Just got the FL350 running! Gas seems to be pouring out of the overflow tube beneath the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )). The Honda manual does not seem to address this, so I'm at a loss.

Reading through posts it appears it could be a float bowl issue, but besides that, could the fuel lines be connected wrong, i.e. the 3-way valve plumbed wrong? I just put a new Mikuni replacement fuel pump on and replaced the old fuel lines with new see-through blue fuel lines and a new filter. I put everything back together the way I found it, but it does not appear to be the way it is in the manual, so I'm thinking it's the 3-way valve plumbing.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete

PS Brakes are next, front brakes are nearly non existent and the rear brake will slow me down somewhat.

There are 3 hoses on the carb two upper ones are vents the lower one is the
float bowl over flow I take it the gas is coming out that one?

You need to check to verify the float setting if it is set to high it will over flow out the
tube, if their is dirt between the needle and seat it will allow fuel to keep flowing.

I think the stock setting for the float bowl level is 16mm, that's the stock carb.I have some bowls/floats if yours are bad for a stock carb, just Pm me here and I'll send it out to you for free.

If the carb has been sitting for a long period of time, it should be thouroghly cleaned and blown out .The floats should be checked for leakage and replaced if need be and reset to 16mm.The needle and seat should also be checked thouroughly for wear and or dirt or debris.You might also check the midrange needle for any wear while your at it and check to see what main jet is in it now before you get it all back together and end up having to do it all again.The main jet on a stock carb and stock motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) should be a #142. If it's piped ? maybe a #148 or a #150.

Argh! Sounds like a carb rebuild!

I was hoping it was simply a plumbing issue or that the replacement fuel pump was significantly stronger than the stock pump.

Thanks for the assistance, I'll set out on these instructions and get back.

Pete

How did you make out on this ???????

Waiting for parts....don't worry - I hate when people fix things and don't return to tell how, i'll let y'all know how I made out.

At this point, u-joints keep breaking so i'm waiting for axles. Once the axles are in and I can untweak the right radius arm a bit. Then I can roll it outside and clean the carb, install a new 3-way valve. After that I guess I'll get the brakes working. Once I know it's all there, I'll take it all apart for painting and cleaning.

So far the gas tank isn't very rusty, but I found a long-handled screwdriver in it, LOL, and it looks like it has a copper tubing pickup line. Took awhile to get the screwdriver out. The new fuel pump is great, at this point as the float appears stuck with "vaseline" as another poster put it, I open the petcock, start the Engine, close the petcock to stop the overflow, drive around for a few minutes until it dies just to warm it up and see what works and what doesn't.

Surprisingly while it looks like drive and suspension were beat up by the previous owners, the rest of the buggy appears to be in good shape, frame's not tweaked, starter works as does the pull start, have new plastic except the tub, tires are good except one very slow leaker in the front.

Here's an update and a few questions:

The new axle is in, not that bad of a job except I had to chop the stripped axle nut off with a cold chisel in a vise and even after it cracked I had to beat it off the axle to get the hub off. that thing was ON there, been spraying it with WD40 for 2 weeks every other day. Yeah, I'm probably a hack, LOL. (Dammit Jim I'm a geologist, not a mechanic!)

Now that the axle is in it is apparent that the rear right wheel toes out somewhat, maybe a half-inch. Don't know what the best thing to do with this now unless I get a radius arm. If it toed in I could add washers to the pivot bolt. What are my chances of bending the arm out a bit without completely ruining it?

Started raining before I got a chance to clean out the carb, that's next. Once the fuel stops overflowing I'll fix the brakes. When the brakes are done I'll put on the new plastic.

Bought a helmet, a Scorpion VX-14. First one for me so I have nothing to compare it to but it fits well and the price was right at $109.

What's the deal with the fuel tank and reserve, two pick-ups?

Now that there's a few inches of snow on the ground, getting the FL350R running has become a higher priority!

As far as brake bleeding goes, I've been told to lift the rear end as high as possible, then I hook up the mighty vac to the bleed and feed fluid into the master cylinder? Front works the same (i.e., lift and attach mighty vac, feed fluid into the master cylinder?)

Is there any advantage to using the mighty vac to change the balancer and tranny oil or will warming it up be enough to drain? The balancer oil looks pretty brown, old and goopy, be nice to flush that out with new oil then drain and refill, but maybe if I fill it the oil will go somewhere it shouldn't. Manuals are great for those of you with some experience ;-) but for me the only useful things is the pictures and the order of doing things.

