Honda 21" commercial mower

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My son bought what appeared to be a good used 21" commercial Honda, HRC216. Got it home and noticed it was really low on oil so changed it, started it up, ran and mowed fine but leaks oil like crazy. Hard to be 100% certain but appears that it's coming from the top of the engine and I assume there's a top seal that may be bad but not sure there is and secondly, I have no idea how to change it if there is. I'm pretty mechanically inclined but hate to even tear into it without at least some basic knowledge. Anyone have any pointer, either in writing, diagrams of videos? So far can't find what I'm looking for so any help is greatly appreciated!
 
I assume a splash lubricated engine, or pressure lubricated. vertical shaft?

I would hazard a guess that there is blow-by from the rings causing pressure in the crankcase which is pushing oil out.
 
I am not an expert on honda, but my educated guess is the top crankshaft seal is leaking for any of several reasons. You will have to remove the flywheel to see and probably replace it.
 
Time to start looking. There's probably a reason someone sold a commercial Honda mower.

Mine's over 10 years old and runs like brand new. It starts first pull every time and does not appear to burn or leak oil at all.

The double blade system is great for mulching.

If you get it fixed it should last a lifetime.
 
It's a GX-series vertical shaft engine, splash lubricated. AADAD, you said that it leaks oil like crazy, and it appears to be coming from the top. Can I presume, then, that the entire outside of the engine is covered with oil from the top down, like the engine is pushing the oil out?

Here's what I'd do -- I'd remove the flywheel so you can see the top of the engine. If the leak source is obvious, great. But if not, I'd use some carb cleaner or brake cleaner to thoroughly clean the entire engine off (careful about the drippings -- it'll kill grass -- do it in your garage). Once the engine is good and clean and dry, put the flywheel back on and start and run it for a few minutes and then turn it back off. You should be able to see the source of the leak then.

If you need more help, just let us know. A number of us have experience with these Honda engines. I have a 2001 model very similar to what your son just bought.
 
I'm not a mechanic but this is what happened to me. About a month ago my Toro started to leak oil and would leave a puddle of oil on the top of the deck. The mower is about 9 years old. I tried you tube and found at least for me a fix to the leaking oil. The engine is a Tecumseh and it has a oil fill tube with a dip stick. Where the tube goes into the engine there is a wide o-ring for lack of a better word for it. So when I pulled the tube out where it goes into the engine I noticed the rubber ring was not sitting properly. So I wiped everything off placed the ring on the bottom of the tube to what I thought was the right way and put everything together again. Started it up and it has not leaked any oil. Why it never leaked before I have no idea with the o-ring out of position.
 
Here is a parts diagram of an engine similiar to yours.

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First things first, you recently changed the oil. If you put synthetic in it, change it out and go back to SAE30 conventional oil. Your engine most likely has a LOT of hours on it, probably on conventional oil. You don't put synthetic oil in a high hour used engine with unknown maintenance history. It causes all kinds of problems. Conventional 10W30 would be acceptable too, but I would go with the thicker SAE30 since it probably has a lot of hours on it and you probably won't be mowing in the winter.

Second, on these engines the breather gets clogged up with dirt/oil/grit. Your engine, being on a commercial mower, probably has a lot of blow by and will need a fully functioning breather system. If not, it will push oil out of seals and make a mess. Parts 6, 7, 8, and 9 on the diagram above. Put a new breather filter (8) and breather valve (9) in.

This SHOULD fix your problem.

This problem is why the previous owner probably sold it...
 
Looking at Bubba'a diagram, replace oil seals #30, #31, #32, #33, #34 and #2.

But before you do anything, get a service manual for the Honda GXV160.
 
OneEyeJack said:
Time to start looking. There's probably a reason someone sold a commercial Honda mower.

Mine's over 10 years old and runs like brand new. It starts first pull every time and does not appear to burn or leak oil at all.

The double blade system is great for mulching.

If you get it fixed it should last a lifetime. [/quote

X2. I put an hour meter on mine when I purchased it and I am at 285 hours without a hiccup. If mine lays down tomorrow, I will go buy another one. I have been through 2 Kawasaki motors with a combined life of 225 hours. I know this doesn't solve your problem but I would just repair it.
 
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