Honda 350 fourtrax 1988 won’t start

[Clive 0]

Hello, I own a 1988 Honda 350d Honda fourtrax which has stopped working. I have checked the battery it’s fully charged I have checked for spark the thing has fuel but just won’t start. My next stage is to use carb cleaner to see if that helps and advice would be welcomed. 

[shadetree 5,973]

welcome to the forums, is it getting spark to spark plug ?, if its not ?, then it wont fire and run. if it is getting spark at plug ?, then this is a compression issue ?, or timing issue ?.

[Goober 1,555]

That air filter is pretty dirty. 
i don’t like spraying carb cleaner on stuff sometimes it just mobilizes dirt.

download the service manual here.

Take off the air filter and spray a shot of start fluid into the carb. Will the engine sputter?

 

whats that ticking? Your fuel pump? It sounds bad.

Edited April 17, 2022 by Goober

[shadetree 5,973]

49 minutes ago, Goober said:

That air filter is pretty dirty. 
i don’t like spraying carb cleaner on stuff sometimes it just mobilizes dirt.

download the service manual here.

Take off the air filter and spray a shot of start fluid into the carb. Will the engine sputter?

 

whats that ticking? Your fuel pump? It sounds bad.

yep, that is the fuel pump i hear, its not suppose to '' tick '' like that unless its not picking up fuel from the tank, in other words, no fuel is reaching the pump.

[shadetree 5,973]

@op , what is up with the ignition switch , what the heck is that..a push button switch ?..lol.

[Clive 0]

3 hours ago, shadetree said:

@op , what is up with the ignition switch , what the heck is that..a push button switch ?..lol.

Its had some interesting upgrades from standard i am finding out lol.

[Clive 0]

4 hours ago, shadetree said:

yep, that is the fuel pump i hear, its not suppose to '' tick '' like that unless its not picking up fuel from the tank, in other words, no fuel is reaching the pump.

when i select teh fuel source reserve main or off it makes same sound. funily enough this afternoon it just started lol no idea why. i think based on the info on this board im going to change the air filter and fuel pipes that should make it work again.

[Clive 0]

6 hours ago, shadetree said:

welcome to the forums, is it getting spark to spark plug ?, if its not ?, then it wont fire and run. if it is getting spark at plug ?, then this is a compression issue ?, or timing issue ?.

Battery is good, spark is good. fuel tank is full do you think that it could be the change to e10 from e5 fuel maybe thats why its not working properly.

[Goober 1,555]

There is a fuel flow test in the manual 

[shadetree 5,973]

2 hours ago, Clive said:

Battery is good, spark is good. fuel tank is full do you think that it could be the change to e10 from e5 fuel maybe thats why its not working properly.

again, my money say's fuel is not reaching the carb. you can spray some starting fluid into back of carb, turn it over, if it fires up a sec or two ?, then no fuel is reaching carb, i know these models inside out.

[Goober 1,555]

Clogged fuel filter—replace w OEM 

Failing fuel pump—replace w OEM 

clogged fuel tank suction lines—remove petcock and clear lines with weedwacker line (or a piece of cable and a drill — CAREFULLY—see below.

 

do fuel flow test!

 

Your fuel tank may have two ~3mm ID x 12” suction tubes—basket screens on the end. Don’t pierce the basket screens.

 

also careful with the molded fuel lines! These are easy to tear, NLA and hard to refit with straight hose

Edited April 17, 2022 by Goober

[Goober 1,555]

My other thot is your petcock is bad. The petcock can become clogged or the seal can slip, preventing fuel flow.

here’s what the back side of the petcock looks like so you can inspect it. See it has a manifold and a lever with a U-shaped channel—if you can see the channel then the seal hasn’t slipped off the mounts.