Happy Holidays!

Thanks for the update, PB Blaster works 100 times better on rusted parts
http://www.pbblaster.com

Look at your arm is it bent? I would straighten it then look for a place to weld
on something to make it stronger in the future, havent looked at the manual
but there is some sort of adjustment provided for toe on the rear?

Correct the reserve system has two pickups, when ON your pulling fuel from
higher location in the tank RES your pulling it off the bottom.

There are plenty of 350 owners here that have bleed their brakes I am sure
they can offer you help...

I have always used the Mighty vac with the 350 at normal position, it has always worked well for me, I have heard that guys will lift the front end up in the air and allow the gravity feed type way to fill the lines, etc before bleeding with the vac, I have used in the past a old vacuum stlye bleeder that's used in the automotive area, but they are hard to find nowadays.

I also use a mighty vac. I've used it to vac fluid towards my rear. as well as push fluid forward.

I have a small leak around my oil ring in the caliper so if I vac to hard it will draw in air.

If you plan on bleeding them the old fashioned way by pumping the hand levers, remember to pull them very slowly to build the pressure up- if you go fast and furious on them your never gonna get all the air out, take my word on it, it blows!!

Did a cold, dry compression test today with a friend's tester. I'm hoping it's not accurate - I got a max of 90 psi (I think the manual says 140 psi). Still working on the carb, waiting on parts. I assume this is my starting/idling problem, or at least part of it.

Next step, besides disassembly and parts to Ebay? LOL This is my first 2-stroker and any help is surely appreciated. I've never taken an Engine apart, besides Chevy small/big blocks about 25 years ago, so any hints would help much.

Seems to low to even run, but in fact it does run. Why?

Time to pour through endless threads on a quest to outline the next steps to take.

OK I found this post on Kiowa's site, posted by Nitemair, hopefully it answers my own question without annoying the knowledgable. Yes, this would describe me, but I'm a quick learner.

Here goes:

" Sounds like you really don't know a bunch about 2 strokes yet - better do some serious reading and learning before coming here for an answer - if you want the "just make it work" answer - take it to someone who KNOWS how to fix it, let them troubleshoot it, fix it, etc. and then pay them plenty of $$ because that's what it costs to have someone else think for you.

Otherwise:

I thought my 350 ran great when I first got it - even though it only had 80-90 psi when i checked it... i blew this off as a "bad compression tester, or whatever" type of thing, but I started seeing a definite pattern:

1. Takes forever to start this darn thing, gee - that's really lame, wonder why!

2. Runs really good when i yank off the airbox cover - maybe it's just rich

3. Gee, it died AGAIN and won't start - in 30 mins, it'll be fine and I can ride again.

Well, I finally tore the top end apart knowing that there was very little else I could do otherwise, and found that there were a few things needing attention.

New rings, slimmer head gasket, cleaning the carbon off everything, fixing the reed cage (the reeds were sticking open) cooling holes in the piston, new gaskets all around...

runs pretty good now, but the fuel tank is pretty rusty, so until i get that cleaned up, i have to replace the fuel filter every few rides as it clogs up and everything stops"

OK, so, I already talked to a local Honda shop (Ives in Columbia, CT) about the FL350 regarding other things, and the mechanic, nicest guy, said they would probably not work on it, because things break and they can't be replaced. Guess that leaves it up to me woth your collective assistance.

Here's what I've gathered:

Check reeds
Check stock exhaust for plugging and replace the packing
look at piston through exhaust for scoring (is it is, then what?)
Send Engine out to someone who knows what they're doing

Have I missed anything? And who might that person who knows what they're doing be?

What are the chances it's something relatively easy, like replace rings and top gasket? It's got power, and some post I read led me to believe that maybe I've caught it before major damage is done.

I have no history on this rig, the previous owner died while crashing his rice rocket into a pick-up truck front end while drunk last year (not a good sign...) so I guess some pointers on identifying what's in there would help. And not the classic "measure this, measure that..", after all I need to acquire the tools to do this also (i.e., measure with what? feeler, caliper gauge, micrometer, yardstick?)

