Honda vs Chonda

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My Ace Hardware snow blower (Yard Machines 21") has a horizontal shaft GC120 Chonda on it. It calls for synthetic 5w30 which I run (Travelers, Tractor Supply Co.) and on the first OCI there was enough gold flakes to open up a mining operation. The first OCI had maybe 3 hours on it? I can't remember.

My Honda HRS216 push mower has a vertical shaft genuine GC160. The first time I changed the oil on it (way more hours than the snow blower) the oil did not have a visible flake in it. The first OCI had a solid 7 hours on it. I refilled with Mystik 10w30 syn blend HD oil bought cheap at the local farm store.

I am interested to see what kind of longevity the Chonda produces. I have the utmost confidence in the GC120 clone but I find its massive shedding of gold flakes interesting. Maybe it was left over from production? I should note that the Chonda on my snow blower does not have an air filter which could contribute to increased wear but I highly doubt there is much if any particles to be sucked in during the winter.

Time will tell.
 
In Canada, the Honda Fit subcompact car is MADE IN CHINA. Seriously...says right on the door sticker for those who actually look... nobody wants to believe me when I tell them a Honda is made in China...

You should have seen the face on the young woman looking excitedly at the FIT at the dealership when I pointed this out to her... and the salesperson gave me the look of death.

Not sure how the quality will turn out to be... but even as a long time Japanese car owner, I'll let someone else go first...!

The USA Honda FITS are not made in CHINA... At least they weren't fairly recently...?
 
I'm sure your Chonda 120 will last a long time. I noticed the same thing and theorize that they must not do the same level of finishing and or cleaning that a real GC goes through.

regarding the fit (although its WAY off topic) I think that the origin changed for the 2015 model year. I'm also sure that Honda actual owns the factory and that quality wont be a concern.
 
I have a Harbor Freight generator with a Chonda 420cc engine. I've only got maybe 20 hours on it so far, but it's been trouble free. Right now it has GC 0w-30 in it, but I got a couple gallons of M1 TDT 5w-40 on sale, so it will be running that for a while after the GC.
 
People who know call the FITS , Chonda's...

Not really off topic... but kind of way in left field on topic ....!

I wonder about corrosion and electronics durability...?
 
my chonda engines run great and I do abuse the heck out of them. Don't skip a beat. The one is getting close to 1000 hours and the other 1400.
 
The little red Honda's are great. 7 hours is nothing, we run them on job site's for thousands of hours with no oil changes and they don't care.


My framer runs his air compressor 30 hours a week 50 weeks a year and only uses the oil it comes with, and adds as needed. Never had a Honda blow up after 3-4 years the rest of the compressor falls apart around the motor.

The Chinese ones are not really used, they are not long lived. Maybe if you only put a couple dozen hours a year on one it would be fine.

The only other little motors that seem to do as well are the Mitsubishi's.
 
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All I can say is if you didn't see glitter in your first oil change on your Honda, it was either dark, or you were not paying attention. I have a GX160, GCV160, EX21, and an EX27, and a Chonda clone on a generator, and everyone had the sparklies after that first oil change (at 1 hr by the way).

No way to get around it.


As far as longevity, no real problems. Since Lifan/Jiangdong consolidated the industry the smaller manufacturers, some of which were just plain sad, have either been bought out, or gone by the wayside. That first round of Chondas was a dice roll. Case porosity was so bad on some they puked oil out everywhere. Usually you just sprayed them off with brake clean, and put a dab of JB Weld on the leak and crossed your fingers.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
The little red Honda's are great. 7 hours is nothing, we run them on job site's for thousands of hours with no oil changes and they don't care.


My framer runs his air compressor 30 hours a week 50 weeks a year and only uses the oil it comes with, and adds as needed. Never had a Honda blow up after 3-4 years the rest of the compressor falls apart around the motor.

The Chinese ones are not really used, they are not long lived. Maybe if you only put a couple dozen hours a year on one it would be fine.

The only other little motors that seem to do as well are the Mitsubishi's.




Awesome.

I'm not quite that hard on mine.

I've got 16 Honda powered air compressors. I run em at 100 hour intervals. My generators are chondas with the same interval.
I've only had one generator sieze but the guys had unhooked the low oil shut off so it ran without oil for a while,days.
I cranked it over by hand with a pipe wrench and am still using it today.
I've never seen glitter in any of the original break in oil though. Keep an eye on it and have the receipt handy if a return is to be expected.

Oh. In summer I use Walmart 5 gallon pails of 15w-40 and in winter I use Walmart 5 gallon pails of 5w-30.
 
