# Auger not driving on Honda HS928



## paredown (Jan 16, 2013)

First post...

I am a snowblower newb, but purchased a used Honda HS928 tracker. Of course last year we had hardly any snow so I barely used it, today I went to use it and dug in at the end of the gravel driveway. Snap!

Long story short--diagnosed that I had broken a shear bolt (this is the one that connects each side of the auger to the shaft). Replaced both sides (the non-broken one looked like a non-standard allen head bolt).

Now I can turn the auger, and everything back to the impeller in the chute appear to be moving together.

However, when I fire it up, and engage the clutch the auger is not driving at all.

I thought it may be the drive belt for the auger? (Don't have a shop manual, but if I'm getting the geography right, it looks as though the end of the drive shaft where the pulley attaches is what goes through the impeller for the snow chute and has another shear pin that you can see behind the augers.)

Found this thread (and a link in it back to an older thread for a HS928 from OldPhil)--just wanted someone with more experience to offer their thoughts on the diagnosis, because it sounds like it may be a PITA to get to the belts....


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

I am not familiar with the machine but it should have a belt cover. remove the cover, check the auger belt if it is on track start it up and engage the augers. 

while auger control is engaged the pulley it is on should be spinning. if that pulley is spinning but the impeller is not you broke something between the 2.

there is usually a square or half moon shaped keyway that positions the pulley on the shaft, they can break pretty easily. cheap but a good bit of work to do it.

there also maybe the same set up on the hub of the impeller holding the impeller to the shaft. i dont think it would be that one because that would stop the impeller but the shaft would continue on and the augers would still work.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

there can be the key set up with set screws holding it all like above or pins going all the way through. rotate the pulley all the way around and see if there is a screw on one or both.


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## [email protected] (Nov 21, 2011)

Might be a broken auger shaft. There was a Service Bulletin about this issued way back in 1999, and for the HS928, the affected range was frame serial number 1000001-1111374. The fix was an improved shaft and support bracket. I've attached the bulletin for you to review. 

With your new HS928, I'd suggest getting a genuine factory paper shop manual; it can be priceless when trying to do any service or repairs. Honda sells the manual on eBay, with free shipping and 3 years of free updates. Here's a link:

*Honda Power Equipment Shop Manuals on eBay*


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## Alpine (Dec 31, 2012)

Check underneath the belt cover as Td mentioned to see what is going on in there. I believe that the impeller shaft on the 928 is a one piece part with the pully welded to it. I just replaced the same part on my 1132 due to a failed bearing which took the belt out as well. I followed Old Phil's instructions to split the machine in half to replace the parts. He did a nice job summarizing the steps. It takes some time but isn't that difficult. The hardest part is getting the bolts that join the 2 halfs back in without cross-threading them. Keep us posted. The manual is helpful in many ways including setting the stopper and guide clearances.


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## NSDON (Jan 20, 2013)

video on how to adjust the belt, shows you how to access it too.

Seems to me there is a shear pin on the secondary stage as well as the primary, which has 2, one on each side. I know on my primaries, if a shear pin is broken, the auger will free wheel on the side that is broken. With the new pins installed, is the auger still free wheeling?

Don


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## paredown (Jan 16, 2013)

Thanks all--I have not had a chance to get back to the blower, but I may have a chance tomorrow.

Once I replaced the two pins on the auger, everything including the impeller in the chute turned in unison, so if the shaft (or keyway) were broken, it should be visible once I get the cover off--same would be true of the belt.

The video shows me what I needed to know to get the cover off--so I'll report back once I can get a look at the internals.

Thanks for the tip on the manuals on eBay--I'll be ordering that.

Cheers,
Dean


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## paredown (Jan 16, 2013)

Well,the cover is slightly different than the one in the video, but it was a simple 4 bolts to remove. Unclipped the cable for the chute from the cover (simple press fit connector into the plastic cover.)

This gave easy access to the pulleys, and both belts looked OK, although the impeller belt was loose.

Just like the video, it was a single bolt with the idler on a slide, so I loosened, adjusted the idler pulley towards the motor (tightening the belt), put it all back together, and everything is driving. 

I may get to test it in the next day or so to see if it will blow snow.

Thanks again to all who replied.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

Congrats on getting it taken care of.


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## richbmar (Jan 8, 2014)

Just an FYI - I have a broken auger shaft of the left side on frame #114**** which is past the bulletin's listed affected frame end # 1111374. It came with the factory installed support bracket already installed. The shaft broke at the drilled area where the pin joins the shear bolt boss as indicated in the bulletin (thanks to [email protected] for posting the bulletin). The break in the shaft can be hidden inside the boss collar and not readily seen. Blower was purchased new in 2005 so a broken auger shaft can still be a possibility on later units.
Update - the auger shaft was frozen in the auger which left the shear bolt irrelevant as the auger shaft could no longer spin inside the auger. I would have to chock this up as a lack of maintenance on my part. I never thought to remove the shear bolt to check to see if the auger spins freely on the shaft as part of my yearly inspection. I will now.
After applying a lot of heat to the auger along with a lot of effort, the broken part of the shaft was finally removed. 
The shaft replacement instructions found in the factory shop manual consisted basically of an exploded auger transmission parts picture with no instructions. Removal of the shaft is from the left side of the transmission. Clean exposed areas of the auger shaft prior to dis-assembly to keep the debris from entering the transmission. This will allow the shaft to easily slide through the inner race of the bearings once it becomes necessary to do so. Drain the transmission, remove the left side shaft plastic cap, pull out the oil seal found underneath the cap (requires some effort and damages the seal) and remove the snap ring. A light tap of the shaft from the right side was all that was necessary to remove the shaft along with the left side bearing. The left side bearing slid off the shaft easily once the shaft was removed from the transmission case. The new shaft slid into the right side bearing and easily meshed with the internal transmission gear. Re-installed left side bearing by lightly tapping the outer race with a brass punch to seat it into the transmission housing. Installed snap ring, new seal and cap and filled the transmission with 90w gear oil via the fill hole to finish the job. The shaft to auger contact area received a coating of grease to keep it from seizing again. Hope this helps if you ever have to replace an auger shaft.


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