92 Honda 350 stalls every 2-3 min

[sledhead5000]

Hi guys,
I recently bought a 92 Honda TRX350 that stalls after 2 or 3 min of riding. The guy I bought it from said it was old gas or a clogged fuel filter... got fresh gas and a new filter in now, same problem. Wondering if anyone has some insights as to how to fix it.
Basically, it runs fine for 2-3 minutes (driving and idling), then stalls out. After it stalls I hear the fuel pump running for an extra few seconds which is leading me to think it's a fuel shortage that's causing the stalling, (not flooding). After it stalls, it takes a bit of pumping the throttle, but it starts up eventually, then runs for another few minutes before repeating.

Ideas I've come up with so far:
1. Float in the carb is sticking, then comes free and refills the bowl when it stalls out.
2. Fuel pump is worn out and can't keep up when riding, thus slowly falls behind and stalls then catches up when motor is off.

Help?

 

[imdoo'n]

pull the carb apart and clean it out, maybe check the fuel shut off, may be plugged. pull the fuel line off caeb and see if gas flows, check for crud in tank.

 

[leonard]

First like said above its easiest if its a fuel problem.

clean from tank to carb - make sure your idle is not to rich make sure your choke is functioning properly and is closing and not sticking on.

make sure the gas cap isn't causing a pressure problem by being plugged.

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you might need to set valves but that usually only maters for starting most bikes will run if they start reguardless.

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If you check all those things and its still happening. Start at the spark plug and work your way back into the electrical. GL from there. i hope you find a problem with fuel or something and i believe you will. electrical problems can be a pain.

 

[leonard]

oh and btw TRX 350.. what fuel pump man. your hearing a suction or something from your tank prob your gas cap like i said .. take the gas cap off and run the bike

 

[ICANAM]

I have had that problem before and it was the vent line on the fuel cap (on my dad's Kodiak). The worst part is that we had it tore apart by the time we found that out. But you may be right about the float needle sticking in the seat. If the quad has sat for any long span of time, then there is a good chance that the jets and needle could be gummed up or plugged.

 

[sledhead5000]

Can't find a vent line on the fuel tank at all... hisses when opened after running too leading me to suspect a vacuum might be to blame. As far as I can tell, the seal around the cap works very well and the only hose going in is a fuel return line.
Anyone with a similar Honda have a photo of where I can find the vent line? (If they have one?)

 

[leonard]

yea in the gas cap is where your vent is.

does it run with the Gas cap off the bike?

if so go get a replacement gas cap for your bike.

if you dont see a vent line in that one im assuming it might have the wrong cap on?

my 350 has a line coming out of the cap. inside the cap there is a ball bearing that can stick. or if mud gets in the cap it will stick as well and cause a air lock.

no air into the tank means fuel cant flow to the carb.

 

[maierch]

my 350 has a line coming out of the cap. inside the cap there is a ball bearing that can stick. or if mud gets in the cap it will stick as well and cause a air lock.

Your 350 is a lot newer than this one!! The old TRX 350 lumber wagons (Great quad don't get me wrong but they ride a little rough) Had the fuel tank under the seat. Because of this they required a fuel pump to get fuel to the carb. These were notorious for crapping out. I would say that's the place to start. You can try pulling off the fuel line into the carburetor and make sure the pump is supplying fuel while running the 2-3 mins that it does run. It's very likely that it's just burning what's in the float bowl during that time.

1992 TRX350

~1997+ TRX 350

 

[sledhead5000]

So you figure I should be replacing the fuel pump?
Or should I try the gas cap first?
(If i get one with a vent that low down, I may run into problems with water getting into the fuel tank)

 

[maierch]

I would say that you need to check the fuel pump and the fuel cap. Try the following:

1. Start the engine with the fuel pump connected to the carburetor.
2. With the engine running pull the fuel line off the carb and see if there is any fuel being pumped.
3. If there isn't sufficient fuel being pumped, try pulling the gas cap off and see if the flow increases

If the fuel throughput increases when you remove the gas cap you have a venting issue. I believe the vent in those units were the caps themselves similar to an old ATC. I can't remember if they can be rebuilt or just replaced.

If you have overall crappy throughput then it's likely the fuel pump. As I said before these things went all the time.

Good Luck!

 

[sledhead5000]

Blasted the fuel cap with compressed air from every angle this weekend, then took the quad out for a test run. Worked great and didn't stall.

Now, I have a new problem. Since it's not quitting every few minutes, the engine is getting extremely hot. I noticed that the fan isn't running, I haven't had a chance to look at that yet though.
In an attempt to cool the engine on the trail, I ran it through some moderate puddles and succeeded in killing the motor more than once. I am perplexed why this happens however, because the air box and air filter stayed dry. The inlet to the air box was above water and didn't even get splashed... yet the quad still stalled in the middle of the puddle and took 5 minutes to get running again. Any ideas how the puddles could be affecting the motor?

 

[Murminator]

Steam coming up off them motor going through the airbox killing it then from cranking it you flood it a bit....been there many times

 

[sledhead5000]

Back to square one with the stalling issue. Runs great on gravel roads, both high-speed and low-speed. Take it off onto a rough or inclined trail, and it stalls out every hundred meters or so (more often than it was doing it before).
Can't figure it out... I'll rip up and down a forestry road just fine, then drop down an ATV trail and boom, dead. Tried it several times, died in the same spot every time. No water involved, starts up after a bit, sometimes more difficult than others.
I'm clueless on this one because it's so inconsistent. Testing for the cause is impossible because it works fine most of the time... except for on the trails I want it to work on!
My next steps are to take apart the carb and give it a thorough cleaning... any other suggestions?

 

[imdoo'n]

i'd suggest that every 2 to 3 minutes you have ridden enough and the quad is telling you to have a beer.:d

 

[magnet]

Back to square one with the stalling issue. Runs great on gravel roads, both high-speed and low-speed. Take it off onto a rough or inclined trail, and it stalls out every hundred meters or so (more often than it was doing it before).
Can't figure it out... I'll rip up and down a forestry road just fine, then drop down an ATV trail and boom, dead. Tried it several times, died in the same spot every time. No water involved, starts up after a bit, sometimes more difficult than others.
I'm clueless on this one because it's so inconsistent. Testing for the cause is impossible because it works fine most of the time... except for on the trails I want it to work on!
My next steps are to take apart the carb and give it a thorough cleaning... any other suggestions?

list it for sale on kijij and let the guy test drive it on your driveway. then go get a new one. jk. i would start with the carb. could be a small piece of crap bouncing around oin there plugging a jet or something.

 

[ICANAM]

Back to square one with the stalling issue. Runs great on gravel roads, both high-speed and low-speed. Take it off onto a rough or inclined trail, and it stalls out every hundred meters or so (more often than it was doing it before).
Can't figure it out... I'll rip up and down a forestry road just fine, then drop down an ATV trail and boom, dead. Tried it several times, died in the same spot every time. No water involved, starts up after a bit, sometimes more difficult than others.
I'm clueless on this one because it's so inconsistent. Testing for the cause is impossible because it works fine most of the time... except for on the trails I want it to work on!
My next steps are to take apart the carb and give it a thorough cleaning... any other suggestions?

Is it a rough trail where you break down? If your carb is gummed up, and you go over rough terrain, then your float can stick in the "up" position, causing a loss of fuel. My friend's grizzly did that once in a while..he'd tap the the float bowl and away he'd go.. I would definately take the carb apart and pull out the jets and float needle a clean them.