jeepwm69

Things around here are "so flat you can watch your dog run away for 2 days" but at least we have trees!

Temp here probably dropped 10-15 degrees.  I was quite surprised at just how dark it got when the sun was totally blocked.   And the tiniest sliver of sun made a HUGE amount of light considering......It was a cool experience.

Welcome aboard.  If you’re going into the engine Honda updated the oil pump sometime in 2004.

The early Hondamatics got a bad rep due to the early oil pumps.  The later style oil pump and Hondamatics had a much better track record.

Pretty cool thing to see.  

19 hours ago, tnkman said:

This is my first atv in 20 years. i recently purchased a 2003 Honda Rubicon 500 with the hondamatic (628 original miles).  I have done a lot of looking but see no GR for this bike. I'm assuming no one makes one.  I would like to run 28's or 29.5 Aztec's is this possible?  The low range seems like it would be able to turn the tires.  I run mostly light mud, gravel roads , and lots of snow during ice fishing any direction is greatly appreciated Thanks

The only reduction is a 7%, which is a 450 foreman final gear under the rear cover.  It’s a 42 tooth vs the stock Rubicon 40.

Not worth the effort unless you’re already in there doing other work.

As for tires, even with low I wouldn’t go that big.  I’ve seen Rubicons unable to turn some loaded up 26” outlaws in really thick mud.  Couldn’t spin them enough to clean them out so they ended up being giant heavy cakes of clay. 
 

i have light 27’s (Mudbugs) on one with the 7% reduction installed, and wouldn’t want to go any bigger/heavier.

11 hours ago, TBRider said:

My house will be in the shadow tomorrow.  I'm almost in the middle of total coverage,  so it should be dark here for about 4 min plus.

Is your house in the path?

 We’re going to drive about 45 min nw to get into totality.   It’s going from about an hour west of me to an hour north of me, so we’re going to try to catch it in the middle of nowhere, where hopefully we can avoid the crowds.

I was outside in shorts and a T-shirt and flip-flops today sweating breaking down tires

28 minutes ago, Jwalt said:

I also need my display repaired on a 99 Honda foreman 450 ES.  Can this be repaired

Yikes!   That one is pretty bad, but the circuit board doesn't appear to have obvious water damage.  Does it backlight in the dark if you turn on the headlights?

@AKATV will be along shortly.

On 3/18/2024 at 8:40 PM, Jman said:

I haven’t manage to find this one and believe it’s discontinued from Honda. If u see one let me know please 

Sent you a couple of links for new meters.   The two I sent were the cheapest I could find.

Check your PM"s.

10 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

Well it was a two parter..... i can see now @goober (i recon ?) isnt coming back ? Thats too bad cause he sure knows carbs and loves those old school tanks plus hes a crackerjack at hondaline accessies  .... i might not be too far behind him... (red plastic) yeah same reason i didnt go with red, but if it was a green bike I would shoot them to match.   

Has been a bit since @Goober was here.  Hopefully he's ok and just doing RLS.

@AKATV iirc you just did an early Rubicon meter.  Is a functional display necessary for proper shifting?

A used harness and ECU hit ebay in the last day or two, different seller.  $149 for the ECU and $199 for the harness.  

While tossing both at the machine will likely fix it, were it mine I think I'd replace one, and then if that didn't fix it, get the other.

I'd lean towards the harness replacement first, since the existing harness is already chewed up and spliced on in several places.  

If I buy the ECU first, and it's the harness, then I'd have an extra ECU that wouldn't be needed.   If I buy the harness and still need the ECU, at least the harness would no longer be all chewed up.

But I really hate to throw money, especially someone else's money, at a problem.  And on the other hand......

This voltage drop......let's say I think it needs a harness...wouldn't using MelATV's little "jumper wire from battery + to the red/black wire on the coil" bypass any burnt/broken wires in the harness by directly supplying 12V to the coil and back feeding 12V to the rest of that circuit IF that were the issue?

You know I don't like wiring.  I tend to think of it like plumbing, with flow of electricity instead of flowing of liquid, but I know it's not that simple.  But looks like if I had a restriction somewhere from overheated/ burnt wiring that would cause a voltage drop, that a jumper wire would "bypass" that restriction.

Which would point to the ECU......

PSN has an 18% off sale going through Sunday, and they have an ECU, but not a wiring harness.  Of course, the good thing there being they stand behind what they sell.

I'm still kinda keeping an eye out for a used harness or ECU.   The one I had on ebay had both, but he pulled the listing, removed the ECU, and jacked the price up $100 on just the harness.

Buying both new will be about $500-600.

So I'll try redoing those connections first, and then will tinker with it when I have time, while keeping an eye out for a harness or ECU.

Yeah I'm keeping my footshifts for work and hunting.  I had a Rubicon practically given to me, fixed it up (frame issues, swingarm bolt stripped out on one side) and the wife ended up stealing it as "hers".

