[Bexxter]

I was riding yesterday and went into a deep mudhole and got MUD, not water in the carb drain tube and it made the ol' Foreman not want to run.
When I got it home I cleaned the mud out of it and it ran fine until I put a golf tee in it and it dies again. It is kind of acting like a vacuum hose instead of a drain hose. Does anyone have any idea's why plugging the carb drain tube is making my Foreman die. Any info would be great.

 

[Honda Mechanic]

Sounds like your breather vent (the hose that comes out of the side of your carb.) must be plugged or kinked somewhere ..I believe the TRX500 has 2 one on each side ..

 

[Bexxter]

Thanks for the info Honda M. I will go out and take a look at those and see if I can find anything.

 

[Bexxter]

Well I cleaned all the vent tubes and checked everything on the carb and it is running like normal now. BUT, I have been doing some reading and some thinking and I see a lot of people on here with the 05/06 Foreman 500's and running 27'' and bigger tires and talking about having hardley any problems turning them in thick mud and still having plenty of power. Well it seems like mine lost quite of bit of power when I just added the
26'' Mudlites. I notice that mine will bog some in 1st gear in 4-wheel drive in kind of thick mud w/ some water mixed in. It will not even come close to pulling the front wheels up off the ground even if I am going up a good hill and punch the gas. I am just wondering if adding the HMF utility pipe and a jet kit will really wake up my Foreman? If anyone has any input or info I would love to hear some feedback about this.

 

[05foreman500]

I had the same problem with the drain tube, i just took it off blew the hunk off mud out and cleaned off the vent tubes on top the carb and it was good to go. i went to rejet the carb yesterday and found out that there was still mud in the bowl , then i figured out that honda sent me the wrong jet... well it wasn't even a jet but anyways. about the tires i have 27" gators and in first gear they spin like crazy, so maybe you have some kinda problem somewhere.

 

[Flip 500]

I have the 27" gators and droppin 2nd i can stand it on the back rack

 

[Bexxter]

I can not spin the tires in 2nd gear and rev the engine out like it did
when I had the stock tires one it. But like I said one tire size should not make that big of a difference but it did. Other then that I think it runs good but I think it should rev out the motor and spin them 26's like crazy in 2nd gear.

 

[nonnieselman]

mine spin'em like crazy in 2nd in grass and such.. but i have a clutch kit with 26's kindof over kill.. but why not.
on the creek we ride on, mine spin all 4 till 3rd gear.. but thats in sand

we have some "slime rock" (clay with water covering it)
now whats fun.....

Put my foreman in 4wd, put it in 2nd or 3rd... turn wheels and hammer on it.. when it hits the rev limiter shift it up.. amd turn the wheels straight.. your sittin there doin how ever fast you want to but not moving,, just goin in circles..FAST
ive gotten to the rev limiter in 4th gear bout 41mph.. spinning..
well pretty much doin a "cyclone" or donuts with out the center of the bike moving.. It throws some mad water roosters...
The rev limiter is very noticable with the snorkel..
Poor Foreman:mrgreen:

 

[Bexxter]

Well, had some more problems today, went riding for about 3 hours and everything was doing great with the ol' Foreman, then my buddy got stuck and we tried using my atv to pull him out. Well after about 20 mins of trying to pull him out we had to end up using the wench on his atv to get it out. Once we got his out and was ready to go, I went to try to start mine and it did not want to start, it just cranked over and over. I took the air box lid off and the airbox was about 1/4 of the way full of gas and it was just pooring in. I shut the fuel off and took the air filter out and got it to start. I then took and unplugged the carb. drain and it was full of gas. I have came to the conclusion the the 500 Foreman does not like having its drain tube plugged. This is the Second time I have had problems with the carb. drain tube. After I got it home and cleaned everything up it is running fine now. Any other Idea's from anyone!

 

[nonnieselman]

I dont know why it would do that, unless the float got stuck?
Mine has been plugged since november or december, never drained it either.

Here is what ill suggest.. instead of just plugging the factory tubing.
Go to home depot or somewhere to find some 1/8" IDx 1/4" OD.. i think thats what its called.
replace the factory black tubing with this, but instead of following the factory route. I ran mine down to the skid plate, then foward to the front of the motor then back to the original place by the rear swing arm.

That will give you a little more extra room for the fuel to go.

It has worked on mine for 7-8 months, and i dont just drive mine on flat surfaces.. we play on some rocks and hills that get scary. pushing the limits on almost flipping them. and mine has never spit or sputtered.

My brothers genious self ran his carb drain up and zip tied it to the frame on top side by the air box... his only ran for a few minutes and then died...... we ran his like mine with the extra 2-3' and his is still doin good now for a few months...

Hope this helps ya out some?

 

[Bexxter]

I went out tonight and cleaned and re-oiled my air filter and put it back on, checked all my vent tubes again and sprayed down the carb. with carb. cleaner and the Foreman is running like a top again. I am going to change the spark plug and oil in a day or 2 to make sure none of the gas got into the crankcase and mixed with the oil when I can get to the Honda shop and pick some stuff up.

 

[nonnieselman]

that sounds like a plan..
i get my oil filters from a small local parts store. Bumper to Bumper.
WIX PN# 24944
I use Castrol GTX 10w-40
get the 5qt jug and it saves you a few dollars and u get 2 oil changes for bout $9

 

[Hondaislife]

Be careful and read your owners manual about what oil to use. With and auto clutch you should not use oil with that says "energy conserving" in the ID circle on the back of the bottle. I have a rincon and just sold my rancher and bought a 250EX for my son. I use Shell Rotella in the blue bottle. Its 5w-40 and has no "energy conserving " additives. The auto tranny in the rincon uses the crankcase oil for lubrication and for the pressure valves.

 

[RedRustler]

there is no problem with pluging your drain it will not cause the bike to shut off.

but what will make your bike shut off is the mudd and maybe a little bit of water that is still sitting in the bottom of your bowl if you didnt clean the carb out when you got water and mudd in the hose

 

[eric]

sounds like your needle and seat are screwed up. Sounds like your float is not working properly.

 

[vettepin]

my bike was doing the same thing , i could not figure out why is was not starting . i plugged the drain tube and the carb was overflowing and killing the motor with gas. so i opened the carb and saw the float was not adjustable so i bent the plastic float arms down anyway to increase presure on the stopper valve. it stopped flooding .i might buy a new float and valve someday

 

[Bexxter]

Thanks for the info again guys, I plan on tearing down the Foreman and going completely through it in a month or so once I get the derby car out of the garage. I will check the carb out and I know I have to replace the front wheel bearings.

 

[big_daddy_bigfoot]

Mine really bogged down after I put my gators on it. I wonder if there is a difference in the early 05 500's or something.