Why Does My Honda ATV Only Run on Choke?

Got a Honda ATV that only runs on choke, even after you drained the carburetor and changed out the engine oil? You may have a clogged carburetor idle jet to deal with.

Partzilla’s Honda ATV expert John Talley livestreams Q&As on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern. In this session, John gives his advice on dealing with a Honda Rubicon that only runs on choke

Honda ATV only runs on choke carb jet cleaning

Honda ATV Only Runs on Choke Q&A

I have a 2006 Honda Rubicon that we used to ride to and inspect our farm with. We don’t drive it enough, and it has less than 150 miles on it. I drained most of the gas, disconnected the battery and ran all of the gas out of the carburetor. I’ve changed the oil once. My problem is that I can’t keep it running without the choke being on in the ‘On’ position. I can ride it around the yard with the choke on, but the minute I stop and turn the choke off, it dies. It also dies out from neutral to drive, and it’s also difficult to change gears. What do you think is the problem?

John Talley: Well, you really did try. You drained the carburetor like you’re supposed to. And hopefully you ran it dry, or drained it and let the engine run until it runs all the gas out of it. With that being said, that idle jet passageway is so small that it’ll hold fuel even though you’ve drained fuel out of the fuel bowl itself. And that is gunked up. You did everything you could, but you’ll have to go in there and drop the bowl, and you should only have to pull that small idle jet, and then either replace it, or blow it out using a carburetor cleaner, aerosol.