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FishinDawg

New member with a Rubicon

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Hey everyone, new member from GA. Picked up an 04 Rubicon recently from a fella...it was in good shape and only had 767 mi/135 hrs. Drove it around before buying it, ran good, all transmission modes worked good. Shortly after being home it had starting issues, wouldn't idle without dying. Battery was weak, so replaced that. Changed the oil (T6 15w-40). Changed the spark plug (NGK 7901). Ran a fresh tank of gas with a good dose of seafoam, which helped smooth out the idle tremendously. Now it starts great and idles smooth for the most part, but you can hear the idle skip at random times and sometimes it just cuts off while idling. One other thing I've noticed, at night with the lights on at idle, they will almost dim for a split second at random times...no change in how the idle sounds when this happens. Aside from the idle issues, it drives perfect. Kinda has me stumped if its carb related or electrical, or both. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks! 

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Welcome aboard. 

 

The Hondamatic Rubicons can get crazy without a good battery, so you've already covered taht.  Oil and plug were good choices.  You might still need a carb clean to get it running perfectly, but were it mine I'd just RIDE IT.  Get some ethanol free gas, and if you like seafoam run a little of that through there. 

 

You can also adjust the idle speed up a hair if you want.  There's a knurled knob on the bottom right side of the carb.  Clockwise increases idle speed, counter clockwise reduces idle speed.

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Welcome!

 

Idle issue sounds like crud in the pilot jet moving around. Consider adding an inline fuel filter if possible.

The fix would be to disassemble and clean the carb but that might be too much work for the small benefit if it's working.

Sounds a bit like a ground issue (or something shorting out) on the lights deal. Check/clean connections

You can download your service manual if you haven't already. Feel free to open a thread in the Utility Electronics section for help diagnosing the problem.

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Thanks for the help y’all! Just to update, I was able to get ahold of a new rectifier and bolted it on just to rule that out...and that made the lights a little brighter and I didn’t notice them flicker or dim at all. The idle still isn’t totally smooth, but it runs fine beyond that...it’s probably not a big deal but little things like that bug me 😂. I did adjust the idle up a little. I’ll just ride it as is for now and when I have some free time pull the carb and give it a good cleaning since it’s probably never had it done. 

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It sounds like you may have fixed the flickering lights issue. Its possible that the pilot screw (idle mixture) needs readjusted though @FishinDawg, its easy you can adjust it by ear, no need for a tachometer.

From the service manual:

 

pilot-adj.png

 

Have ya got a pic of your '04 Rubi that you can share? We all love pics...!

 

 

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9 hours ago, retro said:

It sounds like you may have fixed the flickering lights issue. Its possible that the pilot screw (idle mixture) needs readjusted though @FishinDawg, its easy you can adjust it by ear, no need for a tachometer.

From the service manual:

 

pilot-adj.png

 

Have ya got a pic of your '04 Rubi that you can share? We all love pics...!

 

 

Thanks for that, retro! The pilot screw never crossed my mind...now that I think about it, the old spark plug came out fairly black and sooty. I’ll play with the adjustment over thanksgiving. 
 

I just have this one pic at the moment. PO removed all the decals, but I’ve got new decals and a tank vent hose ordered that should be here in a few days 

 

 

BA2A9192-7168-4717-8055-A7B710971663.jpeg

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Thanks for pic! Once ya get your Rubi all dolled up snap a pic & enter our ATV of the Year contest. 🙂

 

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Welcome to our one year old forum.  That's a good looking Honda it has been well taken care of....

 

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Welcome to the forum ---  Ride Red  -  Your nick name should be Red Ruby , but " Fishin'Dog "  is good with me !!!

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