How to Set Up the Carburetor - Need help ASAP - Honda Foreman Forums : Rubicon, Rincon, Rancher and Recon Forum

jode · 07-21-2009, 11:05 PM

I was on mental cruise control when I pulled the screw with the spring under it (is that the jet?) inside the carburetor and I started counting turns to unscrew it instead of counting turns to screw it in. Now I don't know how to get it back in at the right adjustment. This is the one that is inside of the carburetor, so I really want to make sure to get it done correctly the first time (since if it is not right I will have to disassemble the carb to adjust it.) If there is anyone with a service manual that could let me know or could post a couple pages dealing with the carburetor adjustment, that would be great.

**toodeep** · 07-21-2009, 11:38 PM

I can help and will be here for a while but on the inside of the bowl there is no screw with a spring. The air/mixture screw will be on the front/bottom side of the carb on the outside of the bowl. Depending on the model 2-2 1/2 turns out from lightly seated will get you very close on that one.

jode · 07-22-2009, 09:34 AM

QUOTE (toodeep @ Jul 21 2009, 10:38 PM)

Quote:

I can help and will be here for a while but on the inside of the bowl there is no screw with a spring. The air/mixture screw will be on the front/bottom side of the carb on the outside of the bowl. Depending on the model 2-2 1/2 turns out from lightly seated will get you very close on that one.

OMG! You are right! I can't believe how stupid I was. It was on the bottom of the carb in a row with the other screw-type thingies inside the bowl and I just assumed that this one would be covered by the bowl as well, but now that you mention it, there is an indentation on the bowl so that it does not cover this one

I am half-tempted to delete this post to hide my own stupidity from the world, but maybe we can redeem ourselves with some good tech on carb tuning:

If I start it at 2-1/2 turns out, what symptoms will I see once I start the ATV if the screw is too far out (too rich) or what symptoms will I see if the screw is too far in (too lean?) If I can figure that out, then I should be able to get it back to tuned up again.

**toodeep** · 07-22-2009, 10:39 AM

Oh' your not alone, I always just view the new post and just looked up and seen I'm in the Recon section. On the Recon initial setting is 1 1/2 turns out. It's mostly to get the idle mixture set right and you have it right on the mixture in is leaner and out is richer.

jode · 07-22-2009, 10:54 AM

Right, I just don't know enough about engines to know when it is running lean versus when it is running rich. What are the symptoms of each condition?

**toodeep** · 07-22-2009, 11:27 AM

On the lean side (screw in) it will take a while to rev down and will idle fast and erratic. On the rich side it's going to idle rough and will probably kill itself after few min. Pretty much if you get the bike to idle good then it's set right. Usually you can just set them to the initial setting and it will be good but different locations might need a 1/4 turn to get it just right.

jode · 07-22-2009, 12:32 PM

What kind of contortionist masochist does it take to adjust that little screw? I certainly can't get a screwdriver on it and the only way I could get it to turn was by sticking the blade of a little fuse up in there (while burning my hand on the cooling fins of the engine) to try to turn it that way. Sheesh, they put it in a spot that is little better than inside the fuel bowl - how do the factory techs get at that thing? Do they have a special tool?

Anyways, I was just out there fiddling with it and I did notice it took a while to rev down (too lean according to your instructions,) but it was also idling along fine and then would just miss and die. I know it is getting good fuel since I now have some clear fuel line and a clear fuel filter on it.
I started wondering about spark, so I was going to stick my inline spark checker in between the plug and the wire. Great idea, but it seems like just about any part I touch on this ol' abused machine falls apart in my hands. Sure enough, I gently pulled the plug wire off the plug and it literally came off in my hand - yes, the plug cap came off the plug wire. What's worse? Imagine my dismay to learn that it isn't just a spark plug wire that I can replace with some spares I have laying around the shop and that I am now going to have to order a complete plug-wire and coil from Ebay. It looks like it will be a few days before I get this POS rolling afterall.