Apparently I've worked this problem backwards to this point, time to wisen up. Here's what's been done: New Works shocks in rear with reservoir, in process of rebuilding the carb, cleaned gas tank, replaced fuel filter, pump, fuel lines, 2 new axles, new RR radius arm (rear toe out problem), new front tires, new plastic, master cylinder rebuild kits (not done yet), new air filter, changed all fluids (although the tranny oil looked like new 10-W30 and I'm pretty sure it was overfilled by about a pint, it had about 2 tablespoons of bright metal shavings in the bottom of my oil change pan, yay, and the balancer had about 10 drops of dark brown oil in it, yay again, at least the starter works!). No brakes, but I don't need them yet if the Engine won't run right....I think that about covers it.

An idea of cost, just ballpark, would also help in my decisionmaking. Hopefully I've already paid for the big ticket items.

Thanks folks, someday I'll actually get to meet up and ride with y'all.

Pete

You might try another compression tester to see if your compression is that low,
it only takes a few hrs to pressure test your Engine then remove the top end to
measure and inspect the wear items like the piston and rings, gasket set cost
what 20 bux from Honda? Do you have the tools to measure the top end parts
as outlined in the service manual ?

Carb over flow problem go away?

Carb overflow is still there, waiting on a float bowl gasket, replacing everything in carb but I believe the culprit was the float valve - there was no black rubber tip on it like the new one I just got.

So it sounds like a leak test should be done now before I get any further, I found your pics of that hoser and I'm in the process of making one, fortunately with all the paintball equipment I have, I already have most of what I need to make it.

I'll let you know if and where it leaks, maybe this will help you help me. I hope all it is is gaskets, but history shows it could be $50 of gaskets or $500 of Engine work/parts.

Off to construct a leak tester....

Ok I seem to have lost the leak tester building and process hyperlink, or it just won't load..

Anyone have it handy? Thanks, Pete

Found it, last link on pilot tech page.

How about this? http://pilotodyssey.com/rebuild1.htm

Install clear fuel lines on the Engine and run it until it dies. Then get out and see if you have air bubbles in the fuel lines. Stop while you are riding and check for the air bubbles. If your tank has rust in it, it is very possible that the fuel pick up lines have very small holes from the rust, allowing air to be sucked into the fuel system. Brooks had a very similar problem and I traced it back to a bad fuel pick up in the tank. We installed the gravity feed tank and havn't had a problem since. As for your compression, did you check it with the throttle wide open? If you did it is probably time to replace the piston, rings, bore job, and a recomended set of reed valves. Good luck finding somebody in CT to work on older toys. If you can't find someone email or pm me, I may have some time available.
mark707300exc@yahoo.com

Like Mark said, my fuel pick up actually broke off half way down and then I was sucking air. It would run awesome for a min or 2 then die. If you want to try it for a test...you can borrow the gravity feed tank I have for my Pilot and see if it runs longer. It'll at least you in the right direction.

I fully agree with King KX and Brooks I too have had that problem. When I replaced all my fuel lines and Carb. I installed a second 4 micron Glass Fuel filter that is servicable. It is placed directly above the carb and also acts as a fuel reserve under hard acceleration. If it dies on me I can eliminate fuel problems instantly and not mess with it for an hour scratching my head wondering what the problem is.

I think I've got the tools I need all together now, and the parts I've been waiting for. As soon as I can, after a leak test, I'll fix what I can (like the carb), then take it apart and see what piston is in it (what bore it's on). Then I'll know where I'm at and where I'm going.

How would air bubbles in the fuel affect the carb overflow? I have the clear lines now and haven't noticed and bubbles except when I turn the petcock off when it's running (to stop the overflow and actually ride it for 5 minutes).

I have a feeling I'm about to learn a bunch of things I never intended to, such as how to rebuild a 2-stroke, LOL.

The air bubble you see when you shut the petcock off is actually the fuel pump pulling a vaccume. The carb overflowing is going to be a needle and seat or a float bowl that is stuck inside the carb.

Like I stated earlier, the float valve was missing the black rubber tip. I anticipate that replacing the float valve will take care of the overflow problem and allow me to set a proper jet. Of course this does not affect the 90 psi compression. This weekend I'll do the leak down test to see if it's a gasket or rings. Then I'll take things apart and measure to see where I'm at, bore-wise.

I actually found some PB blaster, too, at Bennie's Hardware store.

As this is my first time, does that sound like an effective plan of action or are other steps recommended? Seems I've done everything else backwards and would like to move forwards again