I recently bought a 2006 Honda Rancher 350 4x4 ES. The machine only has 1,700 miles and 262 hours. The previous owner told me that he had to prime the carb to get it to start. I test drove it and it ran fine. I went to back it off the truck when I got it home and it would not start. I had to reach down and prime the carb again, and then it fired right up. What would cause the need for constant priming to start the first time? What do I need to look for to replace to fix this issue?
Honda 350 Priming to Start
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I don't think your carb has a choke valve does it? Instead it has a primer knob that you depress before cold-starting the motor. This is normal and expected behavior.... nothing needs fixed.
It might also have a heater on the carb... if so the heater should help the motor stay running during warmup periods. If you feel that the motor is running too lean, back the pilot screw out an 1/8th to 1/4 turn and see if that helps.
It might also have a heater on the carb... if so the heater should help the motor stay running during warmup periods. If you feel that the motor is running too lean, back the pilot screw out an 1/8th to 1/4 turn and see if that helps.
Ok, thanks for getting my head on a bit straighter... It sounds like your carb might have a minor problem, since choking it should supply enough cold start encouragement to get it running. Check the carb boot and gasket seal for cracking or leaking between the carb and the cylinder head. You can do this while the motor is idling using a can of carb spray, wd-40 or whatever ya got handy.
Since I don't know what your choke setup looks like (is it cable or lever operated?), I'd look over the service manual and make sure the choke is adjusted right and working, then if that didn't fix anything I'd take the carb off and take it apart for inspection, cleaning and replace all of the soft rubber parts in it. Someone may have had your carb apart before and left something (the float level?) out of adjustment or lost an o-ring or whatever...
Worse case someone might have put a china rebuild kit in the carb, or swapped the OEM carb for a china one...? Let us know how we can help.
Since I don't know what your choke setup looks like (is it cable or lever operated?), I'd look over the service manual and make sure the choke is adjusted right and working, then if that didn't fix anything I'd take the carb off and take it apart for inspection, cleaning and replace all of the soft rubber parts in it. Someone may have had your carb apart before and left something (the float level?) out of adjustment or lost an o-ring or whatever...
Worse case someone might have put a china rebuild kit in the carb, or swapped the OEM carb for a china one...? Let us know how we can help.
Appears to be a Honda carb. The choke cable is not in good condition and needs to be replaced. I found some lines that don’t appear to be in the right spots. The larger one that loops into the rear of the tank looks like it been chewed off, and I found a small line that comes off the bottom of the carburetor bowl with a check valve just hanging down. I looked around but could not figure out where it goes.
Attachments
The line no the bottom with the check valve is for the carb bowl overflow. If the float sticks open gas should run out of that line onto the ground. If it's stopped up the gas would fill up the carb and run into your crankcase, which would not be good.
There should be bowl vent lines that come off the side of the carb and go up under/ around the gas tank. They shouldn't be connected to anything as they are simply vents for the carb so a vacuum isn't created.
You should have a fuel line going to the carb, and IIRC that's it.
Get you a new choke cable (they're cheap) and take the carb off and clean it thoroughly.
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choke cable
when you unhook the choke cable, tape a good braided string to the end, then, you tape the string on the new cable, and you can feed through, back to the carb., so you dont have to unfasten holders. if you got holders for, wire, cable, an such.It looks like a good lil' fixer'upper to me once it gets a good cleaning. There are probably hose routing diagrams in the FSM... and choke cable and carb kit are relatively cheap for that bike. It'll be fun...
I got some paperwork from the original owner on the 4wheeler. In 2016 the carburetor was taken apart and the battery was replaced by a powersports shop to get it running. How would I go about seeing if something is out of adjustment like the float bowl was mentioned. The 4 wheeler runs fine after I prime it to get it started, but I usually have to prime it every time I start it even when the engine is warm.
The carb might only need a good cleaning. It has likely sat with old fuel in it for a while. Plus you can't trust that a shop mechanic spent any more than 20 minutes on it... ever. You can download a copy of the service manual here and print off the carb section to help you set it up right during reassembly. Its really not that difficult, just take your time and read...
Carbs are easy. Taking it off is a lot harder than actually taking the carb apart.
Just take your time. You'll have an understanding of how it works a little better, and you'll find yourself doing it on other small engine carbs once you see how easy it is.
Just take your time. You'll have an understanding of how it works a little better, and you'll find yourself doing it on other small engine carbs once you see how easy it is.
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