My HSS928 does the same thing. I have not had a chance to see where the adjustment is.

Jeff

 

I just purchased the same model from my local dealer and the drive engage clutch lever handle was out of adjustment. The dealer fixed it but it still feels a bit off compared to the other 928 he had in the showroom. I am thinking the new assembly plant down in Georgia is still working out the bugs in the cable installation department.

 

Blepski I should have watched your video before posting the reply above. Your throttle does the exact same thing my new 1332 does. There is a dead zone and it basically acts as a high low throttle only. I have had one opportunity to use the snowblower and it functioned perfectly fine. The engine automatically revs up once you hit some heavy snow as it has some sort of automatic governor. So I wouldn't worry about it unless someone else can identify this as an issue.

Dan

 

You can adjust the cable to have the dead zone on the top or leave it as it i.e. at the lower end. The affective travel part of the throttle is only an inch or so rather than all the 2ish" that it can travel.

Not sure if the HSS724/924 have separate choke rather than integrated choke/throttle but in the older HS 624/724/828/928 had integrated choke/throttle, throttle for the first 3/4 part and choke at the top 1/4 part. The HS1132/1332 models has separate choke and throttle controls yet the lever for the throttle and the travel distance was the same as the smaller units. So in case of the HS1132/1332 you had the same dead area as shown in your case, nothing to worry about unless it annoys you.

 

My 724 got sent back less than 2 hours after use...same issue. Appeared choke was stuck. Dealer says they lubricated it. On the way back today. Looks like Honda has a quality control issue.

 

question is to know if the engine is revving at the right rpm....I also have the first half of the throttle lever free.... does nothing to rpm. Maybe that is the reason i find the blower going backward and forward slow....

 

Max suggested RPM for GX340/390 is 3600. One way to check would be to hook up a tach meter, one of those cheap ebay ones should do the job.

 

I would say it's more of a dealer problem as they are the ones who are setting them up and the blowers should come to you 100%

 

What I find confusing is that I have moved the throttles (non running engines) on several other non auto choke models ( 928 and 1332) and they do not do this.... They move smoothly through the complete range of motion and have no dentent like feel in the halfway position....

When the throttle is pulled all the way back to the slow end stop the control cable underneath is also distorted and folded up with excessive slack until it is moved into the halfway position.

Not knowing if this is how its supposed to be is what bothers me the most.

If more members would chime in we could get a better idea.....

 

Our new HSS1332 does not have a "dead" zone so to speak. It has the separate chock and throttle assembly. It will speed up or down through all of the lever travel. I agree it seems like a dealer issue, poor PDI.

 

I dont remember seeing a dead zone on my new HSS928 but I'll check it tonight and let you know what I find.

 

Dropped an email to our model engineer and asked him to look at the video and comment.

Standby...

 

I just went out and checked mine I noticed the same thing after the halfway point it increases in throttle till full throttle it certainly is more than just hi and low however

 

The first half of the throttle lever on my HSS928 does nothing either.
Though all I need is full throttle

 

All you need is full throttle i agree, but how do you know if you really have the full throttle ? If the cable is not adjusted proprely... you may end up with only 75% of the available throttle.

 

The model engineer shared this with me:

The throttle control on the HSS controls the governor, not the actual throttle plate on the carburetor. The governor controls the throttle plate.

What is really important is does the engine reach the specific speed when the throttle is pushed to FAST? And, does it hold the speed during use? There is a maximum and minimum adjustment point/speed and a friction adjustment too. So, you really need a tach to check the speeds, and some testing time to confirm the throttle doesn't move.

Keep in mind, you should always keep the throttle set to FAST when using the snow blower. The throttle lever is really on there to allow you to slow the engine (for less noise) when you may need to briefly step away from the machine.

 

Thanks for the update, Robert. I don't have a tach to test mine with but I don't suspect I'm not hitting intended RPMs. The machine spools up when I put it to fast and sounds about right to my untrained ears and settles down nicely when I bring it back to slow.

I do have that dead zone others spoke about, however mine is only about 1/3 of the of the overall travel.

 

Thank you for the info and update Robert.

I understand that the throttle controls the governor. What I do not understand however is that I tried the throttle on several 928's and 1332's that I test drove / demoed at the dealer and found most of them did NOT have this issue. They move through the entire range of throttle motion with a increase and decrease of engine speed throughout the range.


What is causing this inconsistency ?



I supposed checking the rpm's are the next step.

