Hello to all!! I have a Honda 350 ES Rancher which is hard to start if you let it sit for awhile..I found the plug to be fouling [ little oil on plug]..talked to Honda shop and they said to change main jet for altitude...runs fine once it starts..bought a main jet just... need information and advice before I take carb. out and change jet..how to would be good to..I am not a wrench but can make do...Thanks, Rich

 

i dont see how changeing the main jet would help you much at start up... but iv gottent that advice as well. honestly dude, just clean your carb real well. disconnect ithe carb from the intake, flip it over and take out the 4 skrews on the bottom of the carb. remove bottom of the bowl and spray carb cleaner on everything. make sure you spray the jets well!. also get the inside of the carb, slide and butterfly well.

hopefully that is all you need to do. i would keep an eye on the plug though. many people forget, or hust dont know, about haveing a carb heater. the honda utilitys have carb heaters, just turn the key on for mabe a min before you start. carb heaters really help in cold weather and even after sitting for a while.

good luck and hopefully that will help you out!

 

I guess I just don't understand? How can a "oil" fouled plug be fixed by jetting the carb?

 

doctorturbo, it wont. unless you jet it high enough so the fuel just washes the plug clean [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] if its oil fouling its bad rings, which would mean poor compression. makeing it hard to start. or valve seals are leaking, not good ether.

iv gotten that very same advice from "know it all" or "over the phone" mechanics... upping your main jet wont do jack for a starting or idol problems. idk why they seggest that

 

A fouled plug usuallyindicates a rich condition....but if the engine was running fine previously, and this is something that just happened recently, then this is more than a jetting issue.

What altitude are you at??? Anything up to 5,000' shouldn't be a major issue (I ride from below sea level to 12,000'...sometime in one days ride!). Usually in the cold, engines lean out a bit because cold air is denser than warm, so that doesn't fit a pattern. Have you changed anything, like the type of air filter you are running???

Some cold weather startup tips.... http://forums.atvconnection.co...atid/8/threadid/557041

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>I have a Honda 350 ES Rancher which is hard to start if you let it sit for awhile..</end quote></div>

If it is only hard to start after it has sat a while, my guess would be the gas in the float bowl is getting bad.

Gas goes bad faster in small quantites, exposed to the air.

Try shutting off the fuel and letting the engine run the float bowl dry before you store it, or if you didn't do that try opening the float bowl drain to drain out the old gas before attempting to start.

 

Thanks to all for the info...I have 1247 hours on the four wheeler..It was hard staring when I got it if I did not start for a few days..altitude is 5,700 feet ...runs strong once started and I always use the choke because it rarely stars without it...I will also adjust the valves to see if that helps...thanks again and God bless our Marines.

 

randerson8 have you ever done a compression test on the engine? With that many hours, an "oil" fouled plug, and the hard start issue, it may be a good place to start.

Merry Christmas by the way.