my rancher 350 running for first time after rebuild

[caseywoods5]

hey guys here is a vid of my 2002 Honda Rancher 350 4X4 running for the first time after i rebuilt it. i put in new cylinder, piston, and rings. let me know what you think of it! i'm going to be getting goodies for it now!I:I

 

[1995blaster]

I want a 4x4 BAD

 

[caseywoods5]

^^^ it took me a year of searching and working out trades to finally make it to this one and i think i'll probably either keep it or maybe trade it to a bigger racing fourwheeler. going to talk to a guy with a 2002 bombardier ds650 and see if he might want to trade but i'm almost 100% sure that i want to keep this now and make it either my cruiser or my mudder haha

 

[sicivicdude]

a few things.

Gotta adjust those valves..... aircooled honda's and their pushrods! go to .004" on the intake and .005" on the exhaust lash.... quieten that bad boy right up.

Dude, highlifter disc brakes for the front..... gotta dump those drums. They stink like month old milk.

Sounds really good otherwise. Hard to kill an ol' honda isn't it?

 

[caseywoods5]

a few things.

Gotta adjust those valves..... aircooled honda's and their pushrods! go to .004" on the intake and .005" on the exhaust lash.... quieten that bad boy right up.

Dude, highlifter disc brakes for the front..... gotta dump those drums. They stink like month old milk.

Sounds really good otherwise. Hard to kill an ol' honda isn't it?

i checked the valves already and they're in clearance lol... it was almost seized up when i got it, the PO ran it VERY low on oil and the rings were welded to the piston, the circlips welded to the piston, and the wristpin nearly seized to the rod. took me a month to finally get the wristpin out. i threw on all the new parts and before i put the carb and stuff back on i gave it a little squirt of gas and it started first pull... and i've never heard of highlifter brakes, mind enlightening me on them? and yeah for sure! honda's are tanks!!! i love them haha

 

[sicivicdude]

i checked the valves already and they're in clearance lol... it was almost seized up when i got it, the PO ran it VERY low on oil and the rings were welded to the piston, the circlips welded to the piston, and the wristpin nearly seized to the rod. took me a month to finally get the wristpin out. i threw on all the new parts and before i put the carb and stuff back on i gave it a little squirt of gas and it started first pull... and i've never heard of highlifter brakes, mind enlightening me on them? and yeah for sure! honda's are tanks!!! i love them haha

I know they're in spec. Honda service manual has the specs at like .006" and .008", right? Trust me... run them tight .004" and .005" will quieten that valve noise and won't adversely affect the engine.

Good to hear you managed to save it from the brink. Bad, bad mojo running an air/oil cooled quad low on oil. Not only does it need the stuff to keep the crank happy but the less there is in there the faster it breaks down...

High Lifter Products - HONDA FRONT DISC BRAKE CONVERSION KIT

Works like Norman420 spindles.... only these are replacement hubs and a brake bracket. Best friggin $400 you'll EVER spend on that rancher if you intend to keep it! Now that the engine is back upto snuff you won't have to mess with anything *else* except per ride cleaning and adjusting those stinking drum brakes. Trust me.... PER RIDE cleaning and adjusting....

 

[caseywoods5]

yeah man i'm happy i saved it haha and i'm not being too hard on it right now. i'm letting it idle and cool down like i would for the blaster so it lasts. if i rev it up at about 1/4 to 1/2 throttle then it starts to smoke a little and i don't want to smoke the new rings so i'm just letting it settle and break in. and i can't afford the brakes right now but they'll for sure be on my list because i've rode plenty of ranchers before so i know how bad the brakes can be haha. and i had to borrow feeler gauges to do this so i'll adjust them whenever i get my own set since you said tightening them won't hurt. thanks for all the advice and help so far bro, rep given

 

[sicivicdude]

Don't go ANY tighter than .004" on the intake and .005" on the exhaust though. The cylinder expands more than the pushrods and it'll hold a valve open if you go tighter than that but "factory spec" leaves them rattling incessantly....

You should break it in like you would a blaster. Let it heat cycle twice to bake in those gaskets and then go ride it like you stole it. If it smokes during break-in it'll smoke always (nothing some new rings can't fix!) but if you baby it forever it'll never seat those rings. After an hour or two (or one good long trail ride) come back and change the oil and filter. It'll have the bits of ring and cylinder it "broke-in" down in there and you wanna get that stuff out of there before it finds its way somewhere it should be.

 

[2g00d4u]

Nice man. Why did yours need a rebuild? Mine is 24 years old and is far from any top end work, Honda 350 4x4's FTW!

 

[caseywoods5]

Don't go ANY tighter than .004" on the intake and .005" on the exhaust though. The cylinder expands more than the pushrods and it'll hold a valve open if you go tighter than that but "factory spec" leaves them rattling incessantly....

You should break it in like you would a blaster. Let it heat cycle twice to bake in those gaskets and then go ride it like you stole it. If it smokes during break-in it'll smoke always (nothing some new rings can't fix!) but if you baby it forever it'll never seat those rings. After an hour or two (or one good long trail ride) come back and change the oil and filter. It'll have the bits of ring and cylinder it "broke-in" down in there and you wanna get that stuff out of there before it finds its way somewhere it should be.

why would it smoke though? i just rebuilt the entire top end with new cylinder, piston, and rings all... why would i put more new rings in? and yeah i know about the break in thing, let it run then cool for about 5-10 times like i would a blaster. and it is like buying a new dirtbike or fourwheeler, they come with "break-in oil" in them for a reason lol. i am running pro honda racing oil in it same as everything else i got. and are you saying that it smoking right now means it's always going to? because after i let it idle for a while it didn't smoke as much as when it first started and i thought it was starting to settle a little.

 

[caseywoods5]

Nice man. Why did yours need a rebuild? Mine is 24 years old and is far from any top end work, Honda 350 4x4's FTW!

mine needed a rebuild because the PO ran it nearly dry on oil. he was riding it and it bogged down and quit and lost compression. it had welded the rings and circlips to the piston as well as nearly seizing the wristpin to the rod. and thanks man I:I

 

[sicivicdude]

why would it smoke though? i just rebuilt the entire top end with new cylinder, piston, and rings all... why would i put more new rings in? and yeah i know about the break in thing, let it run then cool for about 5-10 times like i would a blaster. and it is like buying a new dirtbike or fourwheeler, they come with "break-in oil" in them for a reason lol. i am running pro honda racing oil in it same as everything else i got. and are you saying that it smoking right now means it's always going to? because after i let it idle for a while it didn't smoke as much as when it first started and i thought it was starting to settle a little.

I didn't realize you had put all new running gear in it. I *assumed* used/second hand stuff since you said it took you a year of bartering...

Did you change the valve guide seals? If the PO ran it nearly dry on oil, it ran hot as fire and coulda scorched the rubber seals. It would be pulling oil into the combustion chamber through the intake or blowing oil out into the exhaust...

 

[caseywoods5]

i checked them and they were sealing fine... the year of bartering was trading around different bikes and quads to get this one. and the only thing second hand i used was a freshly honed cylinder that came off a 2003 rancher. but i think it's smoking a little because it isn't broken in yet, every other 4 stroke i've rebuilt smokes until properly broken in. but i'm just ocd about this rancher haha it's more than likely going to be a keeper

 

[caseywoods5]

here is a vid of the slight smoking... and up until now i forgot to mention that it is running on old gas and it doesn't have a choke cable so could it be a possibility the choke is sticking and the old gas is just causing more smoke?