We (husband and I) own a 2002 Rancher 4x4 ES. We have a problem with oil filling the air filter box and drain tube. My father and one of dh's coworkers also has this problem. We all have the same make, model and year atv's bought at the same store. I've contacted 3 mechanics and Honda directly regarding this. Honda has no idea why this is happening and maintains that it shouldn't be. 2 of the honda aprroved mechanics I spoke to accused us of either overfilling the oil, that we must have rolled it, or ran the rpms too high for an extended amount of time. None of these are the case, and this should get resolved under warranty as there's power in numbers, and seeing how all three are doing the same thing they can't deny something fishy is going on. However, I wanted to alert all other '02 owners. Checking the air filter drain tube is probably something alot of people don't do very often. If any of you do have this same thing going on would you please reply to this post and contact Honda.

ps. All of ours were doing just fine until the weather turned cold, and our atv's may be the exception to the rule. We bought them at the same store within a 2 week period. We're going to compare serial numbers tonight to see how close together they were on the production line.

 

There are two things that commonly cause this. Setting the quad up on its right hand side (throttle side) will fill the air box right up. This happened to my old Rancher 2-3 times. The other common thing is overfilling the oil. If there is too much oil it will dump out in the airbox from the crankcase breather that is routed in there.

You mentioned the cold weather affecting them, did you change the weight of oil or anything like that to compensate for the weather?

 

I may be way off base, but you saying it happened in cold weather sparked a memory of something I read a long time ago,about possible moisture in a vent line frosting up and blocking it, causing the oil to be pressurized and blown into the air box, I also believe Honda did a fix for it, so make sure you have the dealer contact Honda, or get a hold of them your self. Hope this is some help.

 

TEXmud you sound like the mechanics. lol There are THREE Ranchers all doing the same thing! Two of which has the recommended Honda oil in them, and one that has castrol (not sure of the weight). The fathers was serviced by the dealer at the hundred mile checkup in November, and we did the oilchange ourselves. There's ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, NOT EVEN AN IOTA OF A CHANCE that we overfilled it. My father's isn't either. We haven't had a chance to look at the other one, but I'm petty sure it's the same story there too. Besides, with the funny way honda has you check the oil, a person would be more likely to UNDERfill it. NONE of the quads have been tipped on their sides. They're brand new! None of us are the type to spend five grand on something then take it out and beat the living sh*t out of it! Well, at least not in the first few months anyways. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

95wolv, the cold weather factor also struck us as odd. My hubby's speculating that maybe the floater is stuck because of the cold and causing the blowback. He said something about moisture and freezing too. I know I didn't word that correctly, but maybe you get the idea.

 

duh u idiot its a rancher y did u buy it

 

Same thing with the rancher on the farm I work on. onlt a little bit, but enough to fill the drain tube plastic holder and than some. I thought it might be from doing a lot of wheelies. I haven't checked it lately, but the oil level is still good.

 

Sorry I've nothing to add to your delimma, I set mine('01trx350fe)on the grab bar for washing ect all the time the only required precaution is shutting off the fuel ****. You sure you've got the honda oil check for the rancher correct? run till warm, let idle steady a minute or so, shut down a minute or so, unscrew the dip sick, clean, insert without screwing it in...

 

smokeyaka300, dont be mad just because the rancher better.it is faster, has more power, etc. then what you have.


mabey your just being sarcastic(how ever you spell it)but you sure cant tell

 

Mine did it, I'm a mechanic and can't explain why, oil in the air filter in a auto engine is an indication of engine blow-by a sign of engine problems. Our Rancher always ran fine but after 200-300 miles I would automatically drain the tube, it would be half to 3/4 full. Temperature didn't seem to effect it much. I never worried about it because I had read on other occasions where other Rancher's were also doing it.

 

Mya, I was just speaking from my personal experience with our old Rancher. I have never had a dealer touch any of my quads. The only other thing I could think of is the cold weather, but as you can tell I live in Texas and dont know much about that. Heck its 70 degrees out today.