[Cwconlon]

I just bought a used Honda hs55 track snowblower. Older machine but these are suppose to be the best. I was told he replaced the engine. When I brought it home I looked for the oil stick and couldn’t find it. In fact there is no sign of any oil... do they even make small engines without oil? The gas cap doesn’t ask for a mixture either...any advice would be great.

 

[orangputeh]

never seen a 55 with that side box. is it canadian?

the honda 55 uses straight gasoline. no oil mix.

the oil dipstick should be on the side of case. there are actually 2 plugs. one is a dipstick and one is just a screw in plug for adding oil. you can add oil on either side.

i suggest you do NOT run this machine until you can check oil level. this little engine doesnt have much of an oil capacity. i think about 2/3rds of a quart. on a level surface the oil should come up to top of dipstick without overflowing

 

[orangputeh]

it has a 50 engine on it i think. that's a 50 gas tank and the engine looks like a flathead.

the 50 also uses gasoline and the same oil dip sticks and screw in plug

 

[tabora]

You'll need to fab a mount for the elbow in the chute crank, I think... That was lost with the swap from the HS55 to the HS50 engine. The HS50 just had a straight crank.

 

[ST1100A]

That is definitely a home built machine with spare parts.
The auger skids were rigged behind the housing, looks like they are ready to fall off.
Someone got creative when they scratch built that from other different models of machines.

 

[ST1100A]

The gas tank should be up off of the head a little bit more, and shouldn't be right on top of the muffler like it is rigged or you will be catching it on fire in a short time.

 

[captchas]

if that's a flat head when did honda make one? or is that motor a Mitsubishi from a old toro ?

 

[ST1100A]

if that's a flat head when did honda make one? or is that motor a Mitsubishi from a old toro ?

They were made back in the 80's era before the EPA mandated all the pollution requirements on small engines.
That was the Honda "G" series engine.

 

[ST1100A]

That is not even the proper gas tank on that engine, someone really butchered that job. I would return that machine as quick as possible.
You have a big "Fire Hazard" on your hands with that machine with the wrong fuel tank mounted the way they that is.

 

[captchas]

They were made back in the 80's era before the EPA mandated all the pollution requirements on small engines.
That was the Honda "G" series engine.

thanks steve dumb me, only g series honda engine i knew of was the auto inline 5 they made Honda G engine - Wikipedia

 

[Cwconlon]

never seen a 55 with that side box. is it canadian?

the honda 55 uses straight gasoline. no oil mix.

the oil dipstick should be on the side of case. there are actually 2 plugs. one is a dipstick and one is just a screw in plug for adding oil. you can add oil on either side.

i suggest you do NOT run this machine until you can check oil level. this little engine doesnt have much of an oil capacity. i think about 2/3rds of a quart. on a level surface the oil should come up to top of dipstick without overflowing

I don’t know what that box is either. It’s not for oil because that is a button of some kind. Someone said maybe for spark? What is this engine from? Yeah the guy that put it in isn’t responding to any of my questions so clearly he knows he did something wrong. Man I hate people that are shady.

 

[orangputeh]

I don’t know what that box is either. It’s not for oil because that is a button of some kind. Someone said maybe for spark? What is this engine from? Yeah the guy that put it in isn’t responding to any of my questions so clearly he knows he did something wrong. Man I hate people that are shady.
View attachment 169688

That box is probably an air box that goes over the carburetor and that knob is maybe a choke control? very interesting design to me. It's not stock.( as far as I know ) Whoever did this was quite creative.

That engine is from a Honda HS50. That engine/machine came before the 55. It's a good little engine as long as it has oil in it. Hope you were able to find oil dipstick. maybe take pics of both sides right above tracks. you should be able to find them. There is a screw in plug on each side.

 

[orangputeh]

They were made back in the 80's era before the EPA mandated all the pollution requirements on small engines.
That was the Honda "G" series engine.

yup. thanks. I hate working on them. In fact the only thing I do is remove the carb to clean. I'll just replace the engine with another from my stash.

Most Honda engines this old are still working. Its the final drive gearbox that fails after 30 plus years and the parts are NLA to rebuild. Some parts you may find on Ebay but the prices are Ridiculous.

