Help Identifying Honda Rancher TRX350TM3

[Jeff Taylor]

                I bought a roughish Honda rancher TRX350TM3 and I am having trouble locating the vin number - I would like know year and specs as is it rough , it runs but has multiple little issues ( choke cable seems frozen , carb has sticky or ill adjusted float and leaks gas from bottom of carb , shut off valve needs new o-ring to stop leaking , ect)  just age and lack of maintenance issues , but I need to know what it is to get correct specs … I was told there would be a tag on front end of frame but I don't see one . Any help would be greatly appreciated . 

[Ajmboy]

Welcome to QUADCRAZY! I edited your topic title and moved it into the Honda ATV forum. Can you post some pics of your rancher? There should be some numbers on the frame somewhere.

[Frank Angerano]

Welcome to Quadcrazy. The vin is stamped on the frame in the front cross bar right behind the main front bumper/steel bar. You will find it there.  

As for the carburetor and choke cable you should be able to take the carb off and clean it good with carb cleaner and some small wires to clean out the jets.  Also a small can of compressed air will help. 

The choke cable can be freed up taking the end off the control and holding it up high and spraying wd-40 into it and letting it sit. Or remove it completely and roll it up and soak the entire cable in oil. 

The gas fill valve (petcock) I would replace it entirely as its cheap enough. Replacing the seals may not work or only for so long. 

Fresh spark plug as well  and clean the gas tank out when the petcock is off  the tank. I like to use a dishwashing soap like dawn and warm water. With the tank off I put soap and water put the cap on and shake it up good and rinse it out. And put the new petcock in. 

 

 

 

[Jeff Taylor]

1 hour ago, Frank Angerano said:

Welcome to Quadcrazy. The vin is stamped on the frame in the front cross bar right behind the main front bumper/steel bar. You will find it there.  

As for the carburetor and choke cable you should be able to take the carb off and clean it good with carb cleaner and some small wires to clean out the jets.  Also a small can of compressed air will help. 

The choke cable can be freed up taking the end off the control and holding it up high and spraying wd-40 into it and letting it sit. Or remove it completely and roll it up and soak the entire cable in oil. 

The gas fill valve (petcock) I would replace it entirely as its cheap enough. Replacing the seals may not work or only for so long. 

Fresh spark plug as well  and clean the gas tank out when the petcock is off  the tank. I like to use a dishwashing soap like dawn and warm water. With the tank off I put soap and water put the cap on and shake it up good and rinse it out. And put the new petcock in. 

 

 

 

thanks … great advice …. that's pretty much what I'm in the middle of now ……  this poor carb has sooo much build up - it looks like it's been on the ethanol a long time .  I also checked on the gas valve earlier and yea .. they are so cheap I'm not even going to mess with it . I'll likely just buy the cable if this gives any resistance at all , they are cheaper than I thought they would be also . I will keep the factory one in case … sometimes when I receive those cheap aftermarket Chinese parts I see why they where so cheap , sometimes they seem alright - It's kinda like internet dating - they always look good in the pics . I have already pulled the tank and it looked surprisingly clean inside … gonna give it a good clean out anyway just because I pulled it . 

         I'm getting some before pics up here in a few minutes …. didn't think about it earlier so plastics are just sorta propped in place 

 

                                             Thanks again for the good advice : )

  crud … I forgot to mention I did find the vin where you said , but I'm not sure I can recover it , I took some close ups at dif. angles and may be able to pull it from one . I may try taking a rubbing like people do to grave stones .. who knows   lol

[Jeff Taylor]

[Jeff Taylor]

  I can make part of it out after several cleanings but not all … I'm starting to think the year doesn't matter much in this particular series

4 hours ago, Ajmboy said:

Welcome to QUADCRAZY! I edited your topic title and moved it into the Honda ATV forum. Can you post some pics of your rancher? There should be some numbers on the frame somewhere.

