hi all
i have an 03 rancher 350 es. i noticed there was a wet spot where i park it. did some investigation and the fluid is coming from the rubber boot(hole in it) that covers the driveshaft(i assume) on the swingarm. is there supposed to be fluid in here? could it be a bad seal somewhere?
thanks

 

No fluid is surpose to be inside there. so yes bad seal most likely.Shaft run in dry housing, you have seal at pinion and at engine... So is the fluid you have is it engine oil? or gear oil smell?

 

my rear gearcase is full so it must be engine oil. doesnt have color of engine oil though. i did notice a gas smell when i checked oil that cant be good either.

 

Sounds like you carb. float value in leaking and over filling bowl and run thru intake manifold[carb boot] and get in engine oil if it,s smells like fuel, By having to much fluids in engine case when the engine is started up the extra pressure cause by moving parts inside possibly pushed seal out of back of engine or bypassing seal... Sooooo I would change oil and filter, then fix carb. then replace seal in back of engine...IMO.

 

thanks papa hogg, you were right, i had gas in oil. changed oil today and filter. i found schematics at ronniesmailorder.com can you tell me which diagram to look at and what seal it is?? again its the 2003 rancher es 350 FE version. not sure how to fix carb friend of mine said to tap bowl maybe knock it loose, for now i turned fuel off when not running

 

Go to finalshaft section, then item nimber 9, seal part 91203-hn5-671, ALso you have to remove the carb and clean it and replaced float . to fix leaking fuel,BUT you may try this turn fuel off and crank engine then when engine starts surging for fuel right before the engine dies open up fuel value[cut off value] and some times this surge will creat an vaccum thru the carb and suck the float value back up in float value seat and make the float value seal back... sometimes when an atv is hauled or bouced around the float value will get distrubed an loose it seal and this has to be done to get it sealed back, if this don,t work then remove carb and clean and replace float value[the thing that mounts to the float it,s self].Good Luck

 

thanks again papa i will try the surge with the petcock valve. im gonna wait on seal i think maybe the thin fluid just got past it it may not be blown will keep an eye on drive shaft. got starter issues now brushes are stuck tried removing starter motor but it must be cemented on after 7 years of riding. if i tap the starter the push start works. wanna get in the starter motor and look at brushes but cant get the dern thing off!

 

Be careful with that starter - spray some wd40 or similar between starter and crankcasing- let it sit and try a pry bar with not too much force , or a light few taps with a rubber hammer