New member, old atv...1984 trx200

[Big John 3]

Brand new member, in more ways than one.
Hello and happy Easter from Otterbien, Indiana.
Age and health issues prompted me to buy a cheap atv I figured I could fix up a tad. Getting too old to drag a deer out of the woods, so bought an old 1984 Honda trx200.
I have NEVER tinkered with an ATV of any type, so expected this to be a learning experience....oy vey.
The dude got it fired up, drove it around a bit, and fed me a crock, and since it ran I bought it. Hook, line and sinker.
All I wanted was something that would start, run and save me from a heart attack.
And it had brand new tires all the way around. Said his grandpa bought it new and he just didn't have the time to fix it....
Said it needed brake cables, master cylinder, battery and a new carb. OK, I figured I could deal with that.
Carb was leaking gas pretty bad out the bottom of the carb, but it ran so I took his word for it.
Ordered a carb, and it leaks even worse than the old one. Old one wasn't oem either, I discovered. And it now it won't start, period.
Cables were the least of the brake problems. The ENTIRE front brake system will have to be replaced to work. Master cylinder, hoses, wheel cylinders, adjusters, shoes and possibly drums. Rear brakes cannot be fixed without a drum, as when I pulled the back cover off, there was nothing left inside but pieces of the old drum. Drum was totally destroyed. Can't believe I didn't hear parts rattling around when he was driving it.
The more I look, the more parts I find missing, or replaced with jury rigged garbage, and the more I am convinced every kid in Indiana has tried to fix it before me...lol
ANYway....lesson learned. My question is what is up with the carb issues?
Fuel just pours out of the drain hose on the bottom of the carb. On both carbs. Choke wasn't even hooked up on the old carb.
This can't be normal. And my knowledge of small engines is just slightly greater than my knowledge of Honda or ATV's, which is zero.
Tried looking online, and that led me here.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
As it stands, I have a brand new set of tires on a boat anchor.....
John

[shadetree 5,884]

2 hours ago, Big John said:

Brand new member, in more ways than one.
Hello and happy Easter from Otterbien, Indiana.
Age and health issues prompted me to buy a cheap atv I figured I could fix up a tad. Getting too old to drag a deer out of the woods, so bought an old 1984 Honda trx200.
I have NEVER tinkered with an ATV of any type, so expected this to be a learning experience....oy vey.
The dude got it fired up, drove it around a bit, and fed me a crock, and since it ran I bought it. Hook, line and sinker.
All I wanted was something that would start, run and save me from a heart attack.
And it had brand new tires all the way around. Said his grandpa bought it new and he just didn't have the time to fix it....
Said it needed brake cables, master cylinder, battery and a new carb. OK, I figured I could deal with that.
Carb was leaking gas pretty bad out the bottom of the carb, but it ran so I took his word for it.
Ordered a carb, and it leaks even worse than the old one. Old one wasn't oem either, I discovered. And it now it won't start, period.
Cables were the least of the brake problems. The ENTIRE front brake system will have to be replaced to work. Master cylinder, hoses, wheel cylinders, adjusters, shoes and possibly drums. Rear brakes cannot be fixed without a drum, as when I pulled the back cover off, there was nothing left inside but pieces of the old drum. Drum was totally destroyed. Can't believe I didn't hear parts rattling around when he was driving it.
The more I look, the more parts I find missing, or replaced with jury rigged garbage, and the more I am convinced every kid in Indiana has tried to fix it before me...lol
ANYway....lesson learned. My question is what is up with the carb issues?
Fuel just pours out of the drain hose on the bottom of the carb. On both carbs. Choke wasn't even hooked up on the old carb.
This can't be normal. And my knowledge of small engines is just slightly greater than my knowledge of Honda or ATV's, which is zero.
Tried looking online, and that led me here.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
As it stands, I have a brand new set of tires on a boat anchor.....
John

float needle is bad, but then again...so is the china carb that is on it !..lol. if you can find an oem carb ?..get it !..then get your hands on a shindy carb rebuild kit..MAKE SURE ITS A SHINDY KIT !!..alot of scammers on ebay and stay away from amazon !.

[shadetree 5,884]

as for parts ?, your best bet is power sports nation for used parts, or..an atv salvage yard. as most parts for that old girl will be discontinued today. now, you can find after market parts..which all will be made in china ?..but honda atvs hate china parts on them !.

[Big John 3]

Thanks for the help!

[Chevymec 510]

Welcome to a great group!

