Hi, I am hoping someone out there can help w/my wife's '05 Recon ES.

I bought it new just over 6 months ago. Well, about 6 months and 6 days. Anyhow, it has always been a chore to start and even worse to keep it running for the first 15mins or so after an initial cold start. I have always felt that the idle was too low.

Well, a few nights ago we were out riding. My wife was going along in 5th gear at about 40mph, I guess, and the thing just shut off. I thought she was hitting the kill switch so I let her hop on my rancher and I rode the recon for a bit.

I am riding along and come up on a deep ditch at about 30mph and have to slam the brakes in a hurry. As soon as I get down to about 2-3mph, the thing just cut off again. I start it back up and think, well maybe it's about to run out of gas. It was pitch black out and the only light source I had was a cig lighter. Needless to say, I didn't chk the fuel level. I moved the lever to reserve and started for our house which is about 4 miles from where we were at the time.

About 2 miles later I am riding over some very rough terrain that is causing the atv to be bounced all around. The recon starts cutting in & out like it's running or about to run out of gas. It then cuts off. The wife decides to run home for the gas can. I try to start it up in the meantime and what do ya know, it start's right up.

Get home and the tank is at least half-full. I figure it's bad gas as we hadn't ridden it in a while. I also decided to change the spark plug. I drained the tank and filled it w/fresh gas. I also bought a new ngk plug from the local honda dealer. Took out the old plug and according to the pics in my clymer's manual for my rancher, the plug looks like it is suppose to. Install the new plug and try to start the recon. Same old story, the thing is terribly hard to start and the choke must be on or it dies. Constant throttle and moderate throttle is needed to keep it running. As soon as I close the choke the thing dies. Now, I can't get it to start at all. I had to leave it alone since that night as the work week started.

I know it is only a few days over warranty so I may try the dealer but I would really like to fix it myself as it's part of the enjoyment for me.

Any suggestions on the culprit. It's always been a huge pain in the **** to get it to stay running for the first 15-30 mins after the initial first start. It also has cut out while going up hills. I did check the breather hose for the tank and it is clear.

Please let me know if you have any idea of what it could be.

Matt

 

It sounds as though you have 2 problems, cold starts, and cutting out on rough terrain.

If you have to leave the choke on for an extended period of time, you may either have an air leak somewhere, or possibly you need to richen it up some.

For the cutting out on rough terrain and hills, the question would be, is it fuel related (too high or low adjustment of the float in the carb), or is it electrical (from an intermittant grounding or open in the circuit)?

It could even be a singular problem, such as a carb boot that is loose, and on rough terrain it gets worse, killing the engine.

Sorry that I can't be more exact, but there are quite a few variables to be more specific. I hope that these thoughts may be of some help.

 

Sounds like the pilot jet finally totally plugged up. Warentee wont cover this, so heres you chance to work on it. Once you have a clean pilot jet, and adjust the idle mixture screw and maybe bump up the idle rpm...it should be running great again.

Whenever the quad is gonna sit for more than a day, turn the gas to off, and this wont happen again. Its the constant refilling of the float bowl, and the evaporation, and condensating, that leaves deposits in the pilot jet.

 

when mine was new it to was a pain to get and keep running i have since turned the pilot screw on the bottom of the carb to richen it up i have turned the idle speed up some installed a uni air filter i have installed a 105 jet (stock i think was a 95)and removed some of the material on intake snorkel take a litle at a time till you get it right it made alot of difference in the way it ran and started... it normally takes no choke from 40 degrees and up to start i only have to bump the starter and its running but your problem is not only yours these bikes are very lean from factory but you must make sure it is broken in good it gets better if its below 40 ish i have to choke it to start and then it will run with it off

 

also i found this out the hard way mine quit on my daughter and first thing was check the gas it seemed to have plenty in the tank so i towed her home after checking it i found it was not gettin any gas i turned it on reserve and wallah it fired up i think the tank holds about 2.2 gallons but i bet it has a big reserve so dont be foolled by seeing gas in the tank on this bike it looked like it had plenty xkxi

 

mine did the same thing. I put a 105 jet in it and an inline fuel filter it never happened again. Turn the idle up too. Cut the end of the snorkel off as well.

jet cost 5$ at the dealer. stock is 95 .fuel filter is 3 dollars.

