# Honda Snow blower Engines ?



## RHJO51 (Nov 2, 2011)

Hello All, I picked up a nice Honda HS828 Track snowblower in very good condition except the engine is blown. Rod cap came off and destroyed the engine. I need to find a replacement. I was thinking of picking up a Honda GX270 9 HP engine to replace the original GX240 8 hp engine. Are there any issues with replacing the the 8 Hp engine on this machine with the 9 HP engine? 

Are the straight shaft GX270 engines all the same? I see a few for sale from generators, leaf blowers, etc.. and need to know if they are really the same engines that are used by Honda on the snow blowers. Thank you. - Jim


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

The gx 270 is available in both straight and tapered shaft. Most if not all Generators will use a tapered shaft, Leaf blower might be a straight shaft 

As far as the bolt pattern I think the GX240 and Gx270 are the same.
All of the straight shaft should be the same but not all Gx270 are straight shaft motors. 

Both the gx240 and gx270 should be 1" output shaft on the straight shaft models.

You can look up the specs for both engines and decide for yourself.

Carl


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## RHJO51 (Nov 2, 2011)

Carl, thanks for responding. Yes, I did find out there are both tapered and straight shaft engines. That aside, is there anything special about the snowblower engines? differnt length shaft? unique carb or exhaust? shrouds? I don't want to purchase a used engine to find out it wont work on the snowblower. Thanks again. - Jim


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## nt40lanman (Dec 31, 2012)

The "winter" engines seem to lack air filters, and have a housing around the carb and part of the muffler, I assume for heat.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

nt40lanman said:


> The "winter" engines seem to lack air filters, and have a housing around the carb and part of the muffler, I assume for heat.


You will definitely have good results powering your Honda Snow Blower with another Honda or even a cost effective Clone. I replaced my Tecumseh 5hp on my 1996 MTD 5/22 with a 7hp Harbor Freight Predator 212cc and it works great. Since the Predator 212cc is jetted lean from the factory for emission reasons it surged a little bit unless I ran it with a slight amount of choke on when it was 25 degrees out. I fixed this by taking the main jet out and taking some super floss and polishing compound and ran it through the center of the jet a few times and cleaned it out with carburetor cleaner. I also took the primary jet out too and ran sewing thread through it with polishing compound and cleaned it with carburetor cleaner. As to removing the air filter? I just left it in and I have had no problems at all this winter and it runs real nice and really tosses the snow. Do you take your air filter out of your car in the winter? Of course not so why should you take it out on the Predator 212cc? I had no issues at all with carburetor icing or filter icing and the Predator 212cc always ran excellent while blowing my driveway even in the middle of a snow storm too. I did however fashion an aluminum shield for the front and side of the engine space between the gas tank and the engine to keep snow out of the governor linkages.


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

GustoGuy said:


> You will definitely have good results powering your Honda Snow Blower with another Honda or even a cost effective Clone. I replaced my Tecumseh 5hp on my 1996 MTD 5/22 with a 7hp Harbor Freight Predator 212cc and it works great. Since the Predator 212cc is jetted lean from the factory for emission reasons it surged a little bit unless I ran it with a slight amount of choke on when it was 25 degrees out. I fixed this by taking the main jet out and taking some super floss and polishing compound and ran it through the center of the jet a few times and cleaned it out with carburetor cleaner. I also took the primary jet out too and ran sewing thread through it with polishing compound and cleaned it with carburetor cleaner. As to removing the air filter? I just left it in and I have had no problems at all this winter and it runs real nice and really tosses the snow. Do you take your air filter out of your car in the winter? Of course not so why should you take it out on the Predator 212cc? I had no issues at all with carburetor icing or filter icing and the Predator 212cc always ran excellent while blowing my driveway even in the middle of a snow storm too. I did however fashion an aluminum shield for the front and side of the engine space between the gas tank and the engine to keep snow out of the governor linkages.


The reason you don't run an air filter on snowblower engines is two fold. If you are blowing in high wind and the snow is blown back towards the carb it could ingest snow to coat the air filter. If that happens the snow will melt making the air filter wet and restrict the air going to the engine and the engine may become very rich. Even if it doesn't stop the engine it is safe to say that there is a very good chance of the wet paper filter freezing after you turn off the snow blower and then when you go to start it the next time it just may not run. 

The other reason air filters are not run in snow blower engines is that normally when it is snowing or has just snowed there is very very little dirt dust in the air that would cause a problem for the engine.

You run a filter in you car all year long because you will be driving in dirty dusty air in all but a few days a year.

A car driving down a highway or back road is kicking up a lot of dust and dirt almost all of the time. A snow blower blowing snow off a snow covered driveway is not going to kick up any dust or dirt.

You can run an 8hp honda GX jet in the predator or greyhound engine and that will richen it up a bit for winter use. They can be had for very little money.

