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Honda snow blower clogging concerns - OFFICIAL update from Honda with parts info

194K views 507 replies 116 participants last post by  Yanmar Ronin 
#1 ·
Dear Honda HSS snow blower owners,

Thank you for your ongoing patience concerning the chute clogging issue on HSS724A, HSS928A, and HSS1332A snow blowers. We apologize for the frustration, and again, we appreciate your patience as we have worked to solve this issue. Producing an improved chute design for wet and heavy snow conditions has taken longer than any of us wanted.

We would like to give you a preview of the new chute. A larger U-shape opening has been incorporated into the chute. Our extensive testing shows this solves the abnormal clogging issue.

As soon as the new chutes are available, American Honda will provide servicing dealers with the information needed to order and install the new chutes. We anticipate release in early October. This repair will not be a recall – recalls are only for safety-related issues. However, please be assured, the repair will be available under warranty if you have experienced this issue.

As we stated previously, only a very small number of snow blowers actually experienced this issue – mostly in the New England area. The original snow blower chute seems to clog more easily than expected under certain wet and heavy snow conditions. The new chute design does not improve performance outside of these conditions. For this reason, if you have not previously had clogging issues, you do not need to replace your chute.

We would like to note that all snow blowers will clog under certain severe conditions – that’s normal for all snow blower manufacturers. This new chute will address abnormal clogging issues. It may still clog under severe conditions, but that should occur much less frequently.

If your snow blower has experienced this issue, you should contact your local dealer in early October. Installation of the new chute will need to be performed by your dealer and will be covered by warranty.

If you have questions or concerns regarding your snow blower, or need help finding a local dealer near you, please contact the Honda Customer Relations Office at 770-497-6400 or visit powerequipment.honda.com.

Again, we apologize for the frustration this may have caused. Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
The Honda quality team
 

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#3 ·
A quick additional update on Robert@Honda. Unfortunately he is not back on the forums yet. We hope he is able to return soon.

Please continue to direct queries to our Customer Relations team for the fastest response! Thank you for your understanding.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I would like to ask Honda the following simple question(s).

Will the update be a no charge if the snow blowers 3-year warranty has lapsed?

If NO, would it be at no cost if we were to make it known to our dealer that we want the upgrade now before our initial 3-year warranty laps?
Would we need to provide an official Honda bulletin number while making the request for service with our dealer?
Also, if there be a time limit (beyond the 3- year warranty) for having the upgrade completed, what would it be?

I ask these questions because as of today's official response from Honda, all units in the field ARE still under warranty (but many won't be for long). This makes there following statement potentially ambiguous:

"However, please be assured, the repair will be available under warranty if you have experienced this issue"

Any time limit that would force us to send our snow blower to the dealer this winter (service can often take weeks) would not be acceptable.
 
#7 ·
The attached photos are helpful. While I haven't experienced issues with my machine in Calgary, it is nice to know the fix is so simple and a DIY for those of us that wish to do it anyways. I know Honda took some unpleasant comments from members here, so I appreciate you keeping your cool. Just knowing the fix is simple is reassuring in case we do get the problematic wet stuff others get on the east coast.

I certainly plan to keep my HSS724 ACTD for a long time and have a deposit on a second single stage 720 as soon as they arrive in Calgary soon.

Thanks Honda.
 
#8 ·
Cut the bloody thing off, ski wax the chute and be done with it. what is so hard about that??? anything in the path of the snow stream will create friction and melt water.

OR

1. Cover the light with a warmed up wide piece of roll up kiddee sled to make a shroud and glue it on the housing with gorilla glue or super glue.

2. Use the rest of the kiddee sled heating it up on the chute to form it and then glue it to the chute if you do not want to use stainless steel elevator bolts.

The previous model did not have any of this and it worked well from what I have gathered.
 
#11 ·
That may have been me. I think I was the first to "hack" the chute - at least to document it here. Here is my thread:

https://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/honda-snowblowers/100538-hss928-clogging-%5Bsolved-%5D.html

Not sure I will bother with the time and effort to have it changed to the updated chute. It will be interesting to see cost of the updated chute. Manufacturers usually have lower prices on parts that are involved in a recall or TSB. That way, the manufacturer has to pay less profit to the dealer on the warranty claim. For the record, I paid $80 CAD back in 2016 for a chute.

