400'shard to start in cold weather

[jb400exxx]

i hd tried to start my 400 ex today, but t wouldn't start, the battery died twice. my dad tried to start his, and his battery died trying too. is there any special tricks to cold starting with 400 ex's? cause it's not even close to starting. i tried with the choke full, tried with it off.

[01_400exrider]

Try full choke with the throttle about 1/8 of the way open. Also make sure its in nuetral, choke is on before you turn your key on, also make sure the lights are off :blah

[Drtridr18]

Yep, mine did that also...I believe and have heard that all honda 4 strokes are like that, 'specially ours.

Quick fix is to richen up the idle mixture another half to full turn on the bottom of the carb...most of the times i've never had to use the choke if i didn't want to, just twist the gas a couple times and crank it up...still it is tricky to get fired just right and not to flood, but works pretty well..

I think when winter really hits, i'm gonna put either a 40 or a 42 pilot jet in it, supposedly helps even more in that situation and for low rpm range response, the pilot jet was not included in K&N Power kit of mine.

Thanks

[redrider ex]

then try it without the choke

[tprender]

Put the 42 pilot in and it will start. The low end jetting on the 400 is to lea from the factory.

[Nausty]

check out the faq forum...

[danney f]

For some reason Honda used the same size of pilot in the 400ex carb as they did in the 300ex. The 400ex carb has a bigger bore than the 300's carb and allows more air to flow through, thats why its so hard to start the 400's unless its hot outside and some times even then. I have a 400ex carb on my 300 and it runs leaner than it did with the stock carb. It really needs at least a 40 pilot, but until I get one I just pump the throttle 2 or 3 times with the choke on and it starts right up.

Up the pilot jet to a 42 and your problems are solved..I can turn over my 416ex with 2 pumps of the gas and hit the starter button in any weather conditions.. Also Never use the choke,,they cause more problems than fix.

[Doibugu2]

Do you still have to feather the throttle if you up the pilot jet?

On mine which still has the stock jet, if I don't use the choke, I have to feather the throttle for a minute otherwise it will die.

Originally posted by Doibugu2
Do you still have to feather the throttle if you up the pilot jet?

On mine which still has the stock jet, if I don't use the choke, I have to feather the throttle for a minute otherwise it will die.

some what but not much,,once mine turns over I feather the gas maybe for a few seconds,,crack it about 1/4 -1/2 throttle then she'll idle forever.

[Dienamo111]

I used to have the same type of trouble but i move my pilot to a 42 and turned the idle up just a hair and now she fires on like the first two turns. My brother has a 400ex "heating blanket" yeah it may sound funny but he bought it from a quad racing distributor here in town, and says it works perfect, plug in 10 mins before and it drapes over the seat and velcros at the bottom of the engine and warms the engine...It sounds stupid but it works and his is bone stock.:blah

[400exInMI]

When you are done riding your quad, turn the fuel valve to off and run the gas out of it before parking it, when you go to start it again, (when its cold) turn the gas on and wait 10-15 seconds, pump the gas twice and put the choke to full, start it, once the motor catches, put the choke to half and full, roating back and forth for about a minute or so. Works every time for me, and my pilot jet is stock, 155 main though. good luck....