Pilgrim

Fish this is good advice on the screen filter and sea foam. Wish I thought of the Q tip in drill trick that would have buffed out the seat walls in no time. I was initially focused on bottom of seat where the rubber tip meets the brass opening. i've not had any trouble with this carb for last 15 years that i've owen it. Hopefully this issue doesn't raise its head for a long time. By then i'll be to old to remember how to fix it. God Bless this forum. wouldn't know where else to get help. None of the shops here will work on anything older than 10 years and they charge $108/hr!!

I’m writing this in hopes it helps someone else someday with a most frustrating experience I have had. It’s a bit lengthy but wanted to share ALL my frustrations. BACKGROUND: My 1994 TRX300 that is only used once a year for month of November for deer hunting in Maine developed an out of control unstoppable slow fuel leak from drain hose at bottom of carb when I took it out of the shed to get ready for upcoming season. ********************************************************************************************************************************************** First thing I did was remove bowl drain screw to make sure it was clean. it appeared a bit discolored so I gently polished the tip with very fine steel wool. This did not help. LEAK REMAINED. Next I tuned in to the chat room here and got several good ideas…….tried cleaning the seat in drain screw with Q-tip and toothpaste; LEAK REMAINEDJ. Chatters led me to go investigate float and needle valve that regulates fuel into bowl so I removed the carb from machine and removed the bowl. Carb was spotless inside. Had to determine if float and or needle valve was the problem. I rested the bowl in my vice and poured fuel into bowl; no fuel leaked out the drain hose so I knew the drain screw was NOT the source of the leak. As the chatters suggested I directed my efforts now to the float and needle valve. The float appeared clean and it had no leak in it whatsoever. It has to be the needle valve not sealing correctly so I replaced the needle valve with a 5 year old needle valve that had never been used, Reassembled the carb put it back on engine….LEAK REMAINED! Removed the carb once again, removed the bowl, removed the needle valve. Now I cleaned the needle valve brass seat with toothpaste and Q-tip as it looked a bit corroded. Reassembled carb and installed on engine LEAK REMAINED. Figured at this point the needle valve I used was bad so I ordered a shinty carb kit to get a brand new needle valve. Still waiting for kit to arrive as I write this now. I removed the carb from engine once again while waiting for carb kit; this is most frustrating at this point. Removed the float and needle again. I know the float is good so the problem has to be related to the needle valve and seat so I got a magnifying glass and small flashlight to get a real good look at seat. The bottom of the seat was real clean from the Q-tip and toothpaste cleaning but I noticed the walls of the seat were still tarnished so I wrapped a vey very small piece of fine steel wool around the stick of the Q-tip and removed the tarnish ever so gently. I inserted the needle valve in seat without the float to see if it moved freely now that walls of seat were cleaned. To my surprise The needle valve didn’t move very smooth. Using the magnifying glass and flashlight on the needle valve I noticed small amount of corrosion on the 4 ribs of the needle valve that come in contact with walls of seat so I removed the corrosion with the fine steel wool and the needle valve then slid in and out of the seat with ease. Reassembled the carb put in back on engine opened petcock…………………..NO LEAK WHATSOEVER PROBLEM SOLVED. Thank you chatters for guiding me through this most frustrating problem. So glad I did not throw the towel in and by an OEM carb for mucho dinero.

UPDATE...........I am in Maine on annual hunting trip and my old TRX300 is working pretty good. The clutch slipping issue has totally gone away and she really climbs hills well in the woods now. Carb needs some work I suspect even though I cleaned it all out recently I don't think its adjusted quite right. Can't get it to idle real good. I've watched a few good you tubes by D-Ray and will start from scratch trying to adjust the mixture screw soon.

Changed the oil. I is Ed valvoline ATV wet clutch 10-40. The machine shifts great and does not slip at all on steep inclines. Thanks all for your ideas that saved me from having to get inside the engine.

That's my plan. This machine has never been abused other than me not using it for 5 years...................

