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HRC216HXC sputtering then dying in rain

2821 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  lakeviewpe
I have 2 older honda commercial HRC216HXC (3 and 4 year old) that sputter then die in rainy damp weather. We take every precaution to keep water out of the gas and fill up under cover. I have a 3rd new this year HRC216HXC that works fine in the rain using the same gas can to fill it up. I had this problem with these 2 mowers in the spring and took them in to be serviced and get the gas and carb cleaned out in case it was water in the carb. They worked fine after that but we started to get nice weather. They work fine in when its dry out. Could water be getting in another way? Air filters and spark plugs are great on them.

Has anyone had any problems like this before or might know how to solve this problem? Any help would be great!
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Welcome to the site!

Since you mentioned that the air filters in particular look OK and are not getting wet, I would move onto the gas caps. Perhaps they are not seeling 100%?
I'd put an inline fuel filter in there to see if you can spot any signs of water in the fuel system. Having a shop clean the carb when you suspect water in the fuel can get kind of costly, especially if that's not the problem. Actually, though, I'd lean more toward water getting into the ignition system some where and grounding it out. Check the kill switch, and other potential grounding points to see how they look. Check all the wires for breaks or bare spots. Might want to look at the gap on the ignition coil too. Should be about the thickness of a business card.
Thanks for you help guys i will look into all those suggestions when things settle down. Been a busy start to the fall so far.
If there are no signs of water in the fuel then I would check if water is getting into some part of the ignition system (under the fly wheel or by the on/off switch)
Look on the control section (where all the springs and linkages are) The air filter base bolts in there near the top, sometimes when these engines get too much vibration, it will crack right there by that screw. See if yours is cracked, and if it is then see, if the air filter base is cracked somewhere too.
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