Will the little remaining material on the baffle will solve the headlight loading-up-with-snow problem? Time will tell once the updated chutes make it to the field.
 
#14 ·
Thank you, Robert! Honda is standing behind it's products! I had the hydraulic cavitation warranty work done on the 928 this summer and will get the chute replaced in the fall. Bravo, Honda!
 
#16 ·
I contacted Honda with the questions asked here:


tabora: Thank you very much for posting the update regarding chute clogging on the snowblowerforum.com site. Many forum participants were early adopters of the HSS models and have the following concerns:

Will the update be at no charge if the snow blowers 3-year warranty has lapsed?

If NO, would it be at no cost if we were to make it known to our dealer that we want the upgrade now before our initial 3-year warranty lapses?

Would we need to provide an official Honda bulletin number while making the request for service with our dealer?

Also, if there will be a time limit (beyond the 3-year warranty) for having the upgrade completed, what would it be?


Honda: All chute replacements will be performed on a case by case basis for units in or out of warranty to make sure that customers that have a clogging issue are taken care of under the warranty.

We know that customers in the New England area have this happen more often but in other parts of the U.S. never has clogging issues.

Bulletin numbers will not be needed for the customer to present to a dealer since every dealer in the affected areas already know about the clogging issues.

We have a data base of customers that have reported the clogging issues so if the warranty has expired it would still be covered by the warranty.

We hope this helps, thanks for your email.

PE Customer Relations


 
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#18 ·
I contacted Honda with the questions asked here:
Thank you for reaching out to them, and sharing the reply.

We have a data base of customers that have reported the clogging issues so if the warranty has expired it would still be covered by the warranty.
This concerns me slightly. The implication is that if you reported having clogging issues before your warranty ran out, then you're on a list, and they will do the bulletin for free.

But what if you had the clogging problem, but didn't report it to Honda? There are plenty of things about products that irritate people, but they don't necessarily report them officially to their vendor, or the manufacturer. I'd imagine there must be people with clogging, who didn't write to Honda.

I guess one approach would be to contact Honda now and report it, if you've had clogging problems, to be safe.
 
#20 ·
Cut the half ring off the bottom and paint it before you mount it on the snow mule.
If you look closely you will see the half ring weldment is tilting inward into the snow stream as it exits the impeller housing NOT GOOD.


Go ahead and paint it use some turtle wax on the chute in several coats, then hang a snow brush on the snow mule to clear the light off. It does not matter whether I use the JD junk or the snow pups I use the space heater preheat the engines and to melt it all off and dry it out as they are exposed to road salt, thanks New York State for wasting my tax dollars.
 
#26 ·
Ask them to put the bigger jet in it for you as long as your waiting for the new chute-they should not B(**& too much as they made a big sale to you anyway. The snow mule will run better and the exhaust fumes should be less problematic and the EPA will be none the wiser.

I hope that they offer a propane version for this engine and snow mule in the near future.

Of course it would not be very hard to convert it to propane adding a dual fuel carburator and the straight 10 weight oil will be better lubrication for the engine as the propane fueled engines burn hotter.
 
#34 ·
I just finished putting a modified chute on my 1 yr old hss928atd. Also changed out the stock main jet with an 090 jet. Also replaced oil. She's purring like a kitten and seems to be sloth running than last year, but that may be wishful thinking. Am I missing any other important adjustments I should consider after increasing size of jet? I verified rpm at fast idle is 3500 and at slow idle somewhere around 2460.

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
 
#38 ·
where do you folks get these larger jets from? I want to put a bigger jet in my old 1132. from all the HS models i have worked on the 1132 carb seems to be the most finiky.

main jet is a #98
 
#42 ·
I ordered an OE jet (#108 [.0425"]: Part Number 99101-ZH8-1080) from my dealer last winter for $6.42 and it was at the counter in 2 days. Had to pay tax, but no shipping or handling.

I'm going to order a #110 soon. $6.74. (#110 [.0433"]: Part Number 99101-ZH8-1100).

You guys may want to check with your dealer first. Mine has an online parts site that's super easy to use.

The 108 and 110 are listed as optional jets for the GX390.
 
#44 ·
The boats.net cost is $5.49 + $7.95 shipping = $13.44

The dealer cost is $6.74 + local sales tax.

The 6-Sigma cost is $6.60 delivered anywhere in the lower 48.
 
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