Its on the right side of the carb.

 

Well it was -5 here in Gods Country yesterday morning. It took a little extra cranking but the Rubicon started and ran for the first time in 3 weeks. The transmission worked flawlessly, no hesitation at all.

 

Man thats cold....

 

LovinHonda: The heater comes on one of two ways. Not sure which since I haven't looked at the Wiring diagram which is in the back I believe of the owners manual. But I would guess it comes on with the key turned to on. But if not then when it is running it would come on for sure due to more battery current. But my guess is it comes on when the switch is on. Makes more sense to have it set up that way. That would help starting more so, but the heater is more intended to help performance in cold weather to prevent carb freeze up.

 

I was a little intrigued by the comparison to a John Deere's hydrostatic tranny, so I went to Honda's web site and looked at the cut away of the Rubicon's tranny. What you have there is an ingenious idea unique to the ATV world, but not at all unique to us guys who have been working on sundstrand systems for the past thirty years. Sundstrand pioneered the use of variable displacement piston pumps and motors for transmissions in industrial applications; some of which are John Deere equipment. This is a very good design and definitely a new and unique application, but not a new idea. The transmissions that are encountered in industrial applications are very complex and very advanced. Hambone was in no way impuning Honda by making this comparison, the basic idea is identical in theory of operation. I can tell you that these systems are very sensitive to contaminants so keep that oil clean. We do get tens of thousands on these pumps before we overhaul them so durability is excellent if you maintain them. They operate great in cold weather if you use the correct grade of oil. It does beat the tar out of those glorified rubberband trannies used in other machines. I work on hydrostats for a living and I give my kudos to Honda for pioneering it's use in the ATV market.