How to Find the Oil Drain Plug on a Honda HR 217 Lawnmower

If you're handy, you'll understand that gas-powered engines need their oil changed at regular intervals, and the Honda HRX217 is no exception. Completing an oil change on this Honda lawn mower is a quick and easy process, but it does differ from changing the oil on a car or riding lawn mower in a few key ways.

First, the Honda HRX217 doesn't have an oil drain plug, meaning that to empty the oil reservoir, you will need to tip the entire mower over to its side and allow the oil to pour out of the same opening you pour it into. To avoid potentially scraping the paint, you can place a piece of cardboard or a drop cloth under your machine before tipping it over onto its side.

You should also try to clean the area surrounding the oil spout mouth. This will help you avoid accidentally getting any contaminating material mixed in when refilling the reservoir.

Before actually tipping over your mower, close the fuel valve to avoid spilling gasoline or mixing the fuel and oil. After placing a protective layer between the ground and your machine, cleaning the area around the oil cap and closing the fuel valve, remove the fuel cap and dipstick. Place a container on the ground alongside your mower so that it will catch the oil as it pours out when on its side and carefully tilt the mower to allow oil to drain into your receptacle.

Once all used oil has been drained, wipe any lingering oil from the lip of the opening and return the machine to its upright position. Your Honda HRX217's oil change capacity is 12 to 13.5 ounces of oil, which adds up to about one-third of a quart. While Honda recommends 5W-30 or 10W-30 oil, if you plan to regularly use your HRX217 in temperatures higher than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, you can safely use SAE 30 oil.

You should change the oil after the first five hours of use when new and every six months or 50 hours of use thereafter, whichever comes first. Whenever you change the oil, you'll want to at least inspect and clean if not replace the air filter as well. Once you've drained the oil, you should decant the oil into a sealable container, such as a milk jug, and take it to an automotive parts store or repair shop to be recycled or properly disposed of.

If you're concerned about the safety of tilting your mower onto its side, you can try using an oil changing kit, which should include an oil siphon and tubing. This is essentially a one-way valve inside a squeezable bulb in the middle of a length of tubing. By submerging the upper length of tubing as far down as possible into the oil tank and squeezing the bulb to create a vacuum, you'll draw the used oil up and through the bulb/valve into whatever container you've placed on the other end of the tubing.

You'll want to keep the pouring end of the tubing far below the sucking end of the tubing to maintain a quick and steady flow of oil and avoid having to manually pump every ounce of oil out of the reservoir. Additionally, you can make the entire operation quicker and easier by running the HRX217 for a few minutes to warm up the engine. Warm oil flows much faster and easier than cold oil.