 

Update:

I don't have a manual for the recon and I have never messed w/a carb on anything before so I really don't know what I am talking about or messing with...

I took out the jet on the very bottom of the carb. It unscrews from the lt side of the quad if you were sitting on it. It was screwed all the way in tight like you wouldn't screw it in or out to adjust it. It looked clean so I just wiped it with a rag and put it back in.

Next, I took out the pilot jet I believe near the top of the car on the rt side. It looked fine too so I wiped it with the rag, screwed it all the way in and back it out 2 turns like it was before I removed it.

I tried to start it and no go. I decided to put the old plug back in and see what happened. It started up and did the normal thing....Hard to keep it running. However, eventually, I did get the thing to run w/o the choke on.

I go out for a ride and slam the brakes and everything and it seems to run fine. Then, it just cuts off and won't start like it's not getting gas. I then turn the gas to the reserve setting and try to start. It starts right up. I ride for a bit and it ends up cutting off again like it's not getting any gas. I turn the tank back to the normal 'on' position and it starts right up. This goes on for the next 1/2 hr of switching back and forth. It seems to run fine otherwise.

Any idea what could be going on for the tank to keep having to be switched between on & reserve? The breather hose seems fine and I can blow thru it and the cap ok.

Which screw adjust the idle? I am thinking it is the pilot on the rt side of the carb but not sure?

This is an '05 recon and I think another thread sts you need a special tool to adjust the idle????

Any help would be much appreciated..

Matt

 

Ride it till it quits. Then pull the fuel line off at the carb, and check to see if fuel is flowing out of the fuel line. At least that will verify if a lack of fuel delivery is actually your problem.

 

If i understood what you wrote, correctly...

Next, I took out the pilot jet I believe near the top of the car on the rt side. It looked fine too so I wiped it with the rag, screwed it all the way in and back it out 2 turns like it was before I removed it.


Two things stand out...wiping the outside of the jet does nothing, the gas comes thru the center hole. Thats the part that is probably obstucted. Look down the length of the jet, like looking thru a straw, if you cant see light coming thru...its blocked and needs to be cleaned out. That goes for all jets.

The other thing, is all jets need to be snug to the carb body. Nothing is backed off, 2 turns or even 1/4 turn. They all get snugged tight. The mixture screw is what needs to be backed off approximently 2 turns.

If you go to the ronnies site,(theres a link at the top of the page), and look at the atv parts, youll find a 2004 recon, and look at the picture of the carb.
http://216.37.204.202/Honda_OEM/Hond...=13&A=112&B=19
sometimes these links work and sometimes they dont, but this is it.
#6 is the mixture screw,#34 is the pilot jet.
At the minimum, youll need to pull the pilot jet back out, and clear out the center hole. Its a very tiny hole...about .012", and can be very hard to clear out if the deposits are hardened. If thats the case, buy a new one, they are about 5 bucks at the dealer.
Then snug up everything inside the float bowl, all the jets.
Then remove the mixture screw, and be carefull to not loose any pieces inside, or mix up the installation order, clean up the screw, and the hole in the carb body, with compressed air. Put the mixture screw back in, and lightly bottom it, then back off two turns. This should get you pretty close to what will run.

Heres an article on carb cleaning http://www.atving.com/editor/techtips/carbclean.htm, and it goes over the same info.

Let us know how it goes.

 

dont know if you got your issue fixed but heres my 2 cents worth, i bought my recon 250es back in october and had same starting issue, got to the point that it killed that battery trying to start it, we took it back to the honda dealership where they richened up the mixture and reset the idle. im in arizona, right next to california, what the dealer told me was when these recons roll off the assy line they are set to california specs(whether they go there or not), they are set lean to burn clean. since they made the adjustments i have had no other starting issues and the bike runs really great, in fact we took it rock climbing last week and it kept up with all the big bore bikes in stock configuration.