I really maintain my equipment - ran heavy equipment for years, fly planes, run boats and generally live around machinery of one sort or another. I believe in clean oil, clean air (coming into the engine) and clean fuel. I take the steps necessary to accomplish these things. I warm up, cool down (turbo engines) and am generally **** about maintainance.

With that said, WTF is it with these Honda carbs already???

Last year I went for a new carb on my Rubicon so it would run. Now my first son's Rancher (350) won't run unless you hold your hand over the intake and choke off just about all of the air##!@^!%&!%^!

He took the carb off and will go throught he litany of taking everything apart, cleaning, checking and tweeking everything so that MAYBE his quad will run.

We went riding today with number one son borrowing my Rubicon, remember, the one with 80 hours on it and a new fricken carb and number two son trying to keep his Recfon idling until really warm (it was 75 today!!!).

All the while I just push the button on my FUEL INJECTED Grizzly and ride. I will not get into a discussion about how my CARBURATED Rubicon towed my Grizzly home after i sank her and had water on both sides of the piston! Hey, got her home, pulled the plug, drained the oil/milk and she fired right up. Three oil changes later plus F&R diff (both perfectly water free BTW) and I'm good to go - oh, except for the darned honda carb on my son's Rancher.

I use clean gas, SatBil - the works - WTF??????????????????????????????

 

Well, sorry to tell you but it is something you are doing....not the carbs! I have owned 20 or so Hondas, Suzukis, and Yamahas during recent years, and never had a problem with any of them carburated or fuel injected, except once from stale gas....and I learned my lesson from that one!

You are using bad/stale gas most likely, and/or letting them sit to long without clearing the old gas out of the carb. I have run Klotz Octane Booster for many years, and that has solved my fuel problems. Besides a slight increase in octane (+2.5) for a little insurance against detonation, it has a fuel preservative, water remover, and an ester synthetic lube for the top end.

I can leave a quad or bike sitting for months, and it will fire right up and never have a problem......

 

sounds like its flooding to me...is it doing it at all throttle?

 

Recon Ranger,

Thanks for the suggestion on Klotz Octane Booster - I'll try it. Even though I can't spell it late at night I have used StaBil when the bikes sit. I also used Stabil in boats off season. Sometimes I'll just run AvGas (100LL) through everything when it will not be used.

At hunting camp, we'd have to sit on the quad and hold the throttle while others just let them idle on a cold winter morning while they went inside for coffee and breakfast - we baby sat our Hondas!

The Recon went into the Stealership (under warranty) and they said it was an idle adjustment. Then, after the problem reocurred they agreed with me ont he throttle cable being bad. They replaced the throttle cable, which has a kink making idle speed ajustment all but impossible and now it will finally idle - but only after its been running and is at full operating temperature.

reconranger, 01 406ex,
The Rancher doesn't get to the point where it will run at any throttle position other than idle or fast idle. It's a struggle just to get it started and remain running at all. If you open the throttle it just sucks air but doen't rev. If you cover over the intake thenit will almost run but very poorly. We checked very carefullty for a vacuum leak as that's what I initially expected. Then, after an episode of the foregoing, gas will come out of the intake.

recon, not that I am necessarily arguing with you but we run the same gas in other gas powered machinery around here and only these darned Hondas give me fits. Everything else gets the same fuel, the same StaBil and the same, if not more, sit time.

This is a case where I would not mind at all being wrong as long as fixing my error fixes the problem! If/when we get this straightened out i'll try Klotz Octane boost.

For the record - I do like the Honda quads but these carburator issues on ALL THREE are driving me to drink!

 

I think your rancher still has a clogged passage. It is easy to miss one of the holes in the bore when you spray everything out. B-12 chemtool is probably my favoriate cleaner.

The other one, that won't idle until it is at full operating temp, I'd wonder about idle mixture circuit, or the enricher not opening properly. On cold days hit the primer.

My Foreman will idle on its own almost instantly, and will be ready to ride by the time you have your helmet, gloves and goggles on.

Something's up with the carb(s).

One thing I've found greatly helps on machines not run daily is to shut the fuel off and run the float bowl dry. Gas goes stale fastest in small quantities, exposed to air, like in the float chamber.

 

Honda does not make carbs, I think they get a company called "Keihin" to do that for them. I prefer "Mikuni" myself personally.

 

I'm not sure as to what type of gasoline you are running as you stated that you have ran AV fuel through the machines....but if the fuel you run contains ethanol.........

I have had problems with my wife's 04 Bruin, which always started up instantly, as well as the 05 Rancher I used to own and my son's TRX 90. After rebuilding the carbs on the Yamaha and 90 and buying gasoline without ethanol....no more problems.

I go out of my way to fill two five gallon cans with non-ethanol gasoline.....about 16 miles round trip....and run that in all my atvs and my lawn tractor. My fuel consumption on these machines has dropped back to normal levels also.

With my new to me Rubicon....nothing but non-ethanol gasoline.

 

Keihin fuel systems makes all sorts of injection systems, natural gas injection, ecu's and all sorts of stuff.

They are factory equipment on harley's also.

I thought Honda had an interest, or maybe a controlling interest, but that could be a rumor.

Anyway, I've found them quite easy to tune and they generally work very well.

 

Thx for the replies guys. I'll make sure that Rancher son checks for clear passages everywhere on the carb.

Because of the cost - I'll typically only run avgas into the carbs when I know it's going to sit for a while. Unleaded regular (with ethenol) is running around $2.45 right now while 100LL at the airport is $4.82.

NJ's gas is cheap but it laden with that wicked ethenol and besides causing havoc with fiberglass tanks in boats it's just one royal pain in the ****.

Keihin does, in fact make the carbs on the Honda quads and for Harleys - at least the ones that still have carbs. They suck on the Harleys as well and most switch over to S&S or Mikuni before they even leave the showroom, or at the 1000 miles service for those who wait.

If there is an additive that anyone could recommend to add to E10 (or more??) fuel to help I will try it, as well as the Klotz octane boost previosuly mentioned.

Hate to say it but I'm lovin' the FI on the Grizzly. Touch the button, warm-up and GO!

 

I personally wouldn’t run av-gas in my ATV, it burns way too slow.

Blow all of the passages in the carb backwards to whatever direction the air or fuel flows so you don't force the dirt deeper into the passage and possibly increasing your problem.


I took this picture when our Rubicon had about 8000 miles on it.
I have never sprayed any type of cleaner inside the carb or down the throat.
I have never adjusted it in any way.
I clean the original air filter when it is really dirty.

When it sits for a few months in the winter I turn the key on (to turn on the carb heater), push the primer bottom until it squirts fuel 3 times, pull the choke and it fires right up, even in sub freezing temperatures.

It has run flawlessly for 10,000 miles, to the point that I believe I would see only minor drivability improvements with EFI.

Sorry to see that you are having so many problems with your carburetors. Personally I would take a Keihin carburetor over a Mikuni any day of the week.