# HSS 1332 (2016) transmission lever not consistent...



## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

Just noticed this morning that sometime when i want to go forward i need to push the transmission lever almost half way in order for the blower to start moving.... Found this curious because i recall couples of weeks ago, i had hard time to put it in neutral.... just by pushing the lever 2mm from the center would make the blower start to go forward and the same if i would pull 2mm it would go in reverse....
As a results, the speed of the blower at full throttle with engine hot, is more slow than when the engine is cold.

Since i have a long driveway... i use to put velcro type tape to keep the oil pump lever pressed, removing the need to keep pushing the lever to engage the transmission and to keep it engaged. (sorry poor English here). 

Imagine now, i had the blower idling and in neutral, because i had to shovel the snow at the entrance door.... transmission lever was in center\neutral (blower was not moving so i assume it was in neutral right ?) so while shoveling the snow, took a quick look at the blower to notice that it was not there anymore.... it did engage forward by itself and found his way beside the house... chance that the car was not in front of it... (the oil pump lever was engaged). Now i know that i will never leave the blower with the tranny oil pump engaged and the tranny in neutral, until this problem is solved.

Honest the god... when i left the blower idling, it was in neutral and NOT MOVING.... but it suddently started to move. Now i know for sure that the transmission speed lever doesn't respond the same way from time to time... again, i would only need to move 1\8 of an inch forward to make the blower move, and other time i need to push it half of way forward to only start moving... Transmission oil temps here is not the reason... or could it be ? The first 10 min of working with the blower all is fine, its only after that. I always let the engine warm up 2 to 3 min before each use, with transmission lever engaged to warm the transmission oil too. (as per manual)

Any of you with 2016 model noticed the speed change after using it for a while ? If so, could you guys check if the speed lever act like what i said above ?


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## JnC (Feb 21, 2014)

A bit of cable adjustment should find you the neutral again. 

Leaving the drive lever engaged is never a good idea.


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

JnC said:


> A bit of cable adjustment should find you the neutral again.
> 
> Leaving the drive lever engaged is never a good idea.


Not a cable adjustment imo would fix this ... How to explain sometime you need to push the lever an inch to have the blower move and 5 min later you push it 1/8 of an inch.... Engine cold no problems, its only after 15 min of blowing approx. 
Also my reverse speed is slow most of the time ... But sometime the speed is ok. 

Will keep testing it. I know that this year all the 9/28 had tranny problems and a bushing in the tranny was the reason, it was leaking and causing not ennough oil pressure in the tranny. 

When i work with it the forward speed is ok since i never have it full throttle but i do notice a big difference in speed while moving the blower (250ft driveway)
When cold the speed is ok moving it but when hot way too slow.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

grabber said:


> ...When cold the speed is ok moving it but when hot way too slow.


I'm just now seeing this in my HSS1332ATD. I'm going to do a side-by-side speed test with my HS828. I need to find a fix for this.


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

I've seen a lot of speed variation in my HSS928 as well, especially in reverse and almost to the point of only crawling sometimes. Yesterday I parked it idling for about 5 minutes while I shoveled my steps and when I engaged the transmission it wouldn't move at all in either direction. I did hear some engagement grinding though so it may be an unrelated failure.


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

Here is a little video i took tonight.... even if sometime it seems that blower is moving... i am the one moving with my iPhone.... at the exeption at 30 seconds approx, the blower move forward a little.

Trying to find the situation where this problem occurs but cannot find it... Cold all seems to be fine, and warm the problem comes and goes...

Excuse my finger blocking the picture.






Spoke to a friend of mine that bought the same blower this year and even shown him the video on my iPhone....he says no way his blower behave like this.... as soon he touch the lever, the blower start to move. At full throttle he has to walk fast... not running of course, but walking fast. 
Before i ride 1.5 hrs to the dealer, i will bring my blower at his place and we will make a drive way race.... that will be the ultimate test.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

Just got back from my speed test with the HSS1332ATD next to my HS828TAS.

My wife and I ran them side-by-side, full speed, augers engaged, but not blowing snow on the straightest part of our drive.

When cold, they both got to the end of the driveway (about 400') at the same time. One the way back, the 828 pulled ahead about 1/2 way back to the house.

Once warmed up, we ran them again, full speed. The 828 is twice as fast.

The 1332 slowed down to half speed.


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

Call me stupid... but i would not be surprised that all the 2016 Honda Snowblower has defective transmission... not only the 928.
Your test has shown exactly what i am experiencing on mine.... the first 10 minutes maybe less, the blower gives decent speed, but at the end, once the blowing done and i have to get back to my garage it take for ever to get back to it. The speed drop big time. 
So when i test it with my friends blower i will do it with engine warm.

thanks again for your test. At least i know i am not the only one having this issue and that is not the fruit of my imagination.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

I wonder if we can get Robert to look into this.