 

[captchas]

anyone see the sticker by the knob? i see squirt /injector. maybe? it's a primer the other shapes i can't make out .really looks like someone got what they wanted "cash" and screw the buyer now that's it's gone from their hands

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

The button is the primer. It's similar to my prototype Toro PowerShift. Mine has the Mitsubishi engine where everything is NLA including Japan (thanks Yanmar Ronin for looking ) I was trying to find a new headgasket and couldn't find one anywhere.
Whatever you have it's definately a 4 cycle and it has an oil sump in the engine. It may not have a dipstick so you'd need to find and remove a plug to check the oil.
I hope you can get your money back because that Honda just isn't right in so many ways.

 

[Cwconlon]

The button is the primer. It's similar to my prototype Toro PowerShift. Mine has the Mitsubishi engine where everything is NLA including Japan (thanks Yanmar Ronin for looking ) I was trying to find a new headgasket and couldn't find one anywhere.
Whatever you have it's definately a 4 cycle and it has an oil sump in the engine. It may not have a dipstick so you'd need to find and remove a plug to check the oil.
I hope you can get your money back because that Honda just isn't right in so many ways.


View attachment 169690 View attachment 169691 View attachment 169692 View attachment 169693

The button is the primer. It's similar to my prototype Toro PowerShift. Mine has the Mitsubishi engine where everything is NLA including Japan (thanks Yanmar Ronin for looking ) I was trying to find a new headgasket and couldn't find one anywhere.
Whatever you have it's definately a 4 cycle and it has an oil sump in the engine. It may not have a dipstick so you'd need to find and remove a plug to check the oil.
I hope you can get your money back because that Honda just isn't right in so many ways.


View attachment 169690 View attachment 169691 View attachment 169692 View attachment 169693

Thanks! I found the screw in dipstick at the bottom right above the tracks. It was hidden. What is wrong about the machine in general? I know someone has said that it could start in fire due to the placement of the tank..? Is this thing really that bad? If I have to resort to getting a different machine, I will be buying new this time. The cheapest track machine I see Is a toro for $1300. Are these any good? I know people say Honda is the only way to go for track, but I assume that was the case with the older units..?

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

Well, I guess a lot would depend on how much you paid for it and if at that price this was a good deal. Again I'm not one of the Honda guys but from what I've learned over the years it just looks rough.
One of the issues I see is there is no support for the chute crank rod. There should be one on the engine to keep the rod close and increase the contact between the gear and ring. Right now it looks like the rod is pushed forward causing it to bow out and in doing so decrease the contact between that gear and toothed chute ring. You can always pull it back towards you but out in the cold when you get some ice in there should you forget to pull it back before cranking it you might get it jammed or damage the gear or ring.

I can't tell for sure in the photo but it looks like the front lower edge of the bucket might have been ground off due to the previous owners lack of adjustment of the skids.
Little stuff like the bolts missing on the belt cover.
Did they cut that belt cover with a saw to make it fit the drive and auger cables ?

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

I stole this out of another thread. I think it's wisdom from orangeputeh

I love the older Honda HS55 tracked machines. a couple questions for you.

are you mechanical?
are you a snowblower maniac?

the reason I ask is this machine is about 35-37 years old and not all parts are available from Honda or aftermarket sources. okay for me because I have parts machines out back to scavenge parts.

no longer available. tracks, augers, chute, auger gearbox. auger housing, cables, final drive gearbox parts and more.
ebay may have some of these parts but you better be a doctor or lawyer to afford them.

you may be better off getting a Honda with a hydrostatic tranny. all parts are available for the Honda HS624-724-828-928-1132 and 1332.

The older Honda HS50-55-70-80 with the manual 4 speed trannies have parts availability issues. I sell them to people but fully disclose this fact . Plus I have most of the parts they would need if something breaks ( job security LOL )

That all said. If you use the machine properly and take care of it, store indoors etc. there is a good chance these older machines can last a very long time. There are thousands of them still working all over the world.

.

 

[orangputeh]

Thanks! I found the screw in dipstick at the bottom right above the tracks. It was hidden. What is wrong about the machine in general? I know someone has said that it could start in fire due to the placement of the tank..? Is this thing really that bad? If I have to resort to getting a different machine, I will be buying new this time. The cheapest track machine I see Is a toro for $1300. Are these any good? I know people say Honda is the only way to go for track, but I assume that was the case with the older units..?

i hope you realize yur oil drain plug is missing. probably no oil on that crankcase.

what a freakin cluster f.....

 

[captchas]

good catch but take another look at the hole.NO threads it's not fully machined , the taped drain might be on the other side more photos needed