400ex chock problem

[liftlawssuck]

my friend has a 05 400ex and when you put the chock level up all the way in the morning to help start it it does not rev up like it should?any ideas why and the honda dealer says it is ok too

[underpowered]

it is normal, the choke riches up the fuel mixture by bloking some air. it wont rev up because of the rich mixture.

[NacsMXer]

I've noticed that too but it is not a sign of a problem, it's just how the 400's are ;) And it's spelled choke btw, like you're "choking" the motor of air temporarily. I've noticed that if you pull the choke on a Honda utility and start it, it will rev higher than normal and run on it's own.

The 400 is much more cold-blooded and is a completely different story. It doesn't want to run on its own, and rev higher like the utilities do. These carbs and engines are very finicky but you will learn what to do and what not to do when starting them.

So if the engine's cold, first pump the throttle once or twice to get some gas into the cylinder (your carb has an accelerator pump that squirts gas very rapidly), then flip the choke all the way on and put a slight amount of pressure on the throttle (less than 1/4 throttle) while pushing the start button. Once it fires, keep steady pressure on the throttle to keep the engine alive until it wants to idle on its own when you let go of the throttle. After a minute, flip the choke off all the way and let it idle a few more minutes to warm up.

I run a FCR39 that has no choke at all, only an accelerator pump, and I can start it easily no matter how cold it is. I just pump the throttle a couple times and keep slight pressure on the throttle while starting it and it starts no problem everytime. A lot of times you can get away with this method instead of using the choke all the time. You will foul less spark plugs this way b/c choking it temporarily makes it run rich. That happened to me a couple times with the stock carb but haven't fouled a plug since.

[kdub33]

Are all Honda's just cold-natured? My dad has a rancher es, and its a pain in the *** to get started. We've had the choke cable replaced b/c of a recall, and I've heard many stories of honda's being very difficult to be started in the cold weather.

[coryatver]

400ex's don't rev up like other quads when the choke is on. The 400ex has a real choke. Some quads have CV carbs which run on a vaccum and the choke is not a real choke, it just increases the idle. Honda's are jetted lean from the factory for epa emmission crap. The 400ex is the first quad to meet the 2006 epa offroad standards. Put in a 42 pilot jet and you won't even need to use the choke. I did it and my friends and some of them even removed there choke for better air flow in the carb.

[F-16Guy]

Originally posted by kdub33
Are all Honda's just cold-natured? My dad has a rancher es, and its a pain in the *** to get started. We've had the choke cable replaced b/c of a recall, and I've heard many stories of honda's being very difficult to be started in the cold weather.
Yep. They lean the crap out them so they can sell them in California. Everything there must be CARB (California Air Resource Board) approved. It's nothing a $3 pilot jet won't cure, though.:D