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## steves602 (Feb 7, 2016)

Almost sounds like the hydro fluid level is low and the hydro has air trapped in it. The white cup on left side of handle should have a quater to half inch of fluid in it. Remove black cap and rubber insert to check, if empty fill half inch at a time with genuine honda hydro fluid until no more air bubbles come up. this is a slow process and can take some time. Do not fill cup to the top. Maybe this will help.


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

grabber said:


> i would not be surprised that all the 2016 Honda Snowblower has defective transmission... not only the 928.


My 928 has been slowing down and it already has the replacement transmission - although it is intermittent and can speed up again. It does not have the off center neutral issue though.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

steves602 said:


> Almost sounds like the hydro fluid level is low and the hydro has air trapped in it. The white cup on left side of handle should have a quater to half inch of fluid in it.


 The new U.S. built HSS's don't have a fluid reservoir anymore. Sealed system.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

SB83 said:


> My 928 has been slowing down and it already has the replacement transmission - although it is intermittent and can speed up again. It does not have the off center neutral issue though.


 Are you going back to your dealer, or will you wait to hear what Robert may have to say? Should we start a new thread so others can identify it easier?


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## [email protected] (Nov 21, 2011)

If your new Honda HSS is not operating properly, use the dealer network and warranty system as needed. A tech at a Honda dealer can get eyes and hands on any unit with an issue. There's a special tech team at Honda just for dealer tech to contact as needed. This will be the fastest and easiest way to get the machine working properly, and will also supply Honda with solid data for analysis by the Quality Assurance engineers.


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## S_trangeBrew (Jan 12, 2016)

That's a bizzare issue, JROM. I haven't noticed it on my new 1332, but I'll test it out this weekend. Do some timed runs, ha. 

My current odd issue is the Auger lever not staying down by itself like it should, my neighbor with a brand new HSS928ATD has the same issue. On a cold day, it takes 5-10 minutes sometimes for the handle to start staying down like it should. I told the dealer about it, if they were able to do something, I'll let everyone know.

Very frustrating to not have a service manual available yet. I like to adjust some things myself, or at least know what's going on.


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

S_trangeBrew said:


> That's a bizzare issue, JROM. I haven't noticed it on my new 1332, but I'll test it out this weekend. Do some timed runs, ha.
> 
> My current odd issue is the Auger lever not staying down by itself like it should, my neighbor with a brand new HSS928ATD has the same issue. On a cold day, it takes 5-10 minutes sometimes for the handle to start staying down like it should. I told the dealer about it, if they were able to do something, I'll let everyone know.
> 
> Very frustrating to not have a service manual available yet. I like to adjust some things myself, or at least know what's going on.


My friend's HSS1332 2016 is doing the same... auger lever not staying down.... It does stay down.. but for no reason it would unlock by itself during use....


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

jrom said:


> Are you going back to your dealer, or will you wait to hear what Robert may have to say? Should we start a new thread so others can identify it easier?


The dealer is picking it up today and suspects the sub-transmission in my case. I should know soon and will report back.


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

Nice to have a dealer pickup.....is his pickup covered or a small ~nominal~ fee


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

Just $25 which I'm happy to pay. They also prioritize warranty work if you bought it through them.


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

I would have happily bought a Red if a dealer offered something similar in my neck of the woods..


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

Rats :redface: I've got my trailer loaded up with my table saw and miter saw on a mobile stand ready to travel 4-1/2 hours away to work on my father-in-laws house for 2 weeks...no room to take ye old 1332 to the dealer.

My wife gets to use the 828 while I'm gone...grateful I didn't sell it off. She told me this morning she likes using the HS better anyway. I think it's just what she's used to.

Hope you all get the problems worked out quickly. I'll be reading the forum while I'm gone.

- Joe


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## BWC (Dec 16, 2015)

grabber said:


> My friend's HSS1332 2016 is doing the same... auger lever not staying down.... It does stay down.. but for no reason it would unlock by itself during use....


I hate to say it after praising the new 1332 but yesterday while I was using it, reverse became painstakingly slow. It will go back to the dealer between snow events, if not at the end of the season if something more serious does not happen to it. I am phoning the dealer though to have it on record just the same.


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## jeffNB (Nov 5, 2015)

These problems are similar to the ones that prompted the stop sale and recall a few months ago. Makes me wonder if there are more problems with the transmission than the recall covered. 

This reminds me of Acura's problems with the ZF nine-speed which was also subject to a recall and stop sale order. Outsourcing has not been good for Honda. 

