Got a 2001 arctic cat 500 4x4 manual. Now this machine has been flipped many many times, drowned once( long story, found out how well it floats upside down) and so forth. Its our hunting rig and it gets maintenance and repairs as needed........so

Been noticing that it will start right up cold with push button, np there. Once its warm and been riding, have noticed that it will fire and start once you release the button....sometimes. Alot of times i have to pull start it at this point. It starts everytime pull starting, one pull while seated on the atv. Can the starter button be tied to the igntion in some way that would be disabling the power to the coil or something.

Done list:
New battery
Carb rebuilt( water story)
New coil last year

All lights work, electronic pod readouts work,

Any ideas??

 

Just a wild stab in the dark, but it might be a worn ignition switch. Double check wiring and grounds, connections to starter, etc and put dielectric grease. Lucky that you didