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I have a 2000 Honda Rancher Electronic Shift. I bought it new, but since I've had it, I have to manually prime it to get it to start if its cold. I took it back to the dealer to have that fixed and for annual service. They said it was requiring manual priming because it was low on gas. I told them they were wrong, but they said to fill it up with gas and see if it would start without priming. Of course, that wasn't the problem, and I still have to prime it to start. Rather than taking it back to the dealer (requiring four hours total driving for two trips), does anyone have an idea on what might be causing this? and how to fix it?

I'm having the same problems out of my bike. It's a 2000 Rancher ES 4x4. It'll run the battery down trying to crank it on cold days.

Micah

I figured the dealer would have checked to see if the choke was functioning properly. I had a similar issue and took the carb. apart to discover the choke had seized up. Once I broke it free...no more cold start trouble.

...wonder if they did something different with the engine design on the ranchers. Most of the older Hondas I have ever seen crank like a champ when others won't run.
The above issue is the only problem I've ever had with my 400.

Welcome to the Board

I wonder if they are affiliated with Mercury outboards...sometimes they can be the stubbornest (if that's a word) things to start on cold mornings. Good luck with getting it fixed...but give this a try. get yourself a can of that fuel additive that cleans your fuel system and dump part of it in your tank (not the whole bottle as it was designed to go in a large capacity tank), then put a partial bottle of that octane booster in there if you run low octane gas...if you run the high octane gas already then disregard this step. take your spark plug out and give the business end of it a thorough going over with a wire brush and replace the spark plug if it is in bad shape. I would also recommend using the high octane gas in the future since the small amount that you are going to be putting in an ATV tank shouldn't break the bank. If you do all this and it still doesn't improve, then you really do need to take it in and have them work on it and tell them NOT to call you until it is RIGHT. and be prepared to be without it for a few days. It would be best to do it now before duck season gets here. Hope this helps and WELCOME ABOARD!!!

Does the Grizzly smell a weakness in the alleged king of the mud?

Uh! Wait! Yep the Big Bear just cranked on the first try! Now thats handy! [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Hey Micah and delta, I can check with "Da Honda Man" at lunch time and get back to ya.

Or have you already found the problem(ie choke)?

Damn Pintail so did mine.

How many old yamaha 3 wheelers you still see in the backs of pickups, all honda's?
Plus those yamaha handle bars are goofy looking as hell..

honda is kind of like wine. the older the better and more valuable. i like the part about the three wheelers. see a lot of old big reds these days........g-wall...you are on the right track with chevy. you need to come around on the 4-wheelers though......

Come on now, my dad still has a blue moto-4 that is a 1985 model. Still runs like a charm. Only reason I went with Yamaha was it is hard to go away from something that works well. If it weren't a Yamaha I probably would have to go with a Honda. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Thrasher I always had Yamaha's and never had a lick of trouble. BUT!!! now I've got a Honda 450s foreman. BUT!!! the only reason is the 450 was free. The only way I would on a Honda is if someone gave me one and thats what happened. Can't wait to see what it will do with 2 sacks of deks 2 buddies while draging 3 mummy boats through the worst Tallahatchie gumbo none to man.

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DON'T SHOOT THE SHOVE (grinnin meganser unlimited )

Whoa, now Yamaha guys. Hondas are hard to beat. I believe I'm just a carb. adjustment away from having the same, dependable ATV that millions of guys driving 8, 10, 12 year old Hondas drive through the worst stuff imaginable with no problems.