[Big John 3]

1 hour ago, Chevymec said:

Welcome to a great group!

Thanks! If I can get this carb issue fixed, I will be happy with my investment. All I require is that it runs. Brakes would be nice, but not of paramount importance for my intentions. Not like I will be out hill climbing or anything. I just need something that will run and pull a deer or a cart around. Not going to be going fast enough for brakes to be a real issue....lol

[Big John 3]

aftermarket Carb I ordered is junk. No surprise from what I have read. Just noticed there is also no spark. Tested out all the components, and in attempting to test the CDI, I get no reading across any of the terminals whatsoever. It ran when I bought it, so I find it really odd that the CDI would be bad all of the sudden.
In looking online, the aftermarket ones seem to have a BAD history of not working at all, and the OEM CDI is $200.
If I were certain this is the issue, that would be one thing, but it worked for 40 years and then it just broke when I brought it home???
Really regretting buying this pos at this time. Might as well have thrown money down a garbage disposal.......

[jcz 29]

Check all of your connections to be sure they are clean and properly connected. Including ground. If all looks good you can cook your CDi box. I just recently did the cdi on a 88 300 and it worked. 
put cdi box in oven at 450 for 7 minutes. With plug facing up. 

[shadetree 5,884]

10 hours ago, Big John said:

aftermarket Carb I ordered is junk. No surprise from what I have read. Just noticed there is also no spark. Tested out all the components, and in attempting to test the CDI, I get no reading across any of the terminals whatsoever. It ran when I bought it, so I find it really odd that the CDI would be bad all of the sudden.
In looking online, the aftermarket ones seem to have a BAD history of not working at all, and the OEM CDI is $200.
If I were certain this is the issue, that would be one thing, but it worked for 40 years and then it just broke when I brought it home???
Really regretting buying this pos at this time. Might as well have thrown money down a garbage disposal.......

make sure you have a neutral light !!!, if you don't ?..it won't fire the spark plug !. check the kill switch on handle bars, make sure its centered ?, and check for voltage across the switch.

[Big John 3]

9 hours ago, shadetree said:

make sure you have a neutral light !!!, if you don't ?..it won't fire the spark plug !. check the kill switch on handle bars, make sure its centered ?, and check for voltage across the switch.

Not sure what you are referring to as the 'kill switch', but the neutral light comes on. It has a key, so why would it also have a kill switch?

[Big John 3]

13 hours ago, jcz said:

Check all of your connections to be sure they are clean and properly connected. Including ground. If all looks good you can cook your CDi box. I just recently did the cdi on a 88 300 and it worked. 
put cdi box in oven at 450 for 7 minutes. With plug facing up. 

I bought a shop manual and it has a chart giving what resistance you should get across certain terminals. I can get no reading at all, across any of them. They all read open.
How does heating the cdi box up affect a solid state device, or fix it?

[shadetree 5,884]

2 hours ago, Big John said:

Not sure what you are referring to as the 'kill switch', but the neutral light comes on. It has a key, so why would it also have a kill switch?

most all honda's have a kill switch. left handle bars, on light switch, red knob looking thing, these have to be centered in order to fire. yes..they have a key switch ?, but they also have the kill switch on light switch.

[shadetree 5,884]

2 hours ago, Big John said:

I bought a shop manual and it has a chart giving what resistance you should get across certain terminals. I can get no reading at all, across any of them. They all read open.
How does heating the cdi box up affect a solid state device, or fix it?

it melts the soldier on the circuit board inside the c.d.i. , least, thats what they say ?..lol. you can try tapping on the c.d.i. while cranking it over to see if you get spark ?. try removing spark plug and boot, snip off about 1/4 of the wire, screw boot back on, plug back in, see if you get spark ?.

[Big John 3]

Well, other than feeling like a total idiot, not unhappy. I have never owned anything with a kill switch. It has a key, which was all I expected to be there.
However, after seeing the term 'kill switch' a couple of times, I took a better look at what I thought was just the headlight switch. DUH!
Hooked everything(literally) back up, turned it over a couple times to check for spark, and voila, there it was.
Put the tank back on and opened the shut-off valve and fired it right up....thank God!(and all you guys of course!)

