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hard to start in the winter

4K views 16 replies 13 participants last post by  MudChucker 
#1 ·
my rincon is very hard to start when it is cold out side(-10 or more) i do not dare to go to the camp over night it may not go the next day is there any thing i can do to over come this problem my. rincon is just a stock 04
 
#2 ·
The first thing I would try is switching to Rotella T 5w40 synthetic oil.

It is available here in the states at Wal Mart for $12.88 a gallon.

We haven't had any real cold weather here in Ohio yet but it has been in the low 30's and my Rinny starts right up.

Last winter I was still using Honda stock oil and it would grind several seconds before starting.

Another advantage of Rotella is that the transmission works smoother and doesn't need to warm up before taking off.

Second thing to try would be to push the primer button on the carberator.

Haven't had to do this one myself but have read here on other threads that it will help. You can find how to do this in the owners manual.

John
 
#3 ·
Try the primer button for sure.
 
#4 ·
Mark , maybe you could try a small adjustment on your air screw, I dont know if will work for sure but well worth a try. It did help my rincon up here in northeastern B.C. mike
 
#5 ·
thanks guys. some say that a jet kit will help this and others say that a jet kit is no good with out a pipe and a good air filter do you need all three, or is this just to boost horse power.i just need it to start with out keeping it in a heated room once it is going it is ok but would not trust it over night out side
 
#7 ·
1) Yes, use a winter grade oil,0-30 or 5-30. Make sure it is the right kind. See your manual.
2) Use the primer button/bulb. Locate it while in the shop and make a short piece of dowel or stick to press it without having to dissasemble the seat etc.(Know whare it is, basically, before you go out).
3) No need for a special battery, just make sure your connectors are tight and the battery will stay fresh.
Ask me how I know this? I lived in Slave Lake, Alberta Canada for 21 years and ahve ridden/driven in very cold temperatures and ahve started many a quad when temps were in the -25 to -30 deg. C range.(-20 deg. F for our southrn cousins.)
Lots of luck and enjoy.
Ride safe. Bushcrasher.
 
#9 ·
With 20W50 in a 470 CID horizontally opposed six and only a 35 amp battery I use an insulated cover and a regular 900 watt car interior heater for 1.5 - 4 hours prior to starting, depending upon temperatures. Yes, I know that the Rincon is not that sort of engine, but the preheating of the whole engine, tranny, battery, carb etc. under a tarp would certainly do the trick.

So, as a new owner, my question for Rinconers is do any of you use a semisynthetic oil after the engine is well run in? Starting that big six in the cold sure brings the oil pressure up a lot faster with the synthetic oil, and the oil cooler never freezes up as it will with straight weight oil.

Do any of you mix 1:4 or so of 100 Low Lead Avgas with regular car gas for more power and a bit of valve lubrication?

Does fuel stabilizer help keep the carb clean when the quad sits for more than a couple of weeks, as it will when temperatures are -30 and lower here?
 
#10 ·
many use full synthetics on their rincons... broken in or not... with good results... I use the honda HP4 synthetic...but many use Rotella T synthetic...a word of caution on the oils thing... I used Castrol Syntec once... and I should mention that when I moved to synthetic, it was like installing a shift kit.. when it shifts its hard and positive... very cool... but anyway, back to my story... as Im sure your aware, you are not to use oil labled as "Energy Conserving" in the API circle ... so I bought castrol syntec 5W50 or some thing or other, anyway.. I changed the oil, and ran the machine... in no time at all, say about 100 miles or so... the transmission started slip like a sonofabitch... so I drained the oil... and holy shit, it was thiner then alcahol... I couldnt believe that the oil had sheard so quickly... so.. I emailed Castrol ... I posted their response to the forum a way back when, you might try searching for it... the point Im making here is this...an oil rated for automotive use may not stand up to the beating of a 4 stroke ATV engine and its rider...
now your thing of mixing aviation fuel... well, all I have access to is Jet-A1, wich is diesel... so I cant imagine wanting to run that in the machine... if you realy want to get some performance get yourself a gallon of RC engine fuel... thats Nitromethane... about 5 ounces in your tank and you will feel it...be carefull tho, it is corrosive and you will run hotter... some octane boost may be a good addition...
fuel stabalizer along with a touch of gasline antifreeze is what I use year round... the methyl alcahol keeps any water in suspension so it runs straight through, and the fuel stabalizer is just a good measure additive... it will stop that green sludge from forming whilst its sitting... In canada, our fuel is considered "old gas" at 5 weeks...
as far as hard starting goes...at -30C its a bitch... having access to a heater is nice, but when you've spent the night in the bush.. unless youve gotten up every hour or so and started the machine for 15 to 20 minutes.. your going to have to learn how its done...
here is the frozen prairie secret to starting any small motor at -25C or more... on an ATV this is typically a two person job... and you had better have a good battery....
pull the choke out. and have someone plug the exhaust with a rag in the palm of their glove... and spin the snot out of it... the fuel will ignite and pop a bit, the person who is plugging the pipe needs to go through a process of hearing the state of the engine and allowing it to breath by removing the restriction.. in about 2 or 3 minutes the fuel that you have already ignited and backfired on will warm up the engine enough and poof, its running... we have come up with an idea to use hydraulic quick connects on the water lines and bolt a small automotive oil cooler to the radiator of the truck and have quick connects on it as well as an electric circulating pump... this way we start the truck, we let the engine heat up, and then circulate the fluid through the sleds etc... if we all did this, then we would make up a manifold to circulate more fluid through more machines... all our machines have the same coolent requirments, and we all use watter wetter... so it would be a cool way to also filter and recycle and flush the cooling systems all at once... the reason for the hydraulic connections is that this allows everything to hold coolent so no need to bleed the lines etc,,, this may sound rediculous to you warmer climate people,,,but remember, here were I am, and likley were bushpilot is, we live in colder temps then the inside of most freezers, for about 7 months a year...
 
#11 ·
Three things will make your Rincon start easily in the absolute coldest of colds.

1) Use the primer.
2) Run Honda HP4 0W-30 semi synthetic oil.
3) Install an inline coolant heater. This is the most important part. I installed one on my Rincon since I plow with it and leave the machine outside in the cold. In the coldest of colds, I plug it in for 1-2 hours and it starts up instantly. Warmup time is also drastically reduced since the engine top end is already somewhat warm.


Believe me, this is the only surefire way to ensure instant cold weather starts.
 
#14 ·
section 5-7 of the service book . the carb has a heater .... I live around the conner from you and I havent had a prob. just turn the key and wait a few seconds...
 
#15 ·
Listened to the dealer the other day making a sales pitch to a co-worker who was loking for a machine so send to Nome, Alaska. He said that if you turn on the ignition and wait 30-60 seconds for the carb heat to do its magic and hit the primer button a couple of times it'll start right up. A significant percentage of machines in the Bush are Hondas. They get a lot of abuse and keep on ticking.
 
#16 ·
I have taken the carb off several times and didn't know it had a primer bulb. I will have to look next time. That's cool.
 
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