The worst part is that I still don't know what was actually the problem. I guess since the plug wire came apart, there is a good chance that there may have been an intermittent short in that system - maybe.

**toodeep** · 07-22-2009, 12:56 PM

If it was just the cap that fell off then just screw it back onto the plug wire. There is a special screwdriver to adjust the screw, it's cable driven with a 90* at the end. How many turns is the screw set at now? I just posted some basics but it can go both ways sometimes.

jode · 07-22-2009, 01:46 PM

Awesome - I didn't see that it could be screwed back in - just assumed it was broken. Makes sense on that special screw driver. I started it out at 1-1/2 turns and dialed it out about 1/4 to 1/2 turn but couldn't really mess with it a lot due to the fact that it was near impossible to turn that screw and the engine was intermittently dying with (seemingly) no rhyme nor reason.

The spark plug cap is not "seating" solidly on the plug and could very well be the source of my problems. This is what the plug looks like - is it supposed to have that little screw on plug thing on the plug end of it or is this correct? The threads on the plug (the little ones that go to the plug-wire, not the big ones that go into the block) are all stripped. I am not sure (obviously) how this is supposed to look in stock OEM configuration, so I can't tell if I am missing something, but I can tell that something is not right - the plug wire is held onto the plug only by the rubber boot and the metal to metal contact is totally loose.

jode · 07-22-2009, 03:42 PM

OK, I see now that inside the spark plug cap, there is a little spring that is supposed to hold the cap on the plug. On mine, that spring is shot, so the it wasn't making good contact. I wrapped the wire from a twist-tie around the end of the plug to make a better contact and that seems to have done the trick, but it is still totally erratic and I think I have a fuel delivery problem. I can see the fuel through the new see-through lines and filter I installed and there are all sorts of bubbles and when I dump the carb bowl (using the petcock on the bottom) it doesn't refill except very very slowly. I am not sure what the problem is because the petcock on the bottom of the tank seemed to flow fine. Maybe the needle in the carb is not letting gas in? Except before I installed the carb I made sure that the float and the needle were working well together and there were no restrictions.
Until I know for sure that fuel is flowing good, I can't get to tuning the carburetor. This is driving me nuts. I guess my next step will be to unhook the fuel line from the carburetor and run it into a bucket to see if it is flowing good.

07-21-2009, 11:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
jode Honda Rider Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 18	I was on mental cruise control when I pulled the screw with the spring under it (is that the jet?) inside the carburetor and I started counting turns to unscrew it instead of counting turns to screw it in. Now I don't know how to get it back in at the right adjustment. This is the one that is inside of the carburetor, so I really want to make sure to get it done correctly the first time (since if it is not right I will have to disassemble the carb to adjust it.) If there is anyone with a service manual that could let me know or could post a couple pages dealing with the carburetor adjustment, that would be great.

07-21-2009, 11:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
toodeep Administrator Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: south dakota Posts: 6,653	I can help and will be here for a while but on the inside of the bowl there is no screw with a spring. The air/mixture screw will be on the front/bottom side of the carb on the outside of the bowl. Depending on the model 2-2 1/2 turns out from lightly seated will get you very close on that one.

07-22-2009, 10:39 AM	#4 (permalink)
toodeep Administrator Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: south dakota Posts: 6,653	Oh' your not alone, I always just view the new post and just looked up and seen I'm in the Recon section. On the Recon initial setting is 1 1/2 turns out. It's mostly to get the idle mixture set right and you have it right on the mixture in is leaner and out is richer.

07-22-2009, 10:54 AM	#5 (permalink)
jode Honda Rider Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 18	Right, I just don't know enough about engines to know when it is running lean versus when it is running rich. What are the symptoms of each condition?

