I was distracted by that large black plastic cover on the front of the base, from noticing that the mower is unbranded. I simply imagined that there was proper Honda identification under that black plastic.
Are you saying the transmission does not have a proper lip seal on the pinion shaft? It can't work without that unless that is a sealed ballrace, or you follow Rob's suggestion and fit a grease nipple to an easily accessible part of the housing. Then you grease-pack it, and every time you service the mower, you give it a few pumps of grease so that it pushes grease out from the pinion shaft until it starts to come out clean,. That was a traditional way to make machinery long, long ago, but it is certainly not the Honda way.
There is a point I'd like to clear up. You said the pinion bearing is a 62201 RS. That is a bearing with a seal on one side, open on the other side. A sealed version would be 62201 2RS. A sealed version with metal side plates on both sides, would be 62201 ZZRS. However retailers don't always tell you the full code, accurately. I suggest you need to buy a sealed bearing, if possible with metal side plates, for that job.
If the side bearings of the drive are actually plain, not ballraces, Rob's suggestion seems like a good one when combined with a decent sealed pinion ballrace. That will get rid of any dirt that threatens to penetrate the housing through the axle shafts.
I'm disappointed that they have used a single-row ballrace for that pinion bearing. Single-row bearings should only be withstanding a radial load, not a bending load. For a small bending load, you need a double-row bearing. For a substantial bending load, you need two bearings some distance apart. That pinion bearing is subjected to a fairly small bending load, so it should be double row.
Last edited by grumpy; 19/01/15 07:00 PM. Reason: Add detail
