make sense of the two part pulley deal. Thanks again!

-Brandon

hi Eddie after reading this thread I was able to repair my mother-n-law's harmony 215 drive by merely adjusting the drive cable,,,awesome information,,,, thanks

I recently took my HRM215HXA to the repair shop because it was making a racket out of the drivewheels. They told me they could put new bushings on the driveshaft for $110 but in a year I'd need a new transmission ($200 just for the part!). I pulled the unit out of the shop and started shopping for a new mower in earnest. However, after reading your site, I was inspired to take my rear wheels apart and inspect it for myself. Sure enough, the guy who evaluated it had pulled the worn bushings out of one side; they had worn so badly that the drive gear in my right rear wheel kept losing contact with the gear teeth on the inside of the wheel. That's what made all the noise. Then, I discovered PartsTree.com and for the measly cost of about $20, including shipping, I was able to get new bushings, C--clips, and drive gears and replaced them myself. Now my mower runs good as new and I don't see any kind of evidence that the hydrostatic transmission is in need of replacement. My 17 year old Honda mower runs just great; so glad I don't have to replace it! So, if you've got an intermittent, grating sound coming out of the rear of your HRM215, you may want to check out the plastic driveshaft bushings. It's an easy job and well worth your time. The Parts Tree construction diagrams are a great help, too.

Hey Eddie and all,

I have an hrb215sx with a 2 speed tranny which has a second gear that skips. It runs fine with no load but as soon as it hits the ground, it works sporadically.

Now honda sells these at a ridiculously high price here in canada, over 300$, which is more than what the mower is worth and there ar e no parts sold separatly.

So i took the tranny apart and inspected everything but couldnt find any obvious sign of wear.

Then, looking at it closely, the tip of the gears were slightly worn.

I then tried this: take the gears and switch so that they would turn backwards instead!

When you think about it, when the gears rotate, the pressure is always applied at the same contact point, and over time that same point wears out unevenly compared to the other side which remains intact.

Well guess what, after that change, i put it back together and voila, works like new again, no skipping.

I must add that i had tried the obvious stuff like adjusting the cables before taking it apart.

I have some pictures of the transmission i could send if you wish.

Hey Eddie,

I went ahead and took that Honda harmony's axle apart,Well actually just had to take the collars off the drive wheels,The axle and transmission stayed put while I removed the axle collars,wheels,etc. Anyway after being able to get to the somewhat rusty axle and then emery cloth the axle till it was nice and shiny I then lubed it all up put it back together and behold it rolled backwards rather nicely,Like I thought the whole axle turns when you pull backward on this model Which I wasnt sure but yes its ok now,When I got it back together another issue popped up and that was it seemed like the brand new belt was slipping at times but notice one piece of the wounded cable was truding out near the transmission so clipped it off and put some pb down in the cable worked it a few times and bam its like new again..although I will need a new drive cable pretty soon but for now all is fine..I have some vid of what Ive done will look into uploading here not sure hoe to do that here yet but If you have the secret available let me know..l0l..Well hope this will help someone else in the future again the model is a Honda Harmony 2 HRT 216.

Thanks Eddie!

Bruce.

Harmony Honda is one of the best automobile company in india and the sales in india of Honda is really great.

Hi Eddie,

I noticed you were saying earlier that the wheels on a Honda should click going backwards ,But mine click going forwards,It does engage when belt is engaged,But pulling it backward the whole axle wants to turn,which it will when I spin it using force by hand .I was thinking since it sat out in weather that the collars where the axle goes through may be the problem,But have put P.B. few days ago still no help,Any suggestions? Thank you!

Bruce.

Levers are all good with no exccesive wear from the exterior. Still very hesitant to open her up though, don't want to damage the plastic casing...

Thanks for the transmission repair video, it was very informative!

I will keep you notified as to which correction I will ho to next.

-tkskagen

Axle keys and springs shocked out OK...

Ordered a new (unadjustable) shift cable, not bad for ~$16.00!

Still have no idea what the problem could be since it is a "direct drive"...

Do you Eddie, or any of your other Hondaphiles have any ideas?

I really want to get this out soon since the snow is coming, and I'm not charging family labor!

Thank you for your awesome knowledge, I wish there where more people out there like y'all!

-tkskagen

Seattle, Washington

My bro-in-law brought me his Harmony HRT216KTDA to fix. He told me that the transmission keeps slipping on him in 2nd, and gets worse in 3rd... I have successfully (and carefully) removed the trans, but am hesitant to open it up. I will check the axle key springs in the morning, but I "REALLY" don't want to mess withe internals since I'm not too sure if internal parts are readily available at my local Honda Power dealer.

Please HELP! :(

-tkskagen

well thanks for so much info ..