07-22-2009, 11:27 AM	#6 (permalink)
toodeep Administrator Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: south dakota Posts: 6,653	On the lean side (screw in) it will take a while to rev down and will idle fast and erratic. On the rich side it's going to idle rough and will probably kill itself after few min. Pretty much if you get the bike to idle good then it's set right. Usually you can just set them to the initial setting and it will be good but different locations might need a 1/4 turn to get it just right.

07-22-2009, 12:32 PM	#7 (permalink)
jode Honda Rider Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 18	What kind of contortionist masochist does it take to adjust that little screw? I certainly can't get a screwdriver on it and the only way I could get it to turn was by sticking the blade of a little fuse up in there (while burning my hand on the cooling fins of the engine) to try to turn it that way. Sheesh, they put it in a spot that is little better than inside the fuel bowl - how do the factory techs get at that thing? Do they have a special tool? Anyways, I was just out there fiddling with it and I did notice it took a while to rev down (too lean according to your instructions,) but it was also idling along fine and then would just miss and die. I know it is getting good fuel since I now have some clear fuel line and a clear fuel filter on it. I started wondering about spark, so I was going to stick my inline spark checker in between the plug and the wire. Great idea, but it seems like just about any part I touch on this ol' abused machine falls apart in my hands. Sure enough, I gently pulled the plug wire off the plug and it literally came off in my hand - yes, the plug cap came off the plug wire. What's worse? Imagine my dismay to learn that it isn't just a spark plug wire that I can replace with some spares I have laying around the shop and that I am now going to have to order a complete plug-wire and coil from Ebay. It looks like it will be a few days before I get this POS rolling afterall. The worst part is that I still don't know what was actually the problem. I guess since the plug wire came apart, there is a good chance that there may have been an intermittent short in that system - maybe.

07-22-2009, 12:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
toodeep Administrator Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: south dakota Posts: 6,653	If it was just the cap that fell off then just screw it back onto the plug wire. There is a special screwdriver to adjust the screw, it's cable driven with a 90* at the end. How many turns is the screw set at now? I just posted some basics but it can go both ways sometimes.

07-22-2009, 01:46 PM	#9 (permalink)
jode Honda Rider Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 18	Awesome - I didn't see that it could be screwed back in - just assumed it was broken. Makes sense on that special screw driver. I started it out at 1-1/2 turns and dialed it out about 1/4 to 1/2 turn but couldn't really mess with it a lot due to the fact that it was near impossible to turn that screw and the engine was intermittently dying with (seemingly) no rhyme nor reason. The spark plug cap is not "seating" solidly on the plug and could very well be the source of my problems. This is what the plug looks like - is it supposed to have that little screw on plug thing on the plug end of it or is this correct? The threads on the plug (the little ones that go to the plug-wire, not the big ones that go into the block) are all stripped. I am not sure (obviously) how this is supposed to look in stock OEM configuration, so I can't tell if I am missing something, but I can tell that something is not right - the plug wire is held onto the plug only by the rubber boot and the metal to metal contact is totally loose.

07-22-2009, 03:42 PM	#10 (permalink)
jode Honda Rider Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 18	OK, I see now that inside the spark plug cap, there is a little spring that is supposed to hold the cap on the plug. On mine, that spring is shot, so the it wasn't making good contact. I wrapped the wire from a twist-tie around the end of the plug to make a better contact and that seems to have done the trick, but it is still totally erratic and I think I have a fuel delivery problem. I can see the fuel through the new see-through lines and filter I installed and there are all sorts of bubbles and when I dump the carb bowl (using the petcock on the bottom) it doesn't refill except very very slowly. I am not sure what the problem is because the petcock on the bottom of the tank seemed to flow fine. Maybe the needle in the carb is not letting gas in? Except before I installed the carb I made sure that the float and the needle were working well together and there were no restrictions. Until I know for sure that fuel is flowing good, I can't get to tuning the carburetor. This is driving me nuts. I guess my next step will be to unhook the fuel line from the carburetor and run it into a bucket to see if it is flowing good.

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