[Reggie58]

I recently started having "sputtering issues" with my 2000 Honda Recon 250. Eventually, it would stall and I could not get it started. I drained the gas and found leaf debris in the gas. I removed the carb and rebuilt it with a rebuild kit. When I put the carb back on, I could get no fuel to come through the fuel line. So, I removed the tank and drained it again. I tried to test again by putting fresh fuel in the tank, and with out re-attaching the tank, connected the fuel line. This time, the fuel flowed.....a little too much. Gas is leaking from the bowl of the carb....so I assume that I did not get the gasket for the bowl seated correctly. I also did not replace the throttle needle with the new one from the kit....and essentially left it assembled. The "barrel" cable remains in the correct configuration (and not poking out the side.)

I am going to take the carb out again and see if I can see where the leak is coming from. I also have a new fuel line that came with a filter. Where do I put the filter? Also, I assume there are screens somewhere inside the tank that may still be clogged. How to I get to those to clean them? Any advice on getting this machine started again with the "re-built" carb will be appreciated. Forgot to mention that I replaced the air filter with a new oiled filter. Before I removed the carb to rebuild it, I was usually able to start the machine eventually. Now, nothing. I tested the spark plug and it is ok. Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give. Happy New Year!

Cheers, Reggie

 

[retro]

Hi Reggie58,

Lets start with some questions.

What was the brand on the carb kit?

Do you have a copy of the service manual? If so, are you following the carb section guidelines in it?

Do you have a 3 qt can of Berrymans Chem-Dip for submersing the carb castings in?

 

[Reggie58]

I used the wingsmoto carb rebuild kit I found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075W7QZSM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I do have the Clymer Manual for the ATV but did not read the specs...in favor of watching this video:

I do not have / use Berrymans Chem Dip.

I can see now that I should double check to see if pilot screw setting is 2 5/8 turns out. It looks like I need to see if jet needle clip position is in 3rd groove from top or 2nd groove from top. To be honest, I'm not sure which is the Jet Needle. I will read every carburetor section in the manual and see what I can learn myself. Most immediate problem seems to be gas leaking out of the bowl.....but it seems like I should have gotten some kind of a sputter.....which I didn't. Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers, Reggie.

 

[retro]

Gas leaking from the bowl indicates a float valve problem. You aren't gonna like hearing this... but that carb kit you bought is a cheap china knockoff... it will never work. You'll need to do one of two things:

Disassemble & clean the carb thoroughly and reassemble using all of the original parts. I recommend this option. You can clean the OEM float valve and seat and reuse them. You definitely will need all of the OEM jets and metal parts put back in it, in the proper order of assembly. Don't leave anything out.... refer to the service manual step by step and ignore the videos.

Or disassemble & clean the carb thoroughly and reassemble using a genuine Shindy carb kit. Same instruction as above... follow the manual step by step.

Beware, there are fake Shindy kits selling on ebay and amazon. Let us know if we can help you with anything...

 

[LedFTed]

i am not familiar with that model. i got an 2000ES450.. it has a filter in the gas tank. mine went bad. also the gas valve, on mine was a shut off/gas/reserve type. it also when bad, though, not to debree in the tank. i'm sure running ethanol-gas may have helped to many problems i have had. but much of my problems were due to, the age of the parts also. Food for thought.....

 

[Reggie58]

Ok, I'm going to re-assemble with the cleaned old parts. It will take me a few days to get to it. I'll give an update after I am finished. Thank you!

 

[Reggie58]

The gas valve and the screens may have been the source of the problem the entire time. When I first replaced the rebuilt carb, no gas would flow through the fuel line. I took the tank off and swished some fresh gas around in there.....then dumped it. Refilled with fresh gas. Only then did it flow into the carb.....but only when on reserve setting. At "on" setting, it only flowed at a trickle. I'll investigate further. Thank you!

 

[Reggie58]

Gas leaking from the bowl indicates a float valve problem. You aren't gonna like hearing this... but that carb kit you bought is a cheap china knockoff... it will never work. You'll need to do one of two things:

Disassemble & clean the carb thoroughly and reassemble using all of the original parts. I recommend this option. You can clean the OEM float valve and seat and reuse them. You definitely will need all of the OEM jets and metal parts put back in it, in the proper order of assembly. Don't leave anything out.... refer to the service manual step by step and ignore the videos.

Or disassemble & clean the carb thoroughly and reassemble using a genuine Shindy carb kit. Same instruction as above... follow the manual step by step.

Beware, there are fake Shindy kits selling on ebay and amazon. Let us know if we can help you with anything...

