I recently bought my first Honda atv, and it needs a bit of work.Its a 2006 rancher 350 FE. It smokes and seems to be lacking power, and I believe it needs new piston rings. I am planning on replacing all the gaskets and piston rings, but I have never done this before, so I am deciding if I want to do this on my own, or take it into a mechanic. I have experience with basic repairs and maintenance, but I have never had to do anything inside the engine block. It also needs a new clutch bearing, so Ill do that too. I talked to a mechanic, and If I do take it to a mechanic, Ill remove the engine from the machine to save a couple hundred bucks. the mechanic charges 79$ an hour, and told me that it would be 5-6 hours for the whole machine, and 2-3 for just the engine. so the question is, Should I do it myself and save a few hundred dollars, or take it into the shop to be safe?
First of all, pick the motor up and pull it out. I'm a weak fatty and can easily pick up a 350 motor. The 680 Rincon was a bit of a strain, but a 350 is easy. It will come out easier if you take the head off first. Then just grab it and yank it out.
If the cylinder is out of spec you simply have it bored and put a new oversized piston and rings in it.
You'll need a top end gasket set, and I would suggest grinding the valves and replacing the valve stem seals, but you certainly reuse your existing head.
I would also say to do the valves too. The original head is fine to use as long as there aren't any cracks. but lap the valves and replace the valve guide seals. I would also highly recommend a valve spring compressor, a c clamp style one, not a car one it won't work. I got one recently and I won't do valves any other way now, it's so much easier.
To lap your valves just take valve grinding compound, you can get it at a hardware store or auto parts store, and put it on the valve seat and valve itself. Then use either the sucsion cup lapping tool or a drill(go slow be gentle if you use a drill so you don't bend the valve). Just put the the valve in the drill like a drill bit would. You don't have to go over board and crank it down, your just lapping valves, not drilling steel. It doesn't take too long. 10-20 seconds. Take the valve out and look at the seat area. If there is any carbon left on the seat, head or valve, it's not done. Put more compound on it and keep going untill all the carbon is gone and it's clean steel. Just make sure you clean ALL the compound. That stuff isn't gonna help anything you engine. That's all there is to it
Make sure you get the "fine" compound not the "course". Also check the width of the lapped area. If it is too wide then the psi required is less than recommended. A valve seat cutter can narrow the width of the seating area quickly and easily.
Having some trouble separating the front drive shaft from the engine. It has a 2x4-4x4 drive shaft, does this change the process at all? anything I may be missing?
back at the front of the motor, there should be a coupling ?, it's spring loaded, shove it forward off the front engine shaft splines . there is also another coupling right in front of this, it has a rubber boot over it, and another rubber boot at the front near the front differential.
For the life of me i cant seem to get the front drive shaft out. i almost got it off on the diff end, but needed another half inch. I don't know if it has anything to do with the aftermarket drive shaft, but I think i may try getting the rear off. I looked under those rubber caps, and I don't see any bolt or nothing, so how exactly do I get that off. Also, the only reason I am taking the engine out is because there's a whine after I shut it down, which i think is the clutch bearing. Is there any way i can get at it without removing the engine or front drive shaft?
If i cant get the engine out, I may just leave the bottom end. and just do the top end. How do I take the rear swing arm off, and I should use liquid sealant on the gaskets right? This is the first time I've done anything on the top end, so all this is new to me.
the whining noise you hear after shut down is most likely the one way bearing located in the centrifugal clutch drum. that needs to be taken care of or you will have no engine breaking.
as for the sealant, it depends, that model may take case cover gaskets instead of sealant. best to consult an online parts microfiche to see if a gasket is used.
are you sure that input shaft isn't welded on maybe that's why it wont budge.
I took the engine head off. the cylinder is smooth, so i guess that means i have to get it re-honed? it doesn't look like there's much clearance between the piston and cylinder wall, but ill get it measured anyway, and check the rings. everything looks clean, but there is a ton of carbon on the engine head, valves and piston. How do i get this off? If i'm supposed to use a solvent, what type is best, and how is it applied?
just because the cylinder is smooth ?, does not rule out worn rings ?..lol. you will need to measure the cylinder, and see where you are for specs ?. it may need to be bored over one size ?. as for cleaning the carbon from the head ?, depends on a few things ?, got a parts washer ?, if not ?, then a bench grinder with a wire wheel ?. a small wire brush and some '' super clean '' ( wear gloves !!! ) will remove it. or a dremel with a small wire brush wheel on it. I use my parts washer and my set of small wire brushes I bought from wally world, pack of 3 brushes.