What are the target rpm's for full throttle and low throttle settings?

Is this checked with the engine running with no load?


Is there anyone who's new HSS 928 or 1332 does not do this half dead throttle situation? If so please take a video similar to mine showing the throttle moving through the whole range with the engine running.


Thank you!

 

My HSS928 works the same as in the first video. I have a tach on mine so I uploaded this for comparison. I can adjust the speed within that short range but I run it either at idle or full speed as Robert suggested. Max speed cold is 3500 on mine just sitting but it runs at 3600 exactly when under light to moderate load.

 

Max speed cold is 3500 on mine just sitting but it runs at 3600 exactly when under light to moderate load.

So does anyone know if this is the correct RPM? I have not had much need to run my 928 but I have been thinking that it was under performing relative to my 3 year old 928 that I sold. This could be the answer if we are not getting to rated RPM.

 

Why would anyone run a snowblower in anything but full throttle? I think I've run my new HSS1332ATD in less than full throttle once just to make sure it worked. It did.

Not a big issue.

 

I understand that full throttle will be used most of the time but that's not the point ....

More to the point is that the operation of all controls on my brand new and very expensive machine work properly as designed.

If there is a problem with the throttle and or its adjustment I want to correct it ....

 

You can easily see why the throttle is only working half way... the cable is way too loose. See the curb in the cable. this is at full low position.

Here is with the throttle half way, where it start to increase the rpm of the engine, you can see the throttle cable that there is no loose anymore, it is straight.

Now it can easily be adjusted by adjusting the screw that hold the cable and bring it down ....half of an inch can be adjusted approx.

 

maybe my blower engine is not broken yet, 10 hrs on it... I want to see a HSS1332 working like the image above... which is a HS1332 (2015 model). Again i might be wrong, but my HSS1332 is not blowing like this one... maybe later this winter with enough hours on the engine, all will turn more freely.

After a second thought, Simple calculation here
By deduction here, if you look at the picture, knowing that the guy mesure 5' 10", and then you compare his mesure with the length of the snow Shute.... My deduction is that it is throwing 35feet into the air. Now i do know that my blower throw snow 35feet and more.

Standing behind the blower it is not always evident that you throw that far into the air.

 

My deduction is that it is throwing 35feet into the air. Now i do know that my blower throw snow 35feet and more.
Standing behind the blower it is not always evident that you throw that far into the air.

What I think you'll need to do to know for fact is have someone take a video of a few pics when you are using your blower.
Honda snowblowers in good working order and in "ideal" snow conditions can blow snow 40-55' (they are known the most for its throwing distance-besides their reliability)
:blowerhug:

 

My HSS1332ATD had the "mostly dead throttle" problem. Big slack in the cable at minimum throttle position. I adjusted the cable so that the minimum position has almost no slack, and now the maximum throttle position is about 1/4" from the end of the slot. Hard to tell without a tach, but it SEEMS faster at max throttle. It definitely seems to have less abrupt throttle effect than before. I can select from the full range of RPM, while it was pretty much on/off before. Won't use it much at less than max, but now I can if the whim strikes...

 

My HSS928 throttle also has the half dead zone as you call it. Noticed it right away 2 years ago. I've check my rpms at idle and full throttle and everything is to spec.

I thought all HSS models had this same nuance characteristic . Either way, works just fine.

 

My HSS1332ATD throttle too functions more or less as a high/low. It hasn't bothered me as the only time it's not set to 'full' is when I'm warming it up. Since I have the luxury of a battery/starter, any conversations with the wife or dog happen with the machine off ... a feature I thought was ridiculous when buying but have come to love.

 

The last time I mentioned this a couple of members called me out for criticizing the workers at Honda. If you search YouTube you'll find a video of the plant that assembles lawn mowers and snowblowers and you can judge for yourself if the workers look very interested and quality control oriented to you. Between all the clogging issues and quality control issues I've seen on this forum this winter it appears Honda needs a rethink of their engineering and quality control practices. I've always been a fan of Honda motorcycles, cars and ATVs and still am but I'm beginning to wonder about their small engine equipment.

 

Do you even own a new honda snowblower? I have made emotional comments on here in the heat of the moment about clogging when I first encountered the issue, but I gotta say once I've learned the snowblower and its habits, it hasn't clogged on me since. Everything else with the machine has been perfect! It is an absolute beast.

The dealerships do a pdi on these snowblowers before you pick it up, so anything out of adjustment once in your hands is the dealers fault! No brand is perfect.