2007 Honda TRX 450 will not idle

[cowboyx444]

Okay i have a 2007 TRX450ER and it wont idle. I have cleaned the carb. checked the air filter. Now it got hot and was low on coolant but i filled it up. It didnt run very long. The idle adjustment screw wont do anything for the idle. I set the jets in accordance with the service manual. A friend says it needs a vlv job not too sure. It does sound pretty rough with a slight knock but has always had that. No aftermarket parts, all stock. It starts and runs with choke but ran it for 10 minutes and then took the choke off and it died in about 1 minute. Need help. Please. New to the site and this is the test drive. lol

[DirtDemon]

I don't know if you need a complete valve job, but I think your friend may be on the right track. The first thing I would do is check for air leaks and pop the valve cover off and check the vavle lash. They may need to be adjusted. You need to check the vavle fairly regularly on these high performance 4-strokes. If your vavles are ok, do a compression test, running hot and losing coolant could mean a bad head gasket. Also check your oil, make sure there is no water/coolant in there.

[cowboyx444]

I am going to drain some oil tomorrow and check that. But the level never changed. I was low on coolant cause i rebuilt the starter clutch and when i got done i forgot to refill the system. But it still had a small amount in the overflow tank. But it was very low. How do i check the lash on the valves. What will i need to measure that. And is this a very difficult job. I am new to doing my own work any tips appreciated.

[quadcrazy]

Thread moved to Honda forum and renamed to: 2007 Honda TRX 450 will not idle

[DirtDemon]

Thankyou Quadcrazy for moving the thread.

Cowboy, if you need to ask all those questions, you will be best off getting a repair manual if you want to do work on your own machine. To check the valve lash, you will need to remove the fuel tank and some of the plastic body work, so you can get to the valve cover. Then you need to remove the valve cover. Use a feeler guage to slide between the cam and the bucket tappets that sit atop the valves. The valves need to be completely closed when being measured. Refer to your owners manual for clearance specs. Be careful when replacing the valve cover, you don't want to pinch the gasket, make sure the gasket stays in the groove of the valve cover when you put the cover back on. I would rate the work as not difficult, but that is all relative to your own mechanical inclination.

[cowboyx444]

Well i am engineer in the navy and i am pretty mechanically inclined so this should not be too tough. Just a little nervous about it. i do have the service manual so all should be good. Thanks. Any special tools i should have before i start.

[DirtDemon]

I think the only thing you will need is wrenches, allen wrenches and a set of feeler guages. If an adjustment is necessary, you will need to get shims to adjust the vavles. The service manual should have all the info including necessary tools in the section that talks about camshaft and vavle service. Good luck, it isn't a very tough thing to do at all IMO, just make sure not to lose anything.

[skylerj]

i have a 07 trx450er with the same problem. won't idle at all. I just bought it from a guy and cleaned the carb and checked the valves it all looked fine.. any ideas on where to go from here?