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Flylowp22

HELP. WHATS WRONG WITH MY RANCHER

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Just got my first quad. Here is some details so far.
It sat in a barn 10 years!

05 Honda rancher trx400fa
Changed oil
New batt
New air filter
Cleaned carb w/wire and cleaner
Flushed gas tank
New fuel shut off valve/filter
New spark plug
Had ethenol fuel, changed to non eth. 92 Oct

When I got this thing, cleaned the carb. Fired right up. Runs and drives great everything works.
Then it started "missing" it seems. Spark plug carbons up right away. Tried cleaning carb again. Adjusted mix. Has a real hard time starting idle lops and back fires then dies. Sometimes it idles like crap then the RPMs go up out of control. I can bring them down if I shock it with the choke. It seemed around the same time I changed out fuel. But I don't think the fuel is the problem. New carb on the way.
Is there anything else I should be looking at?

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Make sure there are no nest in the air intake tube or the rear canister causing air flow issues. When they sit that long with any fuel in them it takes cleaning them a few times sometimes just to get everything clean enough. You said ethanol fuel which can be hard on things but that depends on what percentage it was to really say.

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WA state ethenol content is about 15 percent. The carb has been cleaned 4 times. I've been over it all with a wire and carb cleaner. I don't get it. It was running fine for a weekend and then went to crap. It leaks fuel out of the intake and when I did an oil change I drained a bunch of gas out of the crank case. Pretty sure the float isn't closing. I assume that alone would greatly effect the operation? 

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59 minutes ago, Flylowp22 said:

WA state ethenol content is about 15 percent. The carb has been cleaned 4 times. I've been over it all with a wire and carb cleaner. I don't get it. It was running fine for a weekend and then went to crap. It leaks fuel out of the intake and when I did an oil change I drained a bunch of gas out of the crank case. Pretty sure the float isn't closing. I assume that alone would greatly effect the operation? 

The Ranchers are terrible about sticky floats.  I finally replaced the carb on my daughter's 350 with a new OEM carb.  Cost me $150, but hasn't given me any problems since.

 

If you have gas in your crankcase, your float drain is clogged up, so when it should overflow out onto the ground through the bottom of the bowl, instead it's running into your crankcase.

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is your new carb OEM? that could effect future things. does that model have a fuel filter in the gas tank?

Edited by LedFTed

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6 minutes ago, Flylowp22 said:

No. I purchased the most expensive aftermarket. Which was still hella cheaper than OEM

More than likely , that china carb is your problem , you can still get a OEM for $230-ish , or find a used OEM and rebuild it 

 

Also , I find that sometimes you need to soak the carb in a gallon can of carb cleaner ,  then blow it out with compressed air , and maybe do it more than once  at that  

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I don't think he has he new carb yet, it's the next thing to try. I have had some decent luck with the cheap carbs on other machines after rejetting them but with the TPS it might be a hit or miss on this one. Who knows tough, it might be possible its comes out to be a plug and play event and just a initialization will cure all.

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6 hours ago, jeepwm69 said:

The Ranchers are terrible about sticky floats.  I finally replaced the carb on my daughter's 350 with a new OEM carb.  Cost me $150, but hasn't given me any problems since.

 

If you have gas in your crankcase, your float drain is clogged up, so when it should overflow out onto the ground through the bottom of the bowl, instead it's running into your crankcase.

Is this why there is a one way valve on the hose on the bottom of my bowl? This was leaking.  When I looked it up, it said that could just be plugged

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4 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

More than likely , that china carb is your problem , you can still get a OEM for $230-ish , or find a used OEM and rebuild it 

 

Also , I find that sometimes you need to soak the carb in a gallon can of carb cleaner ,  then blow it out with compressed air , and maybe do it more than once  at that  

I havnt RECIEVED and installed the new carb yet. It's the old one giving me trouble. What is it with after market carbs? I have never had trouble with after market parts on any of my vehicles. It had a 5 star rating. I keep hearing they are the problem but if it's made with the same materials and same dimensions, what's going wrong? 

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39 minutes ago, toodeep said:

I don't think he has he new carb yet, it's the next thing to try. I have had some decent luck with the cheap carbs on other machines after rejetting them but with the TPS it might be a hit or miss on this one. Who knows tough, it might be possible its comes out to be a plug and play event and just a initialization will cure all.

Right. I don't have the new one yet.bis the TPS usually a problem? The TPS on the old carb is still good. 

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9 hours ago, Flylowp22 said:

Is this why there is a one way valve on the hose on the bottom of my bowl? This was leaking.  When I looked it up, it said that could just be plugged

The one-way valve is there to keep water from going up into your carburetor when in deeper water.

 

If you plug that hose and your float needle is not sealing, gas will continue to run out of your tank and since it can’t go out the overflow it will instead run into your engine.