Fish, Your post about deadline inspired me to get off my butt and go out and first adjust the clutch as YOU suggested way back when before I do anything internally. I then proceeded to shift through neutral all the way up to 5th and hold shifter up and then release shifter. The machine went forward ever so slow. I repeated a couple more times. I think it freed up the friction plates! I can ride it up a real real steep driveway without it feeling like its slipping. it seems to shift a bit rough through the gears but it does shift. I slowed the idle down a bit in neutral so it doesn't clank into first gear. Been so long since I drove this machine not sure if they all shift rough going through the gears..................the shifts dont seem very smooth. Let me know what you think. i may not have to do anything internally. Certainly will change out the 5 year old oil. Pilgtim Fish, I'm going hunting November 1 not October 1. 43 days.............LOL. Thanks for thinking of me though with the deadline. BTW I have never bought parts from anywhere for this machine but a Honda dealer. that dealer is long gone now. Where is a good place to order up my gasket, friction plates and discs and centrifugal clutch parts? I'll be checking in often to give updates on my progress once I get this thing apart.

Fish, I'm going hunting November 1 not October 1. 43 days.............LOL. Thanks for thinking of me though with the deadline. BTW I have never bought parts from anywhere for this machine but a Honda dealer. that dealer is long gone now. Where is a good place to order up my gasket, friction plates and discs and centrifugal clutch parts? I'll be checking in often to give updates on my progress once I get this thing apart.

Well i never did get around to this project in April/May but the TRX300 is now in my garage and i am about to really start this project because I am going hunting November 1st and need this oldie gut Goldie to get me to my stands.

I haven’t disappeared. I will be doing the friction plate and centrifugal clutch job problem in April/May. I will definitely replace everything you mention when I get into this project.

Fish, This sounds very logical and will be the first thing I try when I start this project once the weather warms up. THANKS!

My head hurts after reading all of the Wheeler link “clutch replacement” I won’t be tackling this job for another month or so but glad I have all this reference material. I.m sure I’ll have lots of questions when I get into this project. Thanks for the info all.

could the friction discs have dried out that much in 4-5 years of storage?

forgot to mention in original post I did the clutch adjustment back in November when this symptom first appeared so i could get it to drive up the ramps of my trailer.

Valvoline ATV 10-40W JASO MA. Part number VV749

Brand New to this forum........................... I have a 1994 Fourtrax 300 4WD that hasn't been used in approx. 5 years. I knew I wasn't going to use it for a while so back then I removed the battery, drained the gas tank completely, drained the carb and stored it indoors in a nice garage under the house out of the weather. It ran pretty ! good when I put it away. Last fall I decided to break her out of the garage for my annual hunting trip in Maine. I got a new YUSA battery, changed the oil and filter cause I couldn't remember last time I changed it (yes I used a good wet clutch oil from a local Kawasaki dealer that assured me it was correct type). The oil was very clean that I drained as I only used this machine once a year for hunting. To my surprise she fired right up and ran as good as it did 5 years ago when I stored her in the garage. Here's my problem.......When I put it in first gear the engine spins and spins as I increase the throttle and eventually she starts moving; when I hit second gear it spins for a few more moments and then feels like the tranny is catching up to the engine, same in 3rd 4th and 5th gear. Eventually she goes like ! but it takes a while. I used it everyday for 2 weeks last November and it didn't seem to get any better. The most I drove it each day was no more than 15 minutes at a time on old logging roads. I didn't dare go off road with it in fear of getting stuck. This machine used to climb very steep grades effortlessly. I put it away in November but just got a chance to seek help in this forum. I plan to work on this as soon as weather gets a bit warmer here in Northeast and I have a game plan for attacking my problem. My question is do I have a friction disc problem or centrifugal clutch problem or something else I cant think of? I have read lots of threads on the internet and watched several you tubes about TRX300 clutch issues and don't seem to be able to diagnose my problem definitively. This motor does not smoke and feels real strong other than not moving very good right now. I am interested in only taking off that side cover once and want to know what preventive things I should replace so as to ensure good performance for years to come. I've not worked on anything internal on the this engine on this ATV, just external stuff like carb cleanings (remember the shadetree sticky for carb cleaning? its laminated and attached to my workbench) and starter and brakes etc. I am not fearful of tackling anything on this thing cause of the help available on this forum. Advice and thoughts are much appreciated. Thanks