I have a 2001 Rancher ES and I can't get it to stop leaking fuel. I have dissassembled the carb several times and cleaned. Bought new Moose carb kit and replaced needle valve. Still leaking, sometimes it stops just for a day or two then starts flooding over again. Can't see anything wrong with it. How are you suppose to adjust the plastic float? Any help would be great?????

 

the plastic float is not adjustable. you need to buy a new one. the plastic over time gets pourous, like a sponge, and soaks up fuel, causing it to not float as well, causing the fuel level to rise too far out of spec and will over fill.
buy a new float from honda and see how that works for ya.

 

Ok, Thanks, I'll try that!

 

cuda440 i agree the float may need replacing , you should also replace your fuel line and add an inline fuel filter ; it only take's a tiny bit of dirt or trash in the carb to cause the inlet needle to stick. I've seen this happen to often even when you fillup with gas at the gas station's pump ! Instead of using the black rubber fuel hose from your dealer, go to a small engine repair shop and get the premium tygon tubing and the clear fuel filter at the same time, the regular black hose deteriate's from the inside out ! I've been a small engine tech for over twenty year's and i've seen this first hand on lawn mower's to my ATV's , and in most case's the cost is less and last's much longer in the long run..................good luck and have a good day...................williebee

 

Sounds like good information. I will do. Thanks for the help.

 

Where's the best place to order a float online? My local Honda don't have it thought I'd just order one online?

 

you want the real fix, the float does not saturate, plastic does not saturate at all, it either is crack and sinks or it floats.

i had the exact issue, had it apart 15 times and rebuilt everything in it, you know what fixed it?


i got pissed off it was leaking for its 19th time, i took the main fuel line off the carb inlet and open the drain valve on the carb body, took a blowoff tool i got from Harbor freight , and shot about 125 psi down the line about 10 times, till it shot air out of the drain valve that i opened.

I have not had issues since.....

up to you if want to do this, the problem is the needle valve opening gets crude in it, and the valve can't close

 

Thanks for the info. I have got the fuel leak stopped without replacing the float but know it runs like crap like the float is not adjusted correctly or fuel bowl level is low. There is no leak on the float but not sure if I distorted it with all the disassemble/reassemble with the fuel leak so might go ahead and replace float now and see how it runs then.
Thanks Again!

 

cuda440 i should've told when you had the carb apart cleaning it to shake the float, if it was bad you could hear it if the float was leaking. You said you put a moose carb kit and replaced the needle valve, was this kit and neele valve a preforance kit with a different size needle valve, and did the kit have new seat's ? If it wasn't the stock size this could be part of the problem ! I still say get the new tygon fuel line and clear filter to replace the black rubber fuel line between the line coming from gas tank to carb . And something you should do is get some sea foam fuel treatment/ stabilizer it's only about $4.99 here in north Ga. where i live you can find it at most auto part;s store's like auto zone , advance, and O'really's , i've seen this stuff clean out carb's and throddle body's that were gunked up so bad they wouldn't run without even removing them for cleaning ! It even clean's the combustion chamber of carbon deposit's from the valve's and entire engine I would try this before i did anything else ! littlebill has a point about injecting compressed air through the inlet of the carb, however some carb's have a replaceable neoprene seat in the inlet needle seat; and can blow the seat out of position, not sure your's does for sure but some do ! If so it could do more harm that help, ( no dissrepect to littlebill intended ) , try the sea foam first there could still be some crudd in the carb !! And replace the fuel line with the tygon hose and the inline clear fuel filter , i'm only trying to save you a lot of headache here not meaning no dissrepect to anyone on the forums......................williebee

 

I did check the float for gas inside, none found. The Moose kit was just a repair kit, not a performance kit. It had a needle valve but not the seat and other small brass parts and o-rings. No jet changes. I have the Sea Foam and have followed the directions in it's use. I feel that my float may still be the problem since I messed with it so much to get the fuel leak stopped. The atv seems to run better if I pull the choke out slightly so I assume it is lean. I am pulling the plug today to see how it looks. This atv is a 2001 and even though it is like new (110 Miles) it sat for a long time. I thank everyone for the ideas on how to fix this. When I get this figued out I will post what I did to fix it so hopefully it will save someone else alot of time if they have the same problem.