 

Definitely need to change your oil now ASAP, and unplug that drain hose.  Probably going to have to remove that carb and address the leaky float needle

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9 hours ago, Flylowp22 said:

I havnt RECIEVED and installed the new carb yet. It's the old one giving me trouble. What is it with after market carbs? I have never had trouble with after market parts on any of my vehicles. It had a 5 star rating. I keep hearing they are the problem but if it's made with the same materials and same dimensions, what's going wrong? 

Some of them are good, some of them are trash, and it’s a crapshoot as to which you will get. The problem lies with people putting “new carbs” on a machine with other unknown issues and then they end up looking elsewhere when the problem was a crappy china carb the whole time
 

if you have an engine that runs great and swap a china carb onto it and it runs great, you know the aftermarket carb is ok.

 

If you have an unknown problem and swap a China carb on to it and still have problems, do you have a bad carb or is there something else wrong?

 

Using iffy parts makes it really hard to troubleshoot. Not all aftermarket carbs are bad out of the box, but enough of them are to take the safe route which is always OEM

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stay far away from after market carbs..dang near everyone is made in china...not worth it at all !.

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inspect to see if you are getting plenty of fuel flow from the tank to carb ? ( use old oem carb ! ), you can buy a shindy rebuild kit to rebuild the old oem carb. fair warning : almost all trx350 ranchers has/had a bad float needle seat valve ( pressed into the carb body ), you can polish the bottom of the brass seat, see if that helps the float needle.

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On 3/7/2022 at 10:48 PM, Flylowp22 said:

I havnt RECIEVED and installed the new carb yet. It's the old one giving me trouble. What is it with after market carbs? I have never had trouble with after market parts on any of my vehicles. It had a 5 star rating. I keep hearing they are the problem but if it's made with the same materials and same dimensions, what's going wrong? 

I had an aftermarket 300 carb one time that worked out for me , it was an expensive version , about $90 , was EDT or something like that , can't find them anymore ---------- most all  the ones I have purchased for my atvs  did not work out  , even the lawn mower , splitter carbs I have bought usually end up sucking ---   as far as the same materials , I don't think they all are  all the same , I had the cheapies deteriorate quick , the pewter dissolves and pits up  and the jets get stuck and strip out  , most of the aftermarket carbs are generic and not exactly  the same as far as jetting goes ---  they are cheap enough to give them a try , but I have wasted enough on cheap china crap 

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Wasnt there something in the repair manual about having to reset the TPS if its been removed? Could be that, or even the heater in the carb (if equipped) causing  some 'rukas' 

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I didn't mess with the TPS. I did try the computer reset which didn't work. I've been wondering about the carb heater. Is it really necessary? I heard it switches on under 45 degrees. And how the ! do you disconnect that thing anyway?! 

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11 hours ago, Flylowp22 said:

I didn't mess with the TPS. I did try the computer reset which didn't work. I've been wondering about the carb heater. Is it really necessary? I heard it switches on under 45 degrees. And how the ! do you disconnect that thing anyway?! 

right side, right behind your right leg , under right side panel, there is a metal bracket, these connectors use a stupid plastic clip either holding it on the bracket , and holding them together. look on the side of the connector where they fit together, pull up/press up the short tab, then pull them apart.

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1 hour ago, Flylowp22 said:

I have tried to pull that connector apart. It just doesn't want to let go

If you have an air compressor , it can help to blow the connector plug off with an air gun , dig around with a pick ,  then apply WD40 or such , then blow it again , sometimes dirt gets under the tab and makes it hard to release , also a pick can help to pry the tab out the way 

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Pick or tiny screwdriver.  Once you undo a few of them you figure out how to do it.

 

The gear position switches are the real bithces.

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4 hours ago, jeepwm69 said:

Pick or tiny screwdriver.  Once you undo a few of them you figure out how to do it.

 

The gear position switches are the real bithces.

Them and those grey speedometer plugs I think they're cousins...

Upside down, dirt fallin' in eyes, squeezin , pullin and swearing-I got it down to a science now... lol

Least bit of dirt... and its like they are welded

Gonna try Fishes idea of blowing them apart with an air nozzle next time, that is a really good idea I never thought of

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9 hours ago, Flylowp22 said:

I have tried to pull that connector apart. It just doesn't want to let go

its a male and female connector, just under the female lip is a tang..lift up on it..then pull the male part out..its simple.

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Ok. So I was able to figure out the connector. There was a tab I didn't see on the carburetor side. 

 

So the new carb is in. 

The quad starts much easier now and idles better, though there is still a little skip in the idle. 

 

Theeeeen the RPMS suddenly go way up probably near 2000 and it suddenly drops, stumbles for a bit and dies.

At this point I think the carb was an issue that is now fixed. So, WTF

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