Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 Hello and thank you for having me on the forums ! i have a 2004 Honda foreman es, Bike was running, changed carb for a brand new one started right up and than died. Will roll over but will not start. new spark plug, has spark. fuel filter is clean gas is on with new gas in it vent line clear gas lines clear kill switch in middle on left handle bar it’s in neutral gas is turned on I have exhausted my options on what to do, I have no idea !!! Please help, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 Hi @Hondaforeman93, welcome to ATV Honda! I have moved this thread into the utility/engine section. Gotta couple questions for ya.... what was the reason why you changed the carb if your Foreman was running? Did you replace the carb with a new Honda part, or is it a cheap china knockoff from ebay/amazon? Thanks, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 thank you very much ! Finally glad to have some help! Carb was original since bike was new, was leaking gas through the choke primer and other places , so I bought a carb off of amazon. i also put the old original carb back on, but now it won’t even start with that one , just rolls over . 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 Does it have spark? Is the spark plug soaking wet? Do you have a new spark plug that you can put in it? You'll have to fix your original carb, the cheap china carbs don't work on Hondas. But first lets determine why it won't start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 I mentioned in my first post it has a new spark plug and also has spark 🙂 plug isn’t Fouling and looks to be clean. and when I put my old carb back on it should’ve started back up but it’s not . It just rolls over. Carb is clean , it leaks a bit of fuel but it should still start. It ran before I removed the old carb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 If the choke still works it should start then. Maybe try to pour a 1/8 ounce of gas into the spark plug hole, then put the plug back in it and see if it starts? If it runs on that gas for a second then you know it has a fuel delivery problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 Already tried pouring gas in the plug hole , and tried the carb trick, nothing happened. Choke works but just won’t start, when I remove the air filter and roll the bike over gas vapour comes out of the carb on the intake side as far as I know , it has fuel, spark, and electrical is fine . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 How many miles/hours are on the motor? When you tried gas in the spark plug hole did it fire at all? Was the spark plug wet afterwards? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 Screen is broke but there’s not very many on the bike , has good compression . And when I roll it over it backfires once in awhile , and plug seems dry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 Now it sounds like the cam timing is off. Or the woodruff key on the flywheel may have sheared. Do you have any starting fluid? You can spray a short blast into the carb and if the motor fires on that then its likely a fuel delivery problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 (edited) Timing shouldn’t be off , all I did was change the carb and like I said it ran fine before I changed it. i don’t have any but I thought about getting some , heard it was bad for an engine though, and wouldn’t have putting gas down the spark plug hole have the same outcome ? it’s a very confusing situation , sorry lol Edited March 27, 2020 by Hondaforeman93 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 Yes starting fluid is hard on the motor. Gotta be careful with it. Putting gas in the cylinder should work just as well. If your spark plug is coming out dry maybe you didn't pour enough gas in the hole? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 I suppose I could try a little more , that’s always an option 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 Yep, gotta find out where to spend money before ya take out your wallet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 So if I pour enough in the spark plug hole , will the bike actually run and stay running or just temporarily, if I put to much could it harm the engine aswell ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 It should run temporarily at least. If you put too much in it the plug will get soaked and motor will be flooded. If that happens open the throttle to feed it some air while cranking it and it should clear and fire up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 Hmmm if I find out it’s a fuel delivery problem it’s still confusing to me that it was running before a I put the new carb on. And when I put the old carb back on it should’ve fired right back up but it didn’t. I don’t understand how a fuel delivery problem occurred from switching carbs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 I can only speculate... first of all the china carb will not run on a Honda motor, so thats why the new carb failed. Your old carb probably has some sediment particles pooled in the bottom of the float bowl. So when you removed that carb, then put it back on those loose particles may have moved around enough inside the float bowl to have clogged up the pilot jet. If thats the case then a routine carb cleaning will fix it. A genuine Shindy carb kit has all of the gaskets and parts needed to refresh the original carb. The primer diaphragm (yours is leaking?) is sold separately though. These are just wild guesses.... we still don't know the facts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 I did take out the jets on the original carb and cleaned the float bowl , maybe I’ll try boiling in lemon juice tomorrow just in case . Thank you very much for all your help and advice , if I can figure out the problem I will keep you updated ! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 You can find a free copy of the factory service manual (PDF) from the service manual menu at the top of the page. Or click here: You'll need to read and follow directions in the fuel section while reassembling the carb. Let us know how we can help ya! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 Perfect thank you very much 🙂 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,871 Posted March 27, 2020 You're very welcome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,543 Posted March 27, 2020 is kill switch in center position ?, with spark plug in spark plug boot, lay it on the engine, crank it over, got spark ?, if yes ?, then its narrowed down to fuel issue ?, or timing ?. if you had spark ?, shoot a short burst of starting fluid into the back of carb, it should '' hit '' ( run for a sec or two ), then this tells me its narrowed down to a fuel issue. if it dont '' hit when you do this ?, then this tells me you have a timing issue ?, or not enough compression ?. one last thing..is it cranking over pretty fast ?, or slow ?. battery fully charged ?. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 19,694 Posted March 27, 2020 First thing I notice , you keep saying that it " ran before " , personally being a mechanic on heavy equipment , I hear it all the time , and have learned to take it with a grain of salt , everything has to break at some moment , it is broke now , so forget the past as far as it ran before goes and look to the future Just a wild guess to throw at the wall , something I have seen a few times , is a valve get stuck and or bent , no proper suck and blow , I say that cause you mention gas vapors coming out the carb and backfiring Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hondaforeman93 8 Posted March 27, 2020 I have done almost all of those thing except put starting fluid in the carb. It has spark , new gas, gas filter, gas is on, kill switch in the middle , air filter is clean, new spark plug , I put it in a battery charger because after rolling it over the battery died , I rolled it over again and it is cranking pretty fast , I’m going to try to boil the carb in lemon juice today just to make sure in case I missed any dirt , boil it in lemon juice and water ? Or straight lemon juice? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