It starts and runs, which is all I need it to do.
Apparently the guy I bought it from hit the kill switch when he drove it on my trailer, and until today I didn't even know it had one....!
NOW, feeling a little less frustrated, I have no issue buying a carb kit, as this one leaks like a sieve, and so did the aftermarket carb.
The rear brakes are toast, no chance of repair without replacing the rear drum, and good luck finding one of those still serviceable.
Front brakes may be repairable, but it will need everything replaced IF the front drums are salvageable(I haven't measured them yet), including a new master cylinder.
Also missing the core for the air filter, but I can worry about correcting that after I rebuild the carb.
Again, thanks guys! Glad I found this forum!

[Big John 3]

8 minutes ago, shadetree said:

it melts the soldier on the circuit board inside the c.d.i. , least, thats what they say ?..lol. you can try tapping on the c.d.i. while cranking it over to see if you get spark ?. try removing spark plug and boot, snip off about 1/4 of the wire, screw boot back on, plug back in, see if you get spark ?.

My problem was simply the kill switch, which until now I didn't even know existed....duh
While I am still perplexed at the readings I got from the CDI box, per the shop manual, it apparently works anyway.
According to the shop manual, the readings I took indicate the CDI is toast.

[Big John 3]

17 minutes ago, shadetree said:

most all honda's have a kill switch. left handle bars, on light switch, red knob looking thing, these have to be centered in order to fire. yes..they have a key switch ?, but they also have the kill switch on light switch.

And that WAS the problem all along.
I thought it was just the light switch until I put my glasses on and READ it this morning....lol
Of course I am now quite familiar with the entire ignition system, as I literally checked every component before it finally dawned on me that what you guys were referring to as a kill switch was NOT the key switch itself. 

[Big John 3]

22 minutes ago, shadetree said:

most all honda's have a kill switch. left handle bars, on light switch, red knob looking thing, these have to be centered in order to fire. yes..they have a key switch ?, but they also have the kill switch on light switch.

Amazing what putting your glasses on and READING what a switch is for will do for ya.
I just thought it was for the headlights.

 

[shadetree 5,884]

2 minutes ago, Big John said:

And that WAS the problem all along.
I thought it was just the light switch until I put my glasses on and READ it this morning....lol
Of course I am now quite familiar with the entire ignition system, as I literally checked every component before it finally dawned on me that what you guys were referring to as a kill switch was NOT the key switch itself. 

lol..don't feel bad bro !, you, me, and about 10 million other atv owners have ALL done this with the kill switch !..lol. glad you got it going !!.

[shadetree 5,884]

1 minute ago, Big John said:

Amazing what putting your glasses on and READING what a switch is for will do for ya.
I just thought it was for the headlights.

 

lol..no..its for drunks who are too lazy to reach for the key turn it off ?..( just a guess anyway ?..lol ).

[shadetree 5,884]

17 minutes ago, Big John said:

Well, other than feeling like a total idiot, not unhappy. I have never owned anything with a kill switch. It has a key, which was all I expected to be there.
However, after seeing the term 'kill switch' a couple of times, I took a better look at what I thought was just the headlight switch. DUH!
Hooked everything(literally) back up, turned it over a couple times to check for spark, and voila, there it was.
Put the tank back on and opened the shut-off valve and fired it right up....thank God!(and all you guys of course!)

It starts and runs, which is all I need it to do.
Apparently the guy I bought it from hit the kill switch when he drove it on my trailer, and until today I didn't even know it had one....!
NOW, feeling a little less frustrated, I have no issue buying a carb kit, as this one leaks like a sieve, and so did the aftermarket carb.
The rear brakes are toast, no chance of repair without replacing the rear drum, and good luck finding one of those still serviceable.
Front brakes may be repairable, but it will need everything replaced IF the front drums are salvageable(I haven't measured them yet), including a new master cylinder.
Also missing the core for the air filter, but I can worry about correcting that after I rebuild the carb.
Again, thanks guys! Glad I found this forum!

i could be wrong ? ( happens alot as you get older ! ) but.check on partzilla's website, look up your model for the rear brake drum , click on that part number from the list, another window will open, now look down on right hand side, there is a list, that brake drum also fits the ATC200ES , soo..when searching for a brake drum ?, you can also look for one for/from a atc200es model !.

[jcz 29]

Glad you got it figured out. Look at power sports nation for used parts for your model. You'll be surprised at how much they have to offer. 
Also get a shindy rebuild kit for the carb. Stay away from the chinese garbage.

[Big John 3]

3 hours ago, jcz said:

Glad you got it figured out. Look at power sports nation for used parts for your model. You'll be surprised at how much they have to offer. 
Also get a shindy rebuild kit for the carb. Stay away from the chinese garbage.

Got one ordered, thanks!