Jeff


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

For what it worth, did a little test tonight. Did draw 2 lines at both end of my driveway, at approx 200 ft from each other. Took my iPhone chronometer to check the time it takes for the blower to go from point A to point B full speed.

Results :
(1) 68 Sec
(2) 89 Sec
(3) 83 Sec
(4) 90 Sec
(5) 97 Sec
(6) 92 Sec
(7) 70 Sec

Difference from the 1st pass and the fifth one, almost 43%

The biggest Pain for me is when i use the reverse.... just unacceptable. Reason why i bought a Honda at a price almost twice of other brand was that i wanted to have a workhorse to blow the snow. If it has to take 45min or an 1hrs to do the job.... i want it to be done in that time... not 2hrs. Blowing snow is not the only thing i have to do during my day.

it is definitely a transmission problem caused by something like a ball bearing that sometime seal a passage and sometime not. If we can conclude something from the above results, it doesnt matter if the engine is warm or not, since the seventh pass was almost as fast as the first one...

This is a cut and past from Robert at Honda from a previous post : Specially the part in red

First, I can tell you a small batch of HSS724 and HSS928 2-stage snow blowers were determined to have a problem maintaining maximum speed in TRANSPORT mode. Honda's Quality Assurance team discovered a machining defect in the transmission (a check-valve seat). They were able to quickly isolate and update the affected units, so any new HSS724 or HSS928 arriving at a dealership now will have the countermeasure applied. 

Next, updating already-assembled units has caused some delays in the delivery schedule, but the plant in North Carolina is running additional shifts to help catch up. As more details become available, we will update our dealers, so they will have the latest information on delivery times.

For a more technical explanation, there is a spring-loaded, ball-style check valve, and the socket where it seals may have an imperfect surface. If the operator were to start the machine and put the speed control lever all the way forward (Transport mode) the unit would run at correct top speed but after about 60 meters of operation, the check valve may fail to seal, and the ground speed would decrease. The check valve socket on updated transmissions is more precisely fitted and polished and this ensures a correct and complete seal.

Finally, Honda remains committed to building high quality products that exceed our customer's expectations. It's also comforting to know Honda stands behind these new models with a full 3 year warranty (commercial or residential use).


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

I may be incorrect in this, but the SIB was for 724 and 928. If memory recalls, the 1132 has a different trans model on it .


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

mobiledynamics said:


> I may be incorrect in this, but the SIB was for 724 and 928. If memory recalls, the 1132 has a different trans model on it .


that is what i thought also. But, if they are built at the same factory, their built defect can easily be spread across all the tranny that are built there. Specially when the problem is oil passage are not smooth enough for a ball bearing to seal... Do we hear Quality control problem ?
One thing is sure, my snow blower is behaving exactly like what Robert @ Honda said above, and i do have a HSS1332


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## jeffNB (Nov 5, 2015)

mobiledynamics said:


> I may be incorrect in this, but the SIB was for 724 and 928. If memory recalls, the 1132 has a different trans model on it .


The part numbers for the 928 and 1132 transmissions are the same. Maybe they had not built any 32" machines when the product update bulletin was issued. 

It would be interesting to know the serial numbers of the problematic machines. The serial number range of the bulletin stops at around ~2000. Mine is in the low 6000's and I hane not noted any problems so far, but it has less than three hours on it.


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

jeffNB said:


> The part numbers for the 928 and 1132 transmissions are the same. Maybe they had not built any 32" machines when the product update bulletin was issued.
> 
> It would be interesting to know the serial numbers of the problematic machines. The serial number range of the bulletin stops at around ~2000. Mine is in the low 6000's and I hane not noted any problems so far, but it has less than three hours on it.


Hi Jeff,

Where are you located in NB ?
My serial No. is SAFA1000243


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## jeffNB (Nov 5, 2015)

grabber said:


> Hi Jeff,
> 
> Where are you located in NB ?
> My serial No. is SAFA1000243


Located in Moncton. The bulletin is attached.


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## jeffNB (Nov 5, 2015)

grabber said:


> Hi Jeff,
> 
> Where are you located in NB ?
> My serial No. is SAFA1000243


The bulletin I posted is from Honda US. Maybe there is a different bulletin from Honda Canada with different serial numbers. 

Does your transmission have the blue dot? I think it designates the transmission as being version two or updated.


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## help (Mar 3, 2015)

I have HSS1332 AETD European version all the screws\bolts except the skid shoes.
Are doted with different colors ranges from blue red white and green.
The transmission has a green dot.
Wite the shift level in neutral I press down the drive clutch lever for 30 seconds.
The transmission works in all speed from the painfully slow to full speed.
In forward and reverse I've used snowblower from 15 minutes to 2 hours 30 minuter.
The snowblower has all the speed regardless of the amount of time it has been used.
hopes that helps.
ps:sorry for my english


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

Where are the EU made...