Both are very tough, but the availability of certain parts for some of the Chondas isn't nearly as good. If you need it to be on the spot as often as possible, buy the US built Honda. If you don't need to rely on it as much, the Chonda is fine.

Personally, I always go Honda over the clones simply due to the fact I support Honda's engineering and the fact most G series engines are built in the US. The whopping $30 difference means nothing at the end of the day on my end.
 
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Originally Posted By: PhilsSmallEngine
Both are very tough, but the availability of certain parts for some of the Chondas isn't nearly as good. If you need it to be on the spot as often as possible, buy the US built Honda. If you don't need to rely on it as much, the Chonda is fine.

Personally, I always go Honda over the clones simply due to the fact I support Honda's engineering and the fact most G series engines are built in the US. The whopping $30 difference means nothing at the end of the day on my end.


I agree with Phil on this comments about part sourcing. What I also find interesting is that the Chonda's do not have the same EPA emission durability rating as the true Honda GX/V. The Chonda is usually rated 125 hrs, vs 500 or so for the real thing. If identical construction and build you would think they would match?? The EPA must have some other element in the formula to determine emission durability or the build quality is really subpar. Can anyone explain this?

No, I'm not one of those guys that thinks its all about EPA emission durability rating, but its at least a starting point for quality. Even the Honda GC/V's are rated at 250Hrs...
 
Originally Posted By: PhilsSmallEngine
Both are very tough, but the availability of certain parts for some of the Chondas isn't nearly as good. If you need it to be on the spot as often as possible, buy the US built Honda. If you don't need to rely on it as much, the Chonda is fine.

Personally, I always go Honda over the clones simply due to the fact I support Honda's engineering and the fact most G series engines are built in the US. The whopping $30 difference means nothing at the end of the day on my end.


Where are you getting real Hondas for $30 more than a chonda?

Last I checked a 6.5 hp chonda is $99 at harbor freight. A genuine Honda is almost 4 times that price!
 
Exactly, I paid about $80 for my Chonda back in 2009. I'd gladly pay $110 for a new Honda equivalent.

Links please, credit card in hand, I'm ready to order today.

Originally Posted By: cronk
Originally Posted By: PhilsSmallEngine
Both are very tough, but the availability of certain parts for some of the Chondas isn't nearly as good. If you need it to be on the spot as often as possible, buy the US built Honda. If you don't need to rely on it as much, the Chonda is fine.

Personally, I always go Honda over the clones simply due to the fact I support Honda's engineering and the fact most G series engines are built in the US. The whopping $30 difference means nothing at the end of the day on my end.


Where are you getting real Hondas for $30 more than a chonda?

Last I checked a 6.5 hp chonda is $99 at harbor freight. A genuine Honda is almost 4 times that price!
 
So the concern here is glitter in the used oil of a newer engine, being an indication of a short-lived engine?

Every factory oil change I've ever done a new OPE engine resulted in glittery, sometimes nasty looking used oil. This was regardless of make/model. Pretty much all of them.
 
http://www.smallenginewarehouse.com/GCV160N5A-SD.html

Granted right now, they don't have much Honda selection available and this one would require effort to adapt to a mower for example. I missed out on their Tecumeseh OHV 190 mower engines for $85/shipped a couple weeks ago. You have to be on top of things to catch the good deals, but if you have broken down engines to grab parts from or can drill and tap, this one can be adapted to other uses besides a pressure washer. This company actually sells for less on eBay and I grabbed 5 190's from them for around $130/each to my door earlier this summer. The flywheel covers were marked Craftsman, but who cares?

There are other places, you just need to find them.
 
Or I could buy the one at HF for $80 that's ready to go. I'll have it in 15 minutes as the store is just 10 minutes drive away.

That's the point. It's more than $30 difference either in machining work, or just flat out price differential.
 
Originally Posted By: punisher
I have a GX160, GCV160, EX21, and an EX27, and a Chonda clone on a generator, and everyone had the sparklies after that first oil change (at 1 hr by the way).
I have an EX27 in my generator. When I changed the oil for the first time at 7.5 hours, there were no sparklies, and I looked closely. Changed it again last year with 21 hours and the oil looked even better than the first time.
 
I've had a few Honda's and Chonda's apart and swapped parts between them. The Chonda engines aren't quite finished to the same standards as the genuine Honda but they aren't that far off. Kart racers have been winding them up for years, the blocks are good, the cams are decent, the crank, rod are a little under Honda quality and the rings might be a little softer but at factory output they last quite a while.

Only current Chonda powered unit we have is a 3500 watt genny set that sees 3-400hrs a season, going into the third season and it hasn't missed a beat, exactly what we expected from the Honda it replaced.
 
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