2004 honda 350 rancher 4x4

bnt55 · 12-15-2011, 06:00 AM

Well here she goes, I have recently bought a 2004 trx350 that was in pretty rough shape...and by rough shape I mean there is some seriously stupid hillbilly engineering all over this bike, so bad in fact that I am having a hard time figuring out where the original wiring ends and the speaker wires start...YES, I said speaker wires!!! So in order to try and fix this little piggy up I searched around on CL for a donor rancher I could use for parts and what not. Well yesterday I found one, a 2006 Rancher that has been sitting disassembled since last summer and in great shape, and for a decent price! So now I have 2 four wheelers whose sum hopefully equals one completed rebuild, and this is the thread I am starting to document my progress and bounce questions off the professionals, because at this point all I have in my favor is a service manual and an empty garage to work in....

Ok, now here is the scenario and hopefully I can get some input on what I should do. The 2006 rancher was put up because the owner said he got some water and sand in the cylinder and shattered the piston, he said the bike just slowed down and rolled to a stop never seized or anything violent, just died and never started again. So they took the topend out threw it away and left the four wheeler to sit in the barn in parts. When I bought it it had sat outside for a couple days and got some rain water down in the bottom end along with the oil in there. So when i got home I drained the bottom end water and oil and can see all kinds of metal shaving and filings over everything from the piston. Looks like I need to crack the block and seriously clean/wash out the lower end to remove the metal. Maybe some pointers on how to go about this would be good

. The 2004 has not been ran in a long time and will be the donor quad for the 06, I beleive I can get the topend and carb rebuilt from it and put it on the cleaned out 06 for a running engine.......hopefully! This is my first ever rebuild and I am pretty excited and a little nervous, so without further ado here are the pics!!

THANKS BILL

Dan G · 12-15-2011, 07:23 AM

Awesome rebuild project! I think If I were you I'd rebuild the 04 that hasn't sat with water and mud in the crankcase, I'm betting theres some trouble in there. And just part out the bad engine and use it to fund the rebuild...

submarine 300 · 12-15-2011, 07:49 AM

If you really want to split the case yourself you will need a rubber mallet to beat the crap out of it with. Razor blades to push in between the case halves. (This breaks the seal much easier) and some stiff putty knives to pry the halves apart. Its a tuff job sometimes without a case splitter. Just make absolutely sure that ALL bolts are out.

Manny · 12-15-2011, 10:06 AM

try and flush it with diesel first before you split the case....dont use oil, unless you wanna pay out the butt to flush it!

bnt55 · 12-15-2011, 04:00 PM

there isnt any mud present in the bottom end that I can see but there is peices of the piston in there, will a diesel flush get those out? Is there any way to get into the case without splitting the halves to look for metal pieces from the piston? thanks

Oh by the way does anyone have a good idea on how to remove the carb heater from the carb? The one I have is on there pretty good!

slincolnn · 12-15-2011, 05:40 PM

Very cool project and just get a case splitter it makes it so easy to get it apart.You might try to fill the crank case up and shake it around then drain it out and see if you can get the pieces out that way.just an idea not sure if it will work but it might be worth a try to wash everything out the drain hole.