I though the US plant was soley making the blowers for the US/CA market.
Is the trans in the EU market the SAME as the US/CA market


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## [email protected] (Nov 21, 2011)

mobiledynamics said:


> Where are the EU made...
> 
> I though the US plant was soley making the blowers for the US/CA market.
> Is the trans in the EU market the SAME as the US/CA market


The Honda plant in Swepsonville, NC, is the global factory for the new-style HSS snow blowers: USA, Canada, and Europe for sure. Some may even be shipping to Japan.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

[email protected] said:


> ...Some may even be shipping to Japan.


Wow, is this a first? Says a lot about quality expectations.

As always, thank you Robert for your input and help.


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

Nice.....American made blower with I believe a American trans....


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

My HSS928 non-engagement issue mentioned above turned out to be a bolt/key that had worked its way out and the dealer said that it had been their error during the original trans replacement. Fair enough and no problem there, especially since they were incredibly responsive and helpful with free pickup and delivery. I do however still have the decreasing speed issue - especially in reverse and I've sent them a video to use in working with Honda. Hopefully I'll have some feedback soon.


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

Here are 2 différents video taken from my iPhone showing the tranmission responding normally, and not normally.


this one show problems





this one respond normally





I will surely let Honda replace the defective parts.. i have to give them a chance after all.


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## BWC (Dec 16, 2015)

As noted earlier our 1332 is not working properly either in reverse or forward. I called the dealer today and my son is dropping it off tomorrow. They have started a file but they say they have had no complaints. Also the pull cord handle became unattached from the nylon starting rope while I was starting it so I had to fix this but it does not want to rewind now. While taking the recoil assembly off I also noticed the bottom attachment point for the auger hydraulic shock loose which is something else for the dealer to look at.


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

I thought that the loose strut was a problem too, but on closer inspection it appears that it was designed to have play against the mount point. The connecting bolt has a shoulder that prevents it from being fully tightened against the chassis. I do wonder why it's designed that way though.


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## BWC (Dec 16, 2015)

SB83 said:


> I thought that the loose strut was a problem too, but on closer inspection it appears that it was designed to have play against the mount point. The connecting bolt has a shoulder that prevents it from being fully tightened against the chassis. I do wonder why it's designed that way though.


I did not know that. My dealer will be starting work on ours first thing Tuesday (Monday holiday). Will update.


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## grabber (Nov 28, 2015)

jeffNB said:


> The bulletin I posted is from Honda US. Maybe there is a different bulletin from Honda Canada with different serial numbers.
> 
> Does your transmission have the blue dot? I think it designates the transmission as being version two or updated.


Good question about the blue dot.... last time i checked under the blower i dont recall having seen any colored dot at all.... will check this afternoon and get back on this. By looking at the picture, that dot is on the right side of the tranny, right above the shaft that connect to the rear wheel.
Will check that.

here you go with the dot... its green









Called the dealer about the meaning of that green or blue dot... their response was '' we dont know really'', they says maybe because of a USA version and Canada version, but couldnt tell


thanks for your response by the way.


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## BWC (Dec 16, 2015)

Got my HSS1332 back from dealer this morning. The problem with slow reverse and slow forward was low hydrostatic fluid as shipped from factory. Dealer had to disassemble the blower by taking the engine off to get to the transmission. Once the proper amount of fluid was added and the transmission purged it now works like it should. Very similar speed to my 828. Dealer has 4 of these out but no complaints except for us. As far as the green dots and blue dots are concerned, these do not mean anything for Canadian models. This repair was authorized by Honda Canada. The pull cord was repaired so we are back in business. There has been a big melt the last two days so the blower was not missed.


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

Excellent update. Me wonders how low was the fluid....and or how many left the factory as such.

The block and all needs to come out as the trans get's dropped as there is no drain hole if I recall. Just the fill hole. So even OCD's like us who may do fluid changes, a bit of work is involved for that


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## BWC (Dec 16, 2015)

mobiledynamics said:


> Excellent update. Me wonders how low was the fluid....and or how many left the factory as such.
> 
> The block and all needs to come out as the trans get's dropped as there is no drain hole if I recall. Just the fill hole. So even OCD's like us who may do fluid changes, a bit of work is involved for that


Shop foreman did not specify but said they did not have to add much. They blew snow with it and let it idle for 20 minutes and then went out again, unit worked flawlessly. There had been complaints that the blowers were acting up after getting warmed up etc but this is not the case now.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

LOL. Someone needs to resize that image.


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