Honda Rincon Forum banner

Help Needed: Fouled plug and poor running

10K views 43 replies 9 participants last post by  2007Rincon 
#1 ·
Hey folks. I'm at my wits' end with this machine. It's a 2007 Rincon, and praise God I haven't had a minute's trouble out of it until now. This booger is driving me crazy. Here's a rundown.

It started running poorly. It cranked good, idled fine, but it wouldn't open up (top speed of 12 to 18 mph) and got seriously weak (wouldn't even climb hills).
I put a new plug, new air filter, pumped all the gas out of the tank, ran Chemtrol and Lucas through it, and it stills fouls the plug and has very little power.

Anybody know what I should look at next? I am not a mechanic and not really mechanically inclined either, but I can follow instructions like a good grunt. I'd like to avoid a trip to the Honda dealership if possible.

Thanks for any help anybody can offer.
 
#5 ·
Ten four, then I'll stick a new fuel filter in.

As for the air filter, whether it is or isn't over oiled I can't say, but I can say that it has plenty of oil in it. I bought it from Honda, preoiled (I guess it's called), but it is definitely oily. I call the plug fouling black, but if the colorization can offer additional clues as to what's wrong with the machine, I'll check it again Monday and let you know for sure. It is definitely a dark fouling, though.

Oilcan, thank you for your help. I definitely appreciate your time.
 
#6 ·
Black indicates "wet" could be numerous things, but basics first. When you start it, are you pressing the throttle?

Wet fouled spark plugs can be caused by flooding the engine when attempting to start a cold engine

On a fuel injected quad, it is not necessary, as it has an auto choke and is controlled by feedback sensors. Ideally you should start it, and by the time your boots and other gear are on, it should be warm enough to ride.

Burping the throttle on the FI ATV's is not good as they easily flood (causing stalling problems)
 
#7 ·
It isn't my habit to give it gas when starting it. I won't say that I haven't done it from time to time as a "give it gas to crank it" action. For the most part, it has never had any trouble starting up, and it idles fine too. It just won't pick up speed and has no power regardless of its speed. I mean it's weak creeping and it's weak at its new top speed, which isn't very fast.

I have ran it cold plenty: starting and driving without little it warm up. I don't know if it matters or not, but this problem started back when it was in the 90s here. It wasn't a cold weather issue, although the colder weather may have made it worse (or it might've been progressive and was always going to get worse).
 
#8 ·
If after you change the filer and she is still acting up, next step would be to examine the electrical. A poor connection at plug, wire/boot etc... (can cause poor combustion) which can also cause a wet foul. But like I said, lets cover off the easy stuff first... $$

Your engine oil is used in the trans for pressure. Until the oil is warm, you will have lower pressures at your clutches which causes them to slip. Running it cold is not recommended :(
 
#9 ·
Amen. Easy is where I want to start for sure. I have noticed that slipping on our coldest mornings (probably not cold by many's standards) when I'm leaving my blind. That's probably its coldest/fastest start and run situation. I'm going to try to take it out today and get a new one if it's an in-stock item. My prayers are said and fingers are crossed that the filter will cure it. If not, I'll check whatever you think is next in line. Thanks again for the help.
 
#10 ·
All of the above as Oilcan indicated, but also run some Sea Foam in your fuel tank....it certainly can't hurt. I use it religiously in everything I own!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Oilcan
#11 ·
Is the Sea Foam better than the Lucas gas treatment? I've got the Lucas in it now, but I'll dump some Sea Foam in there too if it might help.

I didn't get to work on it yesterday, but I'm hoping to get out of work early enough to take the fuel filter out this afternoon. I'll what has to be done after that. Thanks for the help guys.
 
#12 ·
Hahahaha. With all the questions I was asking, I skipped a pretty major one.

So I go out to take the fuel filter out of the fuel pump (a device I've been told holds the fuel filter) and I realize that I have no idea where the fuel pump is. So where is this thing? I tried to find information on the internet, but for perhaps the first time in history, google let me down.
 
#13 ·
Fuel pump and filter is located inside a metal container/housing inside the frame in front of the engine. It has a rubber boot on top that protects the wiring harness, quick fuel line disconnect and fuel vent hose. Access from the right side of the quad. You have to remove the fittings and harness on top then unbolt it and remove it from the quad. Put it in a soft jaw vise or use protection on jaws top side up.Then open it up by removing the top and the fuel pump lifts out of the housing, the filter is located on the bottom. You have to turn it one way and then remove it from the fitting, take you time and try not to break anything. I had to twist mine while pulling with pressure.

You might want to purchase new fuel pump O ring and quick fuel line disconnect. My fuel line disconnect was old and brittle and cracked when I tried removing it.

A note on replacement is they have updated the original filter design to a filter that folds over the side of the pump and resides upright on the side of the pump. I think the idea is that the original design of the filter sitting on the bottom of the housing got clogged too easily. The new "vertical" style filter is supposed to minimize clogging i think..
 
#14 ·
Thank you for that information. I found a picture of the pump so at least I was armed with an idea of what it looked like. Now I know where to locate it!

Is this filter inside the pump a necessary thing? Can I leave it out and just put an inline fuel filter on it? I read where several people were putting inline filters on in addition to the one inside the filter, but it would save a step if the four wheeler will run without it.
 
#17 ·
Got everything off. Boy oh boy, I made a sizable mess with all the gas, but once I got that under control, everything went smoothly enough. I will not be using Honda's handy-dandy quick connect fuel line when I put everything back together. I almost didn't get it off, and I'll never fight that thing again. I'm going to put a longer fuel line on it and a hose clamp on it. I'll get my new parts tomorrow and let y'all know if it cured my four wheeler's running problems.

