# 2005 Honda Rancher won't idle!?



## Bandit Darvil (Sep 13, 2008)

Hey all,

I have a 2005 Honda Rancher, 2x4, manual shifter, carb, etc. It's got less than 100 hrs on it and has had an easy life. The other day I went to start it like always and it cranked right away with the choke set. I usually only have to warm it up for a minute before I can take the choke off and ride on.

This time after taking the choke off the motor wouldn't stay running. I could keep it running by revving the engine but it would backfire and spit pretty bad. The gas should be good because it's out of the same can I filled my lawn mower with and the mower has had no problems at all.

I pulled the plug and it's gapped right at 0.04 in. The plug was black instead of toasty brown like you'd expect to see though.

Anybody got any experience with this or advice on things to try? I've read that these atv's have trouble with the choke cables but mine seems to be working fine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## Havana Dude (Sep 13, 2008)

Prolly need a new plug. Or make sure the lever on the gas cap is in the corrct position. Or .............make sur its got gas in it.


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## Johnny B (Sep 13, 2008)

Need to clean the jets in the carb. If it will run with the chock on....it has clogged jets.


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## Bandit Darvil (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks Johnny B. Have you worked on this carb before? Any advice on cleaning the jets?


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## Bandit Darvil (Sep 18, 2008)

*No change yet...*

Well, the carb is clean and the plug is changed. No change in the idle though.

Anybody got any more suggestions? Thanks.


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## Sterlo58 (Sep 18, 2008)

May have a bad float in the carb.


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## SCPO (Sep 18, 2008)

drain all gas and put in some white gas. sold by bp now. use to be amaco.


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## germag (Sep 19, 2008)

Turn the gas off and take the fuel line loose at the carb and put the end of it in a bottle to catch gas. Turn the fuel on and watch the flow. You should have a strong, unrestricted flow of gas into the bottle. If not, you may have some trash in the tank or fuel lines or petcock that is restricting the gas flow, or the gas tank vent is stopped up or otherwise restricted.

If you have good gas flow to the carb, then I'd go back into the carb and make sure that the float valve is working correctly. It could be sticking and not allowing enough fuel to flow into the float bowl. This is pretty common in carbureted machines that sit unused most of the time. The fuel will turn into varnish inside the carb. It is also really prone to clog the pilot jet and gum up the slide and needle and main jet.


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## Bandit Darvil (Sep 19, 2008)

*Thanks*

Thanks...I'll check the lines and let you know what happens.


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## Bandit Darvil (Sep 20, 2008)

*Greasemonkey*

Thanks for the PM greasemonkey...I'll let you know.


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## btt202 (Sep 20, 2008)

water in gas 
add some sea foam fuel treatment it will take the water out


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## btt202 (Sep 20, 2008)

also sea foam will clean the gum  out from sitting over time


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## JBird227 (Sep 20, 2008)

Johnny B said:


> Need to clean the jets in the carb. If it will run with the chock on....it has clogged jets.



Either that or a stuck float


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## greasemonkey76 (Sep 20, 2008)

i agree with germag's post,  theres 4 fuel issues that will cause this #1 like germeg said, make sure gas is flowing free out of the gas tank hose going to the carb. #2 the carb will get trash in it and on into the float valve causing the float valve to stick open and not allowing the gas flow to cut off once the float bowl is full (causing gas to run out of the float bowl drain tube when the fuel valve is left in the on or reserve position ) OR the float itself has a hole in it...  both will cause a puddle of gas or a wet spot under atv. if no signs of gas are leaking out...#3 the carb will get trash in it causing the float valve to stick in the closed position not allowing gas to reach the float bowl .  to check that.. make sure it has plenty of gas in it ...turn the fuel valve on ..loosen the drain valve screw on the carb float bowl(usually a phillips or flat head screw) make sure a small steady stream of gas continues to run out of the float bowl drain hose. and #4 the pilot jet(the one it idles off of) is clogged or varnished up only letting it run with the choke on.  the main jet comes in at fast throttle and may be stopped up too, it usually is if the carb is varished up. sorry for the detailed post, just wanted to throw in my 2 cents!


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## germag (Sep 20, 2008)

Yep, and the pilot jet orifice is pretty small. It's hard to tell visually if it's clogged or partially clogged or open, and even more difficult to clean it. Usually I just buy new pilot jet from the dealer and don't even deal with trying to clean them.  They aren't that expensive. While I'm at it I usually go ahead and replace the float valve too.

One word of caution...unless you have the tools (guages) and experience with it and know what you are doing, not NOT try to adjust the float level. That's a fairly critical adjustment and if you get it out of whack and can't get it adjusted correctly, you have a world of trouble on your hands...too high and it loads up and floods...too low and it won't run on the needle and main. You should not have to mess with that for your problem unless the float has to be replaced.


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