Carl

Carl


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

CarlB said:


> The reason you don't run an air filter on snowblower engines is two fold. If you are blowing in high wind and the snow is blown back towards the carb it could ingest snow to coat the air filter. If that happens the snow will melt making the air filter wet and restrict the air going to the engine and the engine may become very rich. Even if it doesn't stop the engine it is safe to say that there is a very good chance of the wet paper filter freezing after you turn off the snow blower and then when you go to start it the next time it just may not run.
> 
> The other reason air filters are not run in snow blower engines is that normally when it is snowing or has just snowed there is very very little dirt dust in the air that would cause a problem for the engine.
> 
> ...


I do agree that if your air filter is made of a corrugated paper element then snow could get inside and melt and saturate the paper and freeze and impede air flow so much that it will not run. Fortunately the air filter in my snow blower's engine is a reusable foam filter and I haven't had any problems at all and I used it an awful lot this year and unfortunately I may get another chance to blow my driveway again. We could get as much as 4 to 6 inches of snow again by Friday am here in central Minnesota. When will this winter end?


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

GustoGuy said:


> I do agree that if your air filter is made of a corrugated paper element then snow could get inside and melt and saturate the paper and freeze and impede air flow so much that it will not run. Fortunately the air filter in my snow blower's engine is a reusable foam filter and I haven't had any problems at all and I used it an awful lot this year and unfortunately I may get another chance to blow my driveway again. We could get as much as 4 to 6 inches of snow again by Friday am here in central Minnesota. When will this winter end?


I suspect that the air filter on your predator engine has a foam sleeve over a pleated paper element. This is the normal setup on most single cylinder engines. You will find that not one of the snow blower manufactures will have an air cleaner installed on their snow engines.


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## RHJO51 (Nov 2, 2011)

*Swap Honda GX240 with a GX270?*

Let me try to get this thread back on track. I'm looking for a used replacement engine and have seen a few Honda 9 HP GX270 engines for sale. Sounds like they were on other power equipment - leaf blowers, etc.. I'm wondering if one of these GX270 engines would work on my snowblower. I know some of the engines have tapered shafts (won't work) but for the straight shaft engines, there are variations with most stating the shaft is a 1" x 3-31/64" keyed shaft. I measured mine on the GX240 (should be the same as the GX270) and from the side of the case, it's approximately 2 11/16". Am I measuring the shaft wrong?

What I am reallyI'm trying to determine is if I can use one of these straight shaft GX270 engines on my honda snowblower and swap over the pulleys, pull start housing, etc., from my original GX240 engine. 

Anybody know or point me in the right direction or more appropriate forum? Thank you - Jim


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

From my understanding the straight shaft honda gx240 and gx270 have the same size PTO. If the one on the engine you get is longer just cut it down, it not hardened steel.

The case dimensions for the gx240 and gx270 should be the same.

Carl


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

CarlB said:


> I suspect that the air filter on your predator engine has a foam sleeve over a pleated paper element. This is the normal setup on most single cylinder engines. You will find that not one of the snow blower manufactures will have an air cleaner installed on their snow engines.


 All foam and no paper at all. Washable and reusable too.


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## RHJO51 (Nov 2, 2011)

Carl, thanks for the info, that's perfect.


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## [email protected] (Nov 21, 2011)

RHJO51 said:


> What I am reallyI'm trying to determine is if I can use one of these straight shaft GX270 engines on my honda snowblower and swap over the pulleys, pull start housing, etc., from my original GX240 engine.
> 
> Anybody know or point me in the right direction or more appropriate forum? Thank you - Jim


Jim:

Suggest you contact a Honda Engine dealer or distributor and see what they can provide you. Honda does offer a new replacement engine that would fit perfectly as well as meet all regulatory requirements (emissions, safety, etc.) originally speced for the snowblower. So, have that frame serial number handy, and start here:

Honda Engine Dealer Locator

If you strike out there, share the serial number with me and I'll research it with the engineers here at the office.


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## RHJO51 (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks Robert!

Unfortunately, I cannot afford a new replacement engine. I have to look for a good used one. 

Thanks again


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

*Honda engine are very nice yet extremely expensive*



RHJO51 said:


> Thanks Robert!
> 
> Unfortunately, I cannot afford a new replacement engine. I have to look for a good used one.
> 
> Thanks again


Just put a Harbor Freight Predator 212cc engine on it and it will work great. They go on sale for as little as $99 on Harbor Freight website and only have $6.99 shipping anywhere in the lower 48 states. They are but a 3rd of the price of a Brand name Honda engine. I have 2 of them. One is on a mini bike and the other is on my snow blower. Way better than a poor running Tecumseh that I had to spend about 1/2 hour putzing with it just to get it to start. With my new engine it's just 1 pull of the recoil and it starts and runs awesome and throws snow 40 feet or more. Take a look at this video of the Predator 212cc in action against 11 inches of snow. Mtd Yardmachine 5/22 repower with Harbor frieght Pedator 212cc ...


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