Dang Retro, thank you! Because of the weather it took me some time to accomplish this, but I completely cleaned and dried the fuel tank. Removed interior tank filter and cleaned it. I replaced the fuel line ....and rebuilt the carb again using the original parts which I cleaned really well. Put a new air filter in the machine and re-installed the carb today (first warm day outside in awhile here) and boomshakalaka!, she started right up. Took it for a hard test drive and it is raring to go. The idle is a bit high....and the idle screw doesn't seem to adjusting the high idle like it should. Any advice about tuning the machine would be most appreciated. Thank you again for the sharing your expertise with me and the rest of the forum!

 

[GirlsRideToo]

Gas leaking from the bowl indicates a float valve problem. You aren't gonna like hearing this... but that carb kit you bought is a cheap china knockoff... it will never work. You'll need to do one of two things:

Disassemble & clean the carb thoroughly and reassemble using all of the original parts. I recommend this option. You can clean the OEM float valve and seat and reuse them. You definitely will need all of the OEM jets and metal parts put back in it, in the proper order of assembly. Don't leave anything out.... refer to the service manual step by step and ignore the videos.

Or disassemble & clean the carb thoroughly and reassemble using a genuine Shindy carb kit. Same instruction as above... follow the manual step by step.

Beware, there are fake Shindy kits selling on ebay and amazon. Let us know if we can help you with anything...

Dang Retro, thank you! Because of the weather it took me some time to accomplish this, but I completely cleaned and dried the fuel tank. Removed interior tank filter and cleaned it. I replaced the fuel line ....and rebuilt the carb again using the original parts which I cleaned really well. Put a new air filter in the machine and re-installed the carb today (first warm day outside in awhile here) and boomshakalaka!, she started right up. Took it for a hard test drive and it is raring to go. The idle is a bit high....and the idle screw doesn't seem to adjusting the high idle like it should. Any advice about tuning the machine would be most appreciated. Thank you again for the sharing your expertise with me and the rest of the forum!

Retro is away for awhile, so I'll jump in, for what it's worth. I'm assuming you found, removed and cleaned the pilot screw. Are you sure you adjusted it out 2 5/8 turns?? It is very easily damaged if you tighten it down too much before adjusting it back out. Turn it in ONLY until you feel slight resistance, then turn it out. If you have it adjusted correctly (2 5/8) then try turning it IN just a tiny bit.

As far as the throttle screw goes are you sure you put the spring and rubber o-ring back on? To know if it's working at all, let the engine warm up, then turn the screw all the way in and the engine should die. LOL

It only took me 8 tries to get my carb adjusted. LOL

 

[retro]

Only other thing I can think of might be the throttle cable slack adjustment is too tight? Should be about 1/16" of slack in the cable when its relaxed at idle speed. Also check that the choke is not hanging open just a smidge.... let us know what you find so we can all learn from it.

 

[Reggie58]

So, before messing with the Pilot screw again (because I was careful to be precise on both the "soft seat" and 2 5/8 turns out.) I decided to run it pretty hard a couple of times and then mess with the idle screw some more. After doing this, the machine is running good and purrs like a kitten at idle. I am very grateful for the excellent advice that I received here....and I'm even more grateful that I followed it! I'm still wondering a little whether the sputtering problem was due to water in the gas....and on the first trip out after putting the re-assembled carb back in, it actually sputtered and stalled....in the worst possible place. I got it started again though and made it home. Usually the sputtering would happen when going uphill at speed. When the machine died before I started the carb rebuild stuff, I drained the gas into a large pickle jar and did not see any water separation....just the leaf debris. I'm going to get some gas treatment anyway just to be on the safe side. For right now....all is well!

Cheers, Reggie

 

[GirlsRideToo]

So, before messing with the Pilot screw again (because I was careful to be precise on both the "soft seat" and 2 5/8 turns out.) I decided to run it pretty hard a couple of times and then mess with the idle screw some more. After doing this, the machine is running good and purrs like a kitten at idle. I am very grateful for the excellent advice that I received here....and I'm even more grateful that I followed it! I'm still wondering a little whether the sputtering problem was due to water in the gas....and on the first trip out after putting the re-assembled carb back in, it actually sputtered and stalled....in the worst possible place. I got it started again though and made it home. Usually the sputtering would happen when going uphill at speed. When the machine died before I started the carb rebuild stuff, I drained the gas into a large pickle jar and did not see any water separation....just the leaf debris. I'm going to get some gas treatment anyway just to be on the safe side. For right now....all is well!

Cheers, Reggie

So happy to hear that all is well now. Nothing else can make you do a happy dance like a quad that is running as it should!
As far as water having been the cause of the original problem, I'm more incline to think it was the leaf debris. Think of that debris floating around and when you hit the throttle it gets sucked up against the filter in the tank and restricts gas flow. Then, it only takes a tiny speck of that debris making it through the filter and into the carb to create a problem.

Now that the engine is running well, it would still be a good idea to keep an eye on your spark plug so you'll know if it's running too lean, too rich or just right.

Happy riding, Reggie