Hello All,

I have an 04 Honda Rancher 350FM (manual) and I'm having a little trouble getting from reverse to neutral and even more from 1st to neutral.

Basically

High idle = tough to get to neutral

Low idle = easy to get to neutral, but stalls easy.

Any advice? Keep tinkering with the clutch adjustment and idle speed until I find the sweet spot?

thanks
bob

 

bump

 

Yeah, the idle speed has to be spot on. I'd suggest using a tach to set it to spec.

If it stalls easily at proper idle, I'd be wondering if a jet or passage in the carb might be partly gummed up.

Setting the clutch adjustment as per the repair manual should have that part working well.

Also, what oil are you running, in what temps?

 

I will be willing to bet that your pilot (idle/slow) jet is a little gummed up, leaving you a little lean and you are needing to trun up the idle to keep it from dying.

It never hurts to do a carb cleaning anyway. I say clean the carb, and pay particular attention to the pilot jet.

 

thanks for the replies guys!

I will pull the carb this weekend and clean it. I haven't had this very long and I suspect the prior owner let it sit a lot.

JeffinTD, I'm running Rotella T SAE 5w-40 synthetic at temps from 0 to 40 degrees.

 

I'd bet if you spray some B-12 chemtool or other good carb cleaner through every passage and jet, followed by some compressed air, would have it running well.

 

Guys,

Just got done cleaning the carb. Starts great and runs like a top now! I can now bring the idle down without it stalling and therefore making it a heck of lot easier to get into neutral now.

Thanks again for the advice!

Bob

 

Just for kicks, with the quad running, hold the brakes shift from neutral to first and don't let off the foot shifter, hold it up. Rev the bike and see if it lugs down. It shouldn't because this is the clutch position. If it tries to pull the qhad foreward while holding the shifter up the clutch is stuck or out of adjustment.
Readjust the clutch and try the proceedure again. If it still pulls with the shift lever held up, hold the brakes ans give it throttle. The clutch should break free.

FYI, what causes this is hot oil and the engine turned off without any idle time to cool the oil. It bakes the clutch fiber discs to a steel disc in the clutch assembly.
The proceedure above will break all the fiber plates free from steel plate so complete clutch operation is regained.

----- Gimpster -----