2008 Honda Rancher 420 won't start

[Lund1700Angler]

I went to start my 2008 Honda rancher today to plow some snow. It started for a second or two and then quite right away, I tried to start the wheeler and it back fired about 4 times. It will still turn over, but won't start. The kill switch is in the center and not on off.

What do you guys think the problem might be, or has anyone experienced this?

I am hoping that my spark plug went bad, but do they just go bad all the sudden or will the gradually fail?

Thanks

[Dave S]

It could be a bad plug. Pull the plug and see what condition the tip is in. Wet on the tip could mean it's fouled or it's maybe flooded if you inadvertantly hit the throttle while it was still turning over.

[Macgyver55]

Yes a plug can foul and go bad all at once, but, it sounds more like a fuel issue to me. Backfiring is usually caused by a lean condition.

08 Rancher is fuel injected I believe? If so, self diagnosing gets a bit more difficult. Check all of the obvious things first like fuel level, fuel shut off, and fuel pump fuse if there is a dedicated one.

[BriGuy88]

I'm currently frustrated by a 2007 Rincon with starting issues. Ran great all afternoon last Saturday and then left me stranded on the lake after sundown. Don't have a warm place to work on it so it has been sitting since I towed it back home. I can hear the fuel pump kick in when I turn the key on and it turns over fine but won't fire. Seems to be getting fuel based on the "sniff" test. Plan on pulling the plug out this weekend when it warms up a bit to see how it looks.

[HondaRider07]

My wife's 420 Rancher did that to me the weekend of the big snow storm up here last month. She started for about 2 seconds, then died. I could feel the primer was not pumping gas into the carb. Fired up the heater in the garage and brought a hair dryer out to get the float and carb warmed up. After many hours of pulling panels and attempting to get that carb warm enough to free up, I was able to get it to start. Added some heet to the tank and ran a couple laps up and down the alley. Seems to be running fine now, but I'll have it on the lake this weekend and we'll see how it handles.

I would get a heater out and warm up the carb(careful not to start anything on fire or melt plastic). The float or one of the jets is problably frozen....

[Lund1700Angler]

Put a new spark plug in and off she went. Haven't had a plug die quite like that, but I got my plowing done.

Thanks for the advice guys

[Dave S]

Glad to hear it was an easy fix.

[BriGuy88]

Finally has a chance to pull the plug on my Rincon and replace it. She fired right up with the new plug! A few uses without any further hiccups will go a long way toward building my confidence back up in the machine.

[gooseisland]

My rancher 420 is having the same problem this year. The last time it was after filling up at a station with questionable gas. The next morning added some deicer to the tank and tried it a couple hours later. Fired right up. Mine turns over but the fuel pump isn't running leading me to believe that there is ice build-up. This winter is the first time I've had trouble with it. Its a '07

[boatfixer]

This whole water in the gas thing got me to thinking. Do we all realize that everything except non-oxy/non ethanol gas has 10% ethanol in it? Heet and other related products are a waste of money when the gas we are putting in there already has alchohol in it.