Oh, by the way, I don't know what the filters are supposed to look like, but mine was black and had black fuel running out of it. The fuel in the bottom of the fuel pump canister was black too. I don't know how the poor machine was even running at all.
 
#18 ·
Good going, I know mine was black as well, some say the plastic tank deteriorates turning things black. Most of the pictures I have seen online were black as well. Mine definitely ran better once I replaced the filter. Hopefully yours improves. The other common one is a dirty Intake Air Control (IAC) valve that causes problems on FI models, they can get clogged and not function as advertised. If you do decide to clean yours you need a tamper proof torx bit to remove the two screws that hold it and it has grooves in the side of it that line up a particular way when re-installing. It's located on top of the intake and easy to get at.

For some reason my "quick" disconnect wasn't and it cracked as well. Must be a Honda thing as most of my other vehicles the fuel line disconnects work well.
 
#19 ·
On another note about fuel additives/cleaners. I have always been suspicious that they may cause deterioration of plastic fuel tanks. No evidence just suspicions as I have seen a lot of black fuel clogs with black plastic tanks on high mileage vehicles. Having said that, I do use seafoam with good results on my other vehicles. I am pretty leery about magic in a bottle though. I remember I put some oil cleaner product in my Jeep one time before I changed the oil. My oil pump gasket and oil pump failed a short time after. Lucky I had hydraulic lifters and heard them clatter making me shut the engine off before I caused terminal damage with no oil pressure. coincidence? who knows. I am more about doing the routine maintenance work properly now than finding magic in a bottle.
 
#20 ·
I got my new filter this morning and snagged a new plug while I was out. Put it all back together (minus the quick-connect fuel line) and the crazy thing is still running just like it was. There's no improvement at all that I can tell.

Where do I go from here? What should I check next?

Oh, I don't feel the least bit bad about the new fuel filter or spark plug. They were both in pretty bad shape.
 
#22 ·
Yes sir, the plug was blackened again. It wasn't nearly as bad, but I only ran it long enough to see that it was still up to its old tricks. I took the plug out this afternoon and cleaned it again.

I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem, and I cannot even be sure which happened first. Around about the same time the four wheeler started acting up its battery died. I replaced it with a honda battery. I don't know for sure whether it started running poorly before I changed out the batteries or after, but it was around the same time. Is there anything electrical that might cause such a problem? The battery ain't weak and the four wheeler cranks perfectly every time.
 
#23 ·
i would check the valve clearance and the plug fowling could be crankcase vent pluged up. have u run
new wires and tie wrap the vent hose or had something apart and pinched the vent hose and I would
pull the exhaust pipe of the end of the muffler and clean the spark arrester screen. the only other thing I can think off is the cam chain has jumped a tooth.
 
#24 ·
Irp, wow. I think I'm going to need some schooling. Valve clearance? I have no idea how to go about checking that. Do I have to have any serious mechanical abilities for that?

New wires for what? Battery wires, spark plug wires, or something else? But regardless, the answer is no. I haven't put any new wires on it, but I was asking just in case that might help. That's probably within my skill level.

What vent hose are you talking about? I checked the one of the fuel cap and it's clear and the one on the fuel pump (I am guessing that's what the third hose on the pump was) looked in good order as far as I could follow it. I didn't go all the way to its other end so I can't say for sure it's clear.

I have pulled the spark arrestor out and cleaned it. The screen was pretty black. I haven't ran it since I cleaned the arrestor. Also, I took the battery terminals off and roughed them up a bit. They were tight but I thought maybe I could get them a little better contact.
 
#25 ·
The other maintenance issue that can cause fuel injection problems is your Idle Air Control Valve. Its one of the easiest things to check and clean because it is on top of the intake. I mentioned it earlier in one of my posts. you need a tamper proof torx bit to remove it. Its a small motor controlled valve that sits in the intake and regulates the amount of air entering the engine. They sometimes get gummed up and wont operate properly. You just remove the wirining harness remove the two torx screws and alignment plate ontop.

Pull it straight up and off then clean it up with some carb cleaner or such and a scour pad. It gets carbon build up on it causing it to jam or not open and close smoothly. Spray it with some lube like WD20 and re-install it. Be careful to re-install it in the correct orientation, as it has a groove in the side of it that slides over an index pin in the side of the housing. You'll know when it seats properly when it sits all the way down in the housing and when you put the alignment plate back on with the two screws there is no play in it it's flat down with no play.

Other than that I think you need a service manual or a stealership to start diagnosing mechanical problems. The fuel injection system and associated sensors error codes can be read from the dash display through a series of flashes or with a factory tool. I mention this because if it seems like it is mechanically running well so I would suspect one of the many electronic sensors that affect performance like the Vehicle Speed Sensors (VSS) on the front and back of the engine. I believe they would throw a trouble code if not sending the proper signal.

Other than the above like other people are asking what you plug looks like to figure if you have a mechanical problem. If you plug is wet with oil you may have internal problem like rings. Although I have also seen a wet plug from someone putting way too much oil on their intake air filter when they cleaned it. You can tell a fair amount about your problem by reading your plug.
 
#26 ·
Power, I removed and cleaned the IACV. It actually ran worse, got stuck into high revs after I gas it some gas in both forward and reverse motions, but I took it out and cleaned it again. That seemed to put it back to running as well as it was before I messed with it.

How do I know if it's sending error codes? What flashes do I look for? If I know I've got codes coming off it, I guess I'll have no choice but let Honda examine it. Unless there's a list of those codes somewhere.

Back to the plug issue: it's not "wet" like liquid wet. If that's what Oilcan meant by being "wet" I misunderstood. I thought he meant that it was wet from having too much fuel that wasn't burning of the plug. The plug itself is dry to the touch. It's just blackened sort of like the screen on the spark arrestor.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top