Honda Rancher won't idle unless choked

[toddbiss]

Personally think that $145 was a waste... in the amount of time it took to order and open the package you could have cleaned the old one and gained some knowledge for the future. But I like to do things myself. As far as gas I just add a little lucas ethanol treatment once in a while, there is no benefit to running higher octane gas in a motor that doesn't require it and the rancher doesn't. The only one of my many toys that gets high octane is my Yamaha R1 and that is because it will ping without it.

 

[DiskDoctr]

Glad to hear you got the problem worked out. I certainly understand there are times when you would rather pay to have it fixed *for sure* instead of trying to learn on your own.

As you've said, if that's the only $$ you put in and it is now running like new...that's a win!

Stabil vs Seafoam? Seafoam is for regular usage, Stabil is for storage and actually doesn't run quite as well until it's cleared out of the system after storage.

I use a capful or two in every tank, a splash if it's been sitting a little while. We usually run ours year round, so not really sitting.

Ethanol in gas? Yeah, it's crap. Between "cash for clunkers" (aka "trade in your vehicle with 20 yr service life for a more expensive one with a service life of 5 yrs and subject to ridiculous EPA strangulations and increased inspection costs") and ethanol in gas and *diesel* which is less refined, but more expensive than gasoline....yeah, it's truly a wonder any of our equipment still runs! :confused2:

Ethanol ages gasoline very quickly, making storage of fuel more difficult and prices more volatile as it has to be purchased constantly.

Anyone up for a re-oxygenation of gasoline project? If you take out the ethanol (or prevent it from going in), that's the main killer of gas from age.

Varnish is the killer of the equipment that runs on gas.

[steps off soapbox]

Higher octane has LESS energy than lower ocatane, but it ignites at high temps. Higher compression and advanced timing can be utilized with higher octane gas, but ONLY if the engine was designed for it.

And in reality, here in the US with our RM2 grading of octane, you often have a mixture of octane fuels with an *average* equal to the sticker on the pump.

- JC

 

[Egon]

do an adjustment on the high/low jets.

 

[mjonesnh]

Personally think that $145 was a waste... in the amount of time it took to order and open the package you could have cleaned the old one and gained some knowledge for the future. But I like to do things myself. As far as gas I just add a little lucas ethanol treatment once in a while, there is no benefit to running higher octane gas in a motor that doesn't require it and the rancher doesn't. The only one of my many toys that gets high octane is my Yamaha R1 and that is because it will ping without it.

Not sure if I agree with you telling me how I chose to spend my money as a waste. ATV is running great, cant' see it running any better unless it was new. Some may not agree with a new carb instead of a cleaning or rebuild but this is the path I chose, if someone disagrees that is OK. Plenty of room here @TBN for different opinions.

 

[mjonesnh]

do an adjustment on the high/low jets.

No adjustment made except 1/4 turn on idle thumbscrew to speed up idle just a little. Carb. was Honda OEM with Japan stamped on it instead of aftermarket that could or could not have been made in China. Carb. was basically plug and play with all vacuum hoses and vent lines attached and new choke cable boot. Removed trim panels and air box, removed carb from engine boot, installed new carb on boot,replaced air box and trim panels, filled tank. Starter rolled over once or twice and fired right up.Maybe one hour time for exchange after trim panel removal.

 

[DiskDoctr]

No adjustment made except 1/4 turn on idle thumbscrew to speed up idle just a little. Carb. was Honda OEM with Japan stamped on it instead of aftermarket that could or could not have been made in China. Carb. was basically plug and play with all vacuum hoses and vent lines attached and new choke cable boot. Removed trim panels and air box, removed carb from engine boot, installed new carb on boot,replaced air box and trim panels, filled tank. Starter rolled over once or twice and fired right up.Maybe one hour time for exchange after trim panel removal.

Sweet! I'd suggest you clean, dry, and oil your air filter while in the area. It's pretty important and often neglected.

- JC

 

[mjonesnh]

Sweet! I'd suggest you clean, dry, and oil your air filter while in the area. It's pretty important and often neglected.

- JC

Thanks for the reminder! I took care of that today.

 

[PAfarmer]

The choke is a fuel enrichening circuit that provides extra fuel upon start up..........The pilot jet on your machine is clogged. Very simple fix for a mechanic in the know.

 

[cdaigle430]

What's the point of doing this?
If the fuel is going to go bad or create deposits, it will do it in the gas tank just as well as the carb. Running the carb dry and leaving it dry will only dry out the internal seals. Plus this will make it harder to start when you do want to use it. If it's going to sit for a while unused, put a fuel stabilizer like the Sta-bil Marine Formula which is designed for Ethanol gas.

The point is to keep the gas from gumming up inside the carb., I have been doing this for years on my motorcycle, ATV, chainsaws, weed wackier, and generators for many,many years(15 to be exact) and never had to rebuild a single carb yet. They all start the second or first crank every time. Besides I really don't care what people think I just know it works well for me.

 

[WilliamBos]

The point is to keep the gas from gumming up inside the carb., I have been doing this for years on my motorcycle, ATV, chainsaws, weed wackier, and generators for many,many years(15 to be exact) and never had to rebuild a single carb yet. They all start the second or first crank every time. Besides I really don't care what people think I just know it works well for me.

I agree!!! We have been doing it for years also, and have NEVER had a carb failure. I forgot to shut the fuel off, and run the carb dry on the snowblower at work back in May. Come pre inspection in October, went to start it up to change the oil, and gas was leaking from the bottom of the card - Ethanol was the culprit.

Shut it off, run it dry. It you think it will be n issue, run it once a month.