Picked up a 2012 a bit later pictured here.   I've gone through it now, and it looks great, but started slipping the first time I took it on an extended ride, so I've gone through my extra engine now and plan on swapping them out sometime soon.  

I want a Rubicon to cruise around on.   My footshifts are my working machines, but riding the farm with the wife and kids the Hondamatic was nice.   Much better than the newer DCT machines when it comes to how they shift.   The wife had a DCT rancher with IRS and told me to sell it after she rode the Rubicon.

So the TPS caused that much of a problem on the Rubicon?   That's good to know.  On my footshifts it was just an annoying blinking error code, but didn't really mess with rideability.

1 hour ago, M_goerler said:

Could the battery just not have the cranking amps for the starter I know I tried a jump box but them things barely start a car

You don't have a battery on the machine now?   It takes a bit to turn over that Rincon engine.   You need a good strong battery on them or they won't shift right either; the computer and all the electronic stuff on them uses a lot of juice.

Had a few minutes yesterday while waiting on the turkey to fry (I set up my fryer kinda close to the pile of broken down Hondas so I could tinker while monitoring the oil temp).

I unhooked the ECU plugs and checked for continuity on the wires that I spliced together.  I did this by inserting a pin into the connector, and then shaving a bit of insulation off the wire a good 2-3 inches on the other side of the splice, and then checked for continuity.   Both of my splices gave me a tone and showed 0.00 resistance, so that SHOULD mean my splices are good and flowing properly, correct?

Can I take these apart?  I also have continuity between fuse block and the bottom of this little box, with no resistance, so hypothetically, were I to take some of the wires coming out of this box, and do a similar continuity/resistance test would that show an internal problem within this box?

@Melatv @retro

i feel your pain.  The 2013 Foreman I'm trying to fix has the same "coil getting hot" no spark issue.

I'm stumped.

Found a used harness on ebay with a PCM, and made an offer.  Seller pulled the listing, then relisted the harness only, without the PCM, and raised the price $100!

I paint mine black but only because I duck hunt sitting on mine and don't want to flare the birds.

Welcome aboard!

2 hours ago, shadetree said:

i just have to ask !..what good is it if its smoking when making top end noise ?, why does it matter if its charging or not when it has top end noise ?..please wizard..tell me !..lol.

Noise could be something as simple as valves needing adjustment.  Idle might be low or have a dirty carb rather than need engine work.

More than likely you’re right, but might be a simpler fix. 

Welcome to the “no spark” club with me and @rich250rracer

Welcome aboard.  Is it smoking?  Have you tried upping the idle a bit with the knob on the bottom of the carb?

And check and make sure your stator is charging with the machine running.    Use a multimeter and make sure you are charging.  If not, you might have a bad regulator.

22 minutes ago, spock said:

Double check that the angle sensor was installed correctly, a common problem.

There's a lot of helpful help around here, hope you get it figured!

ah yes, preloading that sensor is something I often overlook when trying to help out with these.  The Rubicons are different animals but I’m trying to learn!

@Kendallh, looks like the 04 carb is a one year specific carb.  

I don't think a TPS will cause limp mode, but it very well might on a Rubicon.  I had a TPS code on my footshift Foreman and it didn't change function any, just annoying error code.  I did the troubleshooting on the TPS and it was in spec.  Ended up replacing the ECU and still had the error code.  Plugged the old ECU back in and the code went away.  Apparently I had a bit of frosting/corrosion on the ECU pins and plugging and unplugging several times cleaned them enough to make the TPS code go away.   Even with an aftermarket TPS if you get good readings you shouldn't get a code.   If your TPS measures good, I'd clean connections at ECU and at TPS and check for continuity on those wires.

Honda uses a lot of different part numbers and some of them interchange, and some do not, regardless of what the "related fitment" shows.

I looked at the 05-14 Rubicon carbs and it appears to maybe be a slight difference in the main jet size (158 is offered for both carbs, but the 04 has an optional 152 while the 05-14 has an optional 162)

2004

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/atv/2004/trx500fa-a-fourtrax-foreman-rubicon/carburetor

2011

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/atv/2011/trx500fa-a-fourtrax-foreman-rubicon/carburetor

The TPS also has a slightly different part number.   That said, I checked the TPS readings in both versions of the factory service manual and both call for more or less the same readings for a "good" TPS.

04 has .5 closed to 3.5-5.5 ohms opened

05-14 has .5 closed to 4-6 ohms opened

My point?  You can likely use a newer carb that will work fine, still going OEM, but from a slightly different year Rubicon.

I'll PM you one I got fairly cheap that was OEM and works perfectly on my 2012 Rubicon.   The part number does not pull up anywhere in schematics that I've found, and @toodeep said it was likely a Canadian part number, but he thought it was a Rubicon carb, and when I tried it it worked perfectly.

I happen to have an 04 carb in my yard, and a new Rubicon carb somewhere in my shop (I ordered an extra).   I can take some pics of them side by side for comparison.