How to Work on a Honda 3813K1 Transmission on Lawn Tractor

Turn off your lawn tractor and pop open the front hood to reveal the Honda 3813K1 engine. Allow the Honda engine several minutes to cool before attempting any work.

Locate the spark plug on the right side of the Honda engine. Ensure the ignition wire is securely connected to this plug. The ignition wire is a thin, black wire that extends into the rear of the spark plug. Reinsert it if it's become disconnected.

Find the flywheel at the top of the back of the Honda engine block. This part is easily discernible due to its striking large, circular shape and bolted down iron cover. Remove this iron cover by loosening its bolts with counterclockwise adjustments from a socket wrench. Remove the loose bolts and pull off the flywheel's cover.

Examine the outer fins on the Honda's flywheel and ensure there are no visible burrs. File down any burrs using a hand file, then set the iron cover back into place and reinsert its bolts using your wrench. Burrs are raised edges of metals that form ridges.

Test the lawn tractor. The transmission operation is directly affected by the flywheel. Removing the flywheel's burrs may have fixed the tractor's running and power conversion problems.

Remove the flywheel's cover once more if the lawn tractor still won't start or if the engine fails when you attempt to engage the mower's blades.

Put a flywheel pulley over the top of the Honda's flywheel and lower its arms so that they slide snugly up against the outer sides of the flywheel. Turn the pulley's center bolt clockwise with your socket wrench. This will create gradually intensifying pressure on the flywheel beneath. Continue tightening this bolt until the pressure causes the Honda's flywheel to come free from the engine block. This reveals the top of the clutch shaft, which is responsible for power conversion to the mower's blades.

Remove the oil pan from the bottom of the engine block. This rectangular pan is bolted into place. Remove the bolts using your socket wrench and set the pan aside. This provides access to the bottom of the clutch shaft.

Take out the visible bolts along the clutch shaft with your wrench.

Strike the top of the clutch shaft at its center point with a rubber mallet, directly below where you removed the flywheel. This will dislodge the shaft entirely.

Insert a replacement shaft. Follow your disassembly steps in reverse to secure the shaft and the flywheel back onto the lawn tractor.