Honda's Sorry Excuse for a Warranty

[Braaaptor]

I have nothing against Honda equipment (I used to own a TRX 450r), but I will NEVER buy anything built by Honda brand-new. Why? The company may build good products, but they are very hesitant to stand behind them if something goes wrong. Here's proof:

A few weeks ago, a local crane company had an almost brand-new Honda GX 660 engine "blow up". They took it off the machine it was attached to and tore it apart for inspection. Come to find out, the camshaft's decompression weight had come apart and wreaked havoc inside the crankcase.

At that point, and since the engine was still new enough to be under warranty, they brought it to our shop for repair. I got one helluva basket case! X(

After we (the shop) looked the engine over, Honda was called, and long story short, they sent a factory rep out to take some pics and assess the damage. The whole crankcase was full of metal shavings....

...And the broken decomp weight had gouged several deep marks into the engine block.

What happened?

Well, after reporting back to the factory, the rep told us that Honda has been having problems with their camshafts coming apart in this model of engine. They told us, much to our disbelief, to just fix it! What does nearly $ 3,000.00 buy nowdays? An engine with a plastic cam drive gear. Wow. IMO, an engine with this sort of damage needs a new shortblock to be sure that the problem is fixed.

Anyhow, Honda sent us a new cam and I was tasked with putting the oily mess back together. I've never worked on one of these new Honda engines (only been out on the market for a bit over a year), let alone a basket case, but after several hours she's a runner again.

So, that was the majority of my day! Needless to say, I'm not going to be buying a new Honda engine anytime soon. If you're gonna spend $ 3,000.00 on an engine, I will spend that money on one that comes with good warranty support. I'm sure Honda couldn't see any reason to replace several engine blocks if the problem could be fixed with just a new camshaft, but in this case I think the damage was too severe to ensure that my repair lasts the life of the engine.

 

[sicivicdude]

All in the name of noise reduction. Ever wonder why you can hold a conversation beside a honda engine and not a briggs? Plastic timing gears is part of the reason.

Wonder why the decompressor weight/arm let loose? And oddly enough, the plastic timing gear is intact.... the metal decompressor weight is what broke.....

 

[brandoz28]

ouch!!!!! I can't believe that they use a plastic cam gear

 

[mmajay]

I have allways wondered if the new honda motors are made in china?? I bought a honda knock off and i swear it was exactly the same as the honda motor when sitting beside it.

 

[Braaaptor]

All in the name of noise reduction. Ever wonder why you can hold a conversation beside a honda engine and not a briggs? Plastic timing gears is part of the reason.

Wonder why the decompressor weight/arm let loose?

A rivet popped out. This design uses 3 rivet to hold the plastic gear to the camshaft, and another rivet to secure the decomp weight to the gear. When the weight let loose, it twisted the plastic gear around and broke two more rivets. You're right...it runs extremely quiet with almost no metallic noise from inside.

Still, for this price of an engine, I'm not liking the plastic. I'd rather put up with a little more noise and have the engine last 10 + years than to have to deal with this and watch the engine have a major failure before it turns 2...

 

[Braaaptor]

I have allways wondered if the new honda motors are made in china?? I bought a honda knock off and i swear it was exactly the same as the honda motor when sitting beside it.

Its true! Honda has a China plant. Some of the new Honda GX series engines (not sure about this one, but lots of the little 5 hp's) are stamped "Made in China" right on the block.

That's much of the reason why we have all the Honda clone engines on the market today. Somebody in China snuck the designs out of the Honda plant and by some twist of fate started making knockoffs that Honda couldn't stop.

 

[sicivicdude]

It's ugly that a rivet caused all of that damage..... OBVIOUSLY they need to do something about that rivet but I'm not hating on the plastic gear. My woodsplitter has a Honda GX390 and it's approximately half the noise of a comparable HP rated briggs/tecumseh. If it needs a plastic timing gear to keep it that way, I'll deal with it later.

Kinda sucks Honda didn't pony up and replace the shortblock though. I'm kinda surprised they didn't want the entire engine back for damage assessment and replace the whole thing. If they know they have a problem with them, you figure they want to not just look at it but take it back and study it.

That's how Honda built their reputation of turning beercans into bulletproof cars/motorcycles

 

[Braaaptor]

It's ugly that a rivet caused all of that damage..... OBVIOUSLY they need to do something about that rivet but I'm not hating on the plastic gear. My woodsplitter has a Honda GX390 and it's approximately half the noise of a comparable HP rated briggs/tecumseh. If it needs a plastic timing gear to keep it that way, I'll deal with it later.

Kinda sucks Honda didn't pony up and replace the shortblock though. I'm kinda surprised they didn't want the entire engine back for damage assessment and replace the whole thing. If they know they have a problem with them, you figure they want to not just look at it but take it back and study it.

That's how Honda built their reputation of turning beercans into bulletproof cars/motorcycles

This is true. The GX 390's (rated at 13hp) actually use steel cam gears, so I think a lot of their noise reduction comes from a good muffler design and a well-muffled air intake.

I don't mind the plastic gear, either, but I agree the design needs improvement. Im sure Honda is currently working on a new design, and they'll sneak the revised cam into next years' models with little or no advertisement.

 

[sicivicdude]

Then it's even more impressive that they use a steel timing system and STILL have less noise.

The good new is, you got that monster honda back together in one piece. The bad news is, their warranty process sounds like it needs a little more thought.

 

[piezzi]

Nice job getting that thing back together, and thanks for sharing!

 

[blasterdemon7]

Even some cars run plastic timing gears.

 

[Larry's Shee]

Even some cars run plastic timing gears.

I had a 66 Pontiac with plastic cam gear. Seen many SBC same.

Honda must use the same rivets that were in my counter balance gear X( Gear blew, took out the bearing , which chunked the case. Still haven't gotten it fixed, son's friend took it to work 2 months ago and just found out the welder either didn't, couldn't, or lacked time to do it. X(

As to Honda, doesn't seem they are too worried about reputation. Welcome to the throw away age.