I took the piston and cylinder out. I am going away for a week, so I wont be working on anything until I return. I am going to order my parts tomorrow. anything I should buy?
I'm going to see if the cylinder it out of spec, and if it is, I may buy this kit, linked at the bottom. anyone have any experience with this website?
I've got the valves lapped, and got the cylinder measured, and it does need bored. I found this kit, and am thinking about buying it, because the machining shop said it would be 80$ to bore it out, and the parts shop's piston & rings was 125$, and the top end gasket kit was 85$. thoughts?
nice kit, but I've never purchased anything like a kit before on the top end like that ?, but I must tell you, BEFORE YOU PUT ANYTHING TOGETHER !!!!!!!, Make sure you check the connecting rod for any play at the top, and bottom ??!!, you really need to check this BEFORE you go putting a top end on your engine. when I tear a engine down ?, the very first thing I check is the wrist pin stuck just in the end of the pin, inside the connecting rod, then I lift up and push down on the outside end of the wrist pin, any movement at all ?, tells me the connecting rod at the top is worn, and a rebuild top end won't last !!, then I pull up and push down on the connecting rod, to see if there is any play at the bottom connecting rod bearing ?, if there is ?, again..A TOP END WILL NOT LAST !!!!!!.
I just went out and checked the connecting rod, It is good. The wrist pin is the pin that connects the piston, right? That seemed good when I removed the piston.
you used the very end of the wrist pin stuck in the top of the connecting rod, correct ?, you can't use the middle of the wrist pin ?, it will always have wear.
at that price I would give it a whirl. whats the worst that's gonna happen? you need a new one. buy another top end, this time it'll take 1/2 as long because you've done it before.
this comes from a guy that is a cheap azz with his own equipment. when it comes to someone else's machine, I wouldn't take that chance LOL!
cheap azz huh ?..lmfaooo. I hear ya on our own atvs, I try not to go cheap on my toys !, but if i'm selling it ?, then I will try to save some cash on parts, as well all know, oem parts ain't cheap !..lol.
My 06 has been sitting since last April while I work on other people's crap.
Swingarm bolt threads wallowed out on both sides of the frame. I tried welding the left side in, and rethreading the right side. Messed it up so now looks like I'm going to have to strip down the rear of the frame, cut off the back of another frame I have (09 that my sister wrecked, bending the front of the frame) and weld the good back end onto the rear of the 06 frame.
I'm not capable of doing it, so it's sitting while I work on other people's crap.
bring them to me, i'll have a look at it, need both atvs, your '06, and the '09, if your not in a hurry ?, i'll fix it for ya. ( no..i won't do it for free !..lmao. ).
I got all the parts, put it all together, (hopefully the right way) but one of the smaller bolts that holds the head down, its hole is stripped, I bought a new bolt, but its the hole. It is the smaller one next to the push rods. what should I do? do I need to get a bigger bolt, or should I glue the current one in with lock-tite?
lock-tite won't keep it from leaking oil right there, you can try drilling the hole out a tad larger, and re-tap the hole back to a larger metric treads ?. or, time cert or heli-coil it, but you must be able to get pressure on it right there ?, or it will leak oil. that is also where your head gasket is !. sooo..you can't avoid this, or you will have problems.
Thanks, I'll probably end up using a helicoil. I probably wouldn't be able to find a slightly larger bolt. I should be able to do it quite easily, since I can take the cylinder back off and its only about a 1/2 inch I would have to thread, on the engine block. since I had It all together, and then took it apart now an hour later to get at the thread, do I need new gaskets? The ones I put on were brand new out of the package and on to the machine. I really hope not, but I don't want to end up blowing one in the middle of nowhere's.
Put it all together today, i couldn't start it, but I figured it out, I had tuned the valves before torquing the studs, so they were tight, but once I fixed that it started right up, running a1, except there is a clicking/tapping noise. what could that be? It sounds like its coming from the engine head, but I could be wrong. please help, the snow is melting, and I wanna hit the trails!
here is a video of the sound. I set the valves at .006, and also tried them at 0.005, to see If that stopped the clicking, but It didn't. https://youtu.be/Z4ItFOqC56g
heres possibilities (all requiring teardown)
bent push rod
worn cam followers
loose cam chain
loose valve seat
worn connecting rod
or possibly (highly doubtful from that noise)
incorrect valve lash adjustment.
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