   Thanks for both … the welcome and the proper placement of my post . I got some pics up now … should have thought of before I got it the workshop and started tearing it apart  lol

[Frank Angerano]

Just hit it good with a wire wheel and take a pic with the phone. You will be able to make it out.  You can also run a white crayon over the numbers and then lightly use a piece of sandpaper to take off the excess crayon leaving the white in the vin number.  Take a pic of that also. You can really zoom in with the pics.  

Speaking of a wire wheel that’s what I use on the metal racks when mine look like that.  I put a course wheel in the drill and go to town on the metal and hit them with some black paint and they come out great.   

Post a few pics of the vin we will help you identify.  It looks like a good intact bike. 

[davefrombc]

I  would  use fine sandpaper rather than a wire wheel . .Honda  serial  numbers aren't very  deeply stamped on the older machines and the  metal  of that crossbar  is  quite soft.  A wire wheel  might  "smudge"  the  numbers. I learned that the  hard way when I did  mine .

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by davefrombc

[Frank Angerano]

Definitely good advice.  I’ve been lucky tg and not had a lot of rust on my vin#s. I always use a very soft grade brass wire wheel. It helps clean the number grooves out for the crayon purposes. But I agree with @davefrombc he knows a ton and don’t want to make things worse.  

[Jeff Taylor]

10 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Just hit it good with a wire wheel and take a pic with the phone. You will be able to make it out.  You can also run a white crayon over the numbers and then lightly use a piece of sandpaper to take off the excess crayon leaving the white in the vin number.  Take a pic of that also. You can really zoom in with the pics.  

Speaking of a wire wheel that’s what I use on the metal racks when mine look like that.  I put a course wheel in the drill and go to town on the metal and hit them with some black paint and they come out great.   

Post a few pics of the vin we will help you identify.  It looks like a good intact bike. 

 

ones a little blurry … I can get some of it …. I'm going to try the white crayon thing … that sounds like it might work . 

                                    Thanks for the help and great ideas guys  :  )

 

[Frank Angerano]

A few pics from above the number. 

[davefrombc]

Just a bit aside of the VIN  identification is this site .. It  is a Honda motorcycle/ ATV parts company that has a list of all  the models and years .. Quads are way down the list .

https://www.motorcyclespareparts.eu/en/honda-parts/honda-model-prefix

I also  had a site saved that  listed all the VINs for  Quad models by year. It  helped me identify the  2 characters of mine   I couldn't read when  I  had to  get mine to register it  to  license  it when the province brought quad licensing in.  Unfortunately whoever  owned the site didn't  keep it  up so  it expired along with a  lot of very valuable information to  old  bike / quad  owners and restorers.

[Frank Angerano]

See like I said he knows tons! 

I really like that style bike.  I’m sure we will collectively get to the bottom of this as well as getting it fired up and dialed in.  

[Jeff Taylor]

3 hours ago, davefrombc said:

Just a bit aside of the VIN  identification is this site .. It  is a Honda motorcycle/ ATV parts company that has a list of all  the models and years .. Quads are way down the list .

https://www.motorcyclespareparts.eu/en/honda-parts/honda-model-prefix

I also  had a site saved that  listed all the VINs for  Quad models by year. It  helped me identify the  2 characters of mine   I couldn't read when  I  had to  get mine to register it  to  license  it when the province brought quad licensing in.  Unfortunately whoever  owned the site didn't  keep it  up so  it expired along with a  lot of very valuable information to  old  bike / quad  owners and restorers.

   thanks for the link … I will give it a shot . I got it off an older man that told me 2 dif. years …. he was old so I didn't question it   lol    he initially called it a 2001 but about ten minutes later he thought it was a 2005 . From the roughness of it I'm leaning closer to the 01 than the 05 but who knows .

[Jeff Taylor]

3 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

See like I said he knows tons! 

I really like that style bike.  I’m sure we will collectively get to the bottom of this as well as getting it fired up and dialed in.  

                Me too … that's the only reason I stopped and ask about this one . It seems pretty solid so far , needs some work for sure but I should have a pretty good bike when I finish it up . I cant afford to make it a cherry restoration ….  but I'm hoping for a dependable fun to ride restoration at the least .

                    Thanks for all the help and input bud  :  )

[Frank Angerano]

Cheery is over rated.  Reliable is key.  I have a ton of inexpensive tricks to make it look great but you have to make sure the mechanical end of it is ok first. So once your past that you can ask away on the aesthetics part.   What did you pay if I may ask ?

 Any luck with getting the numbers to pop on the vin?  

[Jeff Taylor]

1 hour ago, Frank Angerano said:

Cheery is over rated.  Reliable is key.  I have a ton of inexpensive tricks to make it look great but you have to make sure the mechanical end of it is ok first. So once your past that you can ask away on the aesthetics part.   What did you pay if I may ask ?

 Any luck with getting the numbers to pop on the vin?  

      for sure … I am going to concentrate on it being mechanically safe and sound first then I get to address all that sun faded pink plastic  lol   don't think this thing ever met a roof. lot of surface rust to take care of also … but in due time

[Jeff Taylor]

vin recovered …. 2003 .   thanks for help the guys . I went through the carb and cleaned the plug and it runs and idles smooth now . I do need to find a rim and better tires . The front left rim rusted out … I sanded and JB welded it … but every fix just finds the next weakest spot …. 

[Frank Angerano]

Nice job! Check eBay you might find a good set of used rims there.  

[Jeff Taylor]

             Thanks ….. I got to take it out and ride it today for the first time …. seems very solid , rode well and no issues . I still need a rim though … broke the bad one down and used the JB weld on the inside this time and let it cure before putting the tire back on …. then put a quarter can or so of cheap fix-a-flat in it …. still holding so far but I don't trust it enough to use long term.

[Frank Angerano]

I checked eBay there seems to a few sets of used rims. They range from $85 to $100. 

[Jeff Taylor]

   I checked also and there are a few to choose from , and thanks for the info. While I was looking I some really cool black aftermarket. Unfortunately they cost more than I gave for the rancher  lol

[Frank Angerano]

Yep the after market ones are nice. But if the bike is solid then it may be worth it.  Whenever I pick up a new project bike I take the rims down to bare metal and prime and paint.  They always come back to a real nice finish.   It’s not a lot of work and the end result is always rewarding and worth the effort. 

So if you have a wire wheel for the drill and some sand paper, spray paint you can pick up a used set of steel rims and make them look new.  

[Jeff Taylor]

   That's a pretty good idea …. I do have the stuff to do that . One idea I keep going back too as I have to deal with the faded plastics also … is to flat black every thing … turn the lights off and disappear into the night ….. not saying it would ever be involved in any sort of moonshine running or anything like that … but I do live in the mountains   lol

 

[Frank Angerano]

Lol that’s great.  Into the darkness!!!! The rims do come out well. 

So as far as the plastics if your intent is to paint them black then you might as well experiment with them a little bit and see what you can do.  

Ive tried heat guns at a safe distance.  It works so so.  I’ve water sanded and buffed out. Same result so so! I’ve trained everything to no avail. But I’ve water sanded and ran them up to a local body guy and asked him to spray them in a booth.  $100 bucks and they are like new in a gloss black.

Cheaper way to go is buy rolls of vinyl from amazon  and cut out your own patterns and place them on where you want and hit the vinyl with a heat gun and they shrink right into any bends or corners of the plastics and look great.  They sell all sorts of colors and even camo. Check out one of my posts on my daughters bike. Pink camo patterns home made.  You can also look up spray painting on you tube and find tons of info.  

[Jeff Taylor]

  I already did a few tubes and there is a chemical process for prep and painting … sounds like a pain in the as*. I'm liking the sound of the overlay and heat process . I will check that out for sure as I'm pretty much down to making it look better ( disappear easier  lol )

[Frank Angerano]

It’s great stuff.  Put some pics up when it’s done.