Honda GX630 engine made in China

Cas

Well-known Member
I ordered a Honda GX630 engine(20 hp) from Northern Tool. It was going to be used for a replacement engine in my JD318. The thing that concerns me is that it is made in CHINA. I thought Honda came from Japan. When reading the brochure on the GX series engine there is no mention of being made in China. Wondering if I should use it or send it back. Any opinions or experience would be appreciated.
 
Honda, and many other manufacturers have plants
in many countries. It is not the country of
manufacture that should be questioned, but rather
the reputation of, and the quality control of
the seller.
I source Wisconsin Engine parts from NAPA auto
parts. NAPA brand intake and exhaust valves come
in a box labeled, "Made in China, by DANA". I am
depending on the good name of DANA corp. and
NAPA, to run a "Tight Ship", with high quality
control, at a Chinese plant.
 
Honda does come from Japan but Honda products are also made in other countries. Design patents have a shelf life. After that, the product is fair game for anyone who wishes to duplicate it down to the last detail. Yanmar made several diesel single cylinder engines that were legendary, just as the Honda GX engines have been. There have been Chinese clones of both brands of engines for many, many years. People who race go-karts often buy the Chinese made Honda's and have found them to be extremely durable and reliable. The machining is so good that OEM Honda parts work just fine inside them.

I suggest that you talk to a local Honda dealer and price a GX630 from them. The sticker shock will likely convince you to keep the engine you have. After all, if those engines were a problem, then Northern wouldn't keep on selling them, would they?
 
I have bought about 10 of the 6.5 hp clone engines. We race them on go-karts. We highly modify them and can turn 9000 rpm all day. They are very reliable and the price is right. They come with a Jap carb and Honda parts interchange with them. I wouldn't be afraid of getting the 20hp made in China.
 
i try very hard to not buy anything from china or any other communists country

it is like buying from a neighbor that has sworn to kill you.
 
(quoted from post at 12:51:15 02/13/14) Honda does come from Japan but Honda products are also made in other countries. Design patents have a shelf life. After that, the product is fair game for anyone who wishes to duplicate it down to the last detail. Yanmar made several diesel single cylinder engines that were legendary, just as the Honda GX engines have been. There have been Chinese clones of both brands of engines for many, many years. People who race go-karts often buy the Chinese made Honda's and have found them to be extremely durable and reliable. The machining is so good that OEM Honda parts work just fine inside them.

I suggest that you talk to a local Honda dealer and price a GX630 from them. The sticker shock will likely convince you to keep the engine you have. After all, if those engines were a problem, then Northern wouldn't keep on selling them, would they?

Umm Northern sells lots of other cheap junk stuff.
 
If it says HONDA on it, It should be O.K. regardless of where it was made. They make a quality product. Even their cheaper push mower engines are pretty durable.
 
So what?

Harbor Freight also sells lots of low cost tools and supplies. It is up
to the individual buyer to decide. If everything these stores sold
was junk, then they would go out of business very quickly.
Northern and HF are doing just fine and have thousands of very
happy customers.
 
Spoken like a truly uneducated consumer.

I have purchased NIKON binoculars that were made in China by NIKON because the cost of labour in Japan is too high. This past summer, I bought a room air conditioner made by a well-known USA company but the unit was made in China.

The Chinese don't need to kill you physically, the USA already owes China SiX TRILLION DOLLARS. Wake up and smell the Soy Sauce Ken. Most of what you buy today is made in China. Even items marked "Made in the USA" are often comprised of parts that were made in China and assembled in the USA in order to meet government rules that allow them to put that label on the product.
 
each dollar that we spend over seas is one dollar less here. less dollars, less jobs.

but, still, i try to not buy communists products.
it is becoming increasingly harder to do.
 
Honda cars built in OH, Toyota built in CA, Cat has a plant in China. Warranty is what will count.
 
Communism is all but dead. The citizens of China want democracy, just as the citizens of Russia did 20 years ago. Cuba is the same way. Communism just doesn't work.

Apparently you don't seem to realize that American corporations have been aching to do business with China ever since the end of WW II . Coca Cola, KFC, McDonald's, Burger King, Pepsi and every other well-known fast food company are already there. Thousands of American manufacturing companies either do business with Chinese companies or they have set up a branch plant somewhere in China in order to tap into the cheap labour and the lack of government restrictions.

Take the CAST IRON business for example. The American EPA has pretty much driven that industry out of business. Companies such as John Deere, Case/New Holland, Caterpillar etc have been buying iron castings from off-shore sources for many years. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler also source product made in China and utilize those parts on the vehicles you buy at the local dealer.

You are trying to swim upstream in a raging river, Ken. Most of the clothing Americans wear comes from off-shore. It is next to impossible to avoid this on a daily basis, in spite of your idealistic patriotism. I am not bashing you for being this way but there is a thing called "balance of trade" whereby goods and services from the USA get sold in China but in exchange, Chinese-made goods get sold on this continent.

It is the way of the modern world. We live in the age of the Global Market, whether we like it or not. No country can behave like an island any longer and still thrive. The goods coming into North America create work for those who unload the ships, transport the goods to warehouses and eventually the stores. It is very simplistic to try and blame the current state of affairs in the USA on China, when it is the American entrepreneurs that went to China in the first place and arranged to buy their products so that Americans could obtain goods they could not otherwise afford.

If you or others bought something that was made in China and found it to be sub-standard, then don't blame the Chinese. Instead, follow the chain of supply and you will find an American company as the true culprit. The Chinese are quite capable of turning out quality products when called upon to do so just as the Japanese were during the reconstruction period following WW II. The phrase "Jap C rap" from the fifties and sixties came about thanks to American companies getting Japanese companies to make poor quality products for the US market.

Eventually, the Japanese government wised-up and put a stop to what foreign companies were doing to their reputation and turned things around. Today, most of the electronics along with many appliances are made by Japanese companies. Their photography equipment and office machinery are at the top of the heap. They produce some of the very best cars and trucks in the world as well as motorcycles. The Harley-Davidson company would be dead if it wasn't for Japanese designed suspension, carbs and other parts.

Finding out where your dollar ends up is next to impossible even if you make a full-time job out of it.
 
Guys, I think he said it's a Honda, not a clone.

so, IMO, country of manufacture is not too important, it should be Honda quality in any case.
 
communism is alive and very well.
most business have no regard for humanity, they are going to buy cheap and make as large a profit as possible. the ones that are importing, are making large profits, today.
democracy is not a good form of government. the founding fathers recognized this, that is why they did not establish one, but rather a constitutional republic.
i plan to continue to avoid chinese/communists products, when i am able to do so
 
I have no wish to debate what you said. However, the imposition of tariffs is a two-way street and can often be self-defeating when a country desires to export product.

The current situation is actually a global problem that does not reside with China. Many European countries have been on the cusp of financial collapse which has undermined the strength of the Euro, one of the major currencies of trading nations. No matter what, those troubles will not be resolved by this forum.
 

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