Hey guys I'm new so please bear with me ... I recently took ownership of a 2001 Honda rancher 350 ES .. it was my cousins so I know that there was never anything bad done to it.. he's not keen on really babying his stuff but nothing major. Well this 4 wheeler has been sitting for roughly 4 years under a shed . Battery was dead so we jumped it off and remarkably it cranked right up but was idling rough and would try to die if you pressed the throttle.. figured most likely he carb would be junked up .. I did manage to keep trying and trying to crank it and it would idle but wouldn't rev without shutting off. Eventually I got it to rev and drove it around the neighborhood. Almost. It died about 200ft from my house and never cranked again. Never even attempted to..so instead of trying to clean I just ordered a new carb..watched the videos and got it swapped relatively easily .. so fingers crossed but still wouldn't crank.. I took the spark plug out and touched it to the muffler guard and pushed the button with no spark or sound of spark. Ok so a fouled plug. Easy. Replaced it. Still wouldn't crank. Also I have a new battery as well. Well I noticed something strange. The throttle cable was molten hot. The more I tried to crank the hotter it got. So I read a post about the carb heater causing this problem. So I disconnected the wires from the carb to the connector on the right side and BAAM she cranked .. so I'm feeling good that I got it cranked. And then all of a sudden inside the breather (I had the air filter out) the cranckcase vent starts pouring a oil gas mixture.. when I say pour I mean pour. To the point that I said hey I need to check the oil level and she was bad low. So I put 3/4 of a quart to just make sure she didn't go dry and whenever I get it cranked it idles for 10 secs and then here it comes out of the crankcase vent inside the breather box .. so where do I start. Trying not to sink a ton of money in it . Advice is appreciated thanks in advance

 

Sounds like your new carb has an float needle stuck or not seating good need to try this first make sure engine doesnt have gas in oil if so change oil,then if ok turn gas value off an crank engine an let engine run an when engine starts dieing or going dead turn gas value back on try afew times and see this will reseal float needle but if fuel still overflowing you will need to replace float needle inside carb.

 

Yes there for sure is gas in the oil. It's funneling gas into the crankcase , frothing it up and shooting it in the breather box in mass proportions.

 

Oh and I forgot to mention the gas selector valve is seized .. I'm afraid I will break the plastic if I try and turn it off. It's currently on RES. I may just have to pinch clamp the fuel line to do that trick

 

You have serious problems with that new carburettor. As well as the float needle sticking, the overflow pipe, which should run any excess fuel down to the ground, that seeps through the sticking needle, must be blocked too. This is a pipe that dangles downwards from the bottom of the float bowl. Do not try to start the machine with a crankcase full of fuel. Sort out the float needle and overflow pipe, fit a new tap, or an "in-line" one, then change the oil and try again.

 

yeah the overflow pipe I saw has what looks like an online filter on it. Is there any reason for that. I'm sure that would restrict any overflow since its gravity drained.. is it common for a new carb to have a sticking float? I'm not a carb guru. If I take it off and inspect is that something I would be able to physically see?

 

The little top hat value on the drain tube is one way value it let carb vent out but shuts off any up drafts or air come back up thru carb...You can inspect needle to see if the little spring on top of needle is spring loaded this keeps tension on float to help keep needle sealed inside seat..if needle spring doesnt move or needle doesnt move could be problem also if bad float or defective it could have gas inside making float weighted down causing float needle not to turn off or seal up fuel if you find defective parts replace them.

 

I have a 2000 honda 350. When mine stopped working I disconnected the fuel line and saw the gas flow was slow. So I removed the tank and the tank selector valve.

The tank valve has a strainer inside the tank. My strainer was broken and crumbling. Also the tank had dirt gunk in the bottom. So my tank valve had gotten clogged. The crumbling strainer bits could also clog the float valve, or stick it open.

I found that the tank valve flowed OK on the RES setting. So after cleaning it up I put it back on (without the strainer) and added an in-line strainer. Then I made the mistake of replacing the fuel line with one I ordered from amazon.

Turns out the SAE30R6 fuel line is not ethanol resistant, and turns the gas orange, and eventually starts breaking down. This sends little bits of rubber into the float valve which clogs it open (again!).

So I went to autozone and got some more fuel line, and guess what? It also turned the gas orange. So I found the original fuel line and put it back on, even though it was a little stiff, and now the fuel looks normal.

I am still in shock that they are selling fuel line to this day that is not ethanol resistant.

 

Hey guys thanks again for all your advice. I left the carb heater unplugged , drained the oil , let it sit for a day and then refilled the crankcase crossed my fingers and hit the button and to my surprise she fired right off and idled strong. Adjusted the idle setting to low as it would go and she loped right along just like you would want. So not exactly what corrected itself with the carb pushing gas into the crank case but as of right now she’s running like a dream. If something else comes up I’m sure I’ll be back

 

Sort out that overflow from the bottom of the carb, or if the needle sticks again, it will fill the airbox and sump with fuel again. In my opinion it is better to remove the pipe altogether than have a blocked one. Yes it may dribble fuel onto a hot engine, and if you go through water deeper than the float bowl, it could get into the carb, but a dribble from the bottom of the carb tells you to fix it, even simply turning the fuel off stops wasting it and may flush grit from the needle when you turn it back on.