Rough Start on 2005 Honda

[pwiseman]

I just bought a 2005 Honda. Did the breakin by the book. I also am taking care to use good fuel (non oxygenated with 91 octane), stabilizer etc. It seems to me the motor is a little stubborn starting both cold and warm. It takes about 15 seconds of turning it over when cold, and after it is warm, it wants to start right away, but dies. If I turn the trottle past start position a little this seems to solve. Any suggestions on this? Could be the motor just is not fully broke in yet. I have about 40 hours on it now. My last motor was a 2002 Merc 50 EFI fourstroke. That motor started right up warm or cold every time for 3 years without this behavior. Also, I do have the pressure screw on the tank open, good fuel connections etc. I believe the obvious stuff can be ruled out. This is not a huge problem, but it does seem that something is not 100%. Wondering if some minor adjustment is in order. I know that some motors are set to run rich for breakin, but this is ussually a 2 Stroke thing. Thanks

 

[Navigator]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Paul,<br />You didn't mention what HP your engine is so that makes it a big difficult to give specific help.<br /><br />Are you choking it when you try to start it?<br />You should choke when initially starting, then immediately release the choke.<br /><br />Honda's historically like to run a bit rough until they warm up. They always have, they always probably will Most people simple start them, then push them up to a fast idle for about a minute to warm them up. Once warm, you can reduce the idle speed and they usually smooth out and purr.<br /><br />One thing I would do is lose the 91 octane and switch to 87. If the engine manual says 87, use 87. Premium is not a "better grade" of gasoline despite what the commercials feed you. Premium is less flamable than regular and requires a hotter spark to ignite it. It was designed for cars with higher compression temperatures because regular would ignite prematurely and cause pinging. Using 91 in an engine designed for 87 is only draining your wallet. Search these forums for the regular premium discussions. There are hundreds of posts on this subject. The best gas is fresh gas...period!<br /><br />Nav

 

[all thumbs]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Paul, I found out through trial and error. I do exactly as navigator explains.I run a 2001 honda 50. Time of year dosen't seem to matter, choke then high idle for few minutes, smooths right out.I use 87 octane with stabil.

 

[pwiseman]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Thanks guys. The reason I use the premium gas is because regular contains 10% ethanol in Minnesota. Some stations out of the metro have nonoxygenated gas, but it is always premium. You are right that the manual says 87 octane. It also says that ethanol up to 10% is not a problem. I will try a tank. Motor is 25 HP and it has the auto enrichment or autochoke. My 2002 Merc 50 had autochoke as well - it really liked the 91 octane. If this one likes regular, that is fine by me.

 

[pwiseman]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

What is your experiance on break in for the Hondas? I ran my merc 50 for three years. About 200 hours year 1, 150 hours year 2, and 125 hours year three. Seemed to me was about 300 when it really started running like a top. I don't expect the 3 cylinder to run as smooth, but so far I am very happy with the Honda.

 

[Harker]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Is your 25 a tiller or remote? I just got one on my new pontoon. The starting prcedure the guy gave me was...pump the bulb to firm it up, then give the idle lever about 3-5 pushes towards fast and return to nuetral position..then hit the key. Mine starts right up and I can go. I just sold a tiller 9.9 that was really cold blooded and took a bit with choke to warm up and go.

 

[all thumbs]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Don't see any difference about break in from when it was new. I run about 80 hrs. a year. The first two years I just didn't run at any continous speed. Now I run at wot, no problem just keep it out of the red. How do you like that 1450 lund? I went with 1650 rebel and love it.

 

[pwiseman]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Originally posted by all thumbs:<br /> Don't see any difference about break in from when it was new. I run about 80 hrs. a year. The first two years I just didn't run at any continous speed. Now I run at wot, no problem just keep it out of the red. How do you like that 1450 lund? I went with 1650 rebel and love it.

I had a 2001 1650 Explorer with a 50 Merc EFI 4 stroke. This was a good boat, but two problems. First it was too big to fit in one stall of the garage, second was the Merc was too much weight in the stern which caused some problems.<br /><br />The 1450 with the Honda is solving both problems and I am very happy with it. Boat stays on plane at slow speeds well, planes out nicely, and handles choppy conditions better than the 1650. I think the IPS hull on this is part of the reason it handles nicer than the other boat, but reduced weight of the motor is also a big factor. The livewell is much better than the other boat, it has internal lights. About the only thing I miss is having two large rod lockers. This one has one rod locker and it is not as deep as my last boat.<br /><br />I got the wetlands camo package with all vinyl on the inside - very easy to clean up compared to carpet. I have already boated some nice fish that flop around and make a big mess with blood and slime. Pulled in a 15 lb pike last weekend - that was fun.<br /><br />One other reason I went down was to have a boat that I can take up to some lakes in the boundry waters that have 25 HP restriction.

 

[all thumbs]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Thought about vinyl or carpet , sorry I went carpet. It does get messy. Sounds like they made some hull improvements too. Always shoping for that next boat. Good job on the pike.

 

[pwiseman]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Originally posted by all thumbs:<br /> Thought about vinyl or carpet , sorry I went carpet. It does get messy. Sounds like they made some hull improvements too. Always shoping for that next boat. Good job on the pike.

I was a bit skeptical on the IPS hull in terms of how much difference it would make on a small boat (14'11"). It seems to help most when comming of throttle. I can stay on plane down to about 8 MPH without the bow rising at all. I believe the 05 Rebel 1650s have IPS as well, but they left the Rebel 1600s without it. The only downside seems to be that IPS adds some weight. My hull is about 600 lbs which is more than the 1600. Boat does about just over 29 MPH with just me and some fishing gear. I was hoping for 25, so this is better than I expected.

 

[pwiseman]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

I ran a couple tanks of 87 octane with 10% ethanol. Still starts a little hard, but after it is warmed up, it starts right up again like I expected. I filled up on the lake today as I was down to one gallon. They only had 92 octane nonoxygenated. This seems to be ok as well. Might have got some bad gas. Surprising because I almost always get gas at the same place and have never had a problem before. At any rate the problem seems to be gone now.

 

[Navigator]

Re: Rough Start on 2005 Honda

Even the best of places get bad gas now and then.<br />Glad to hear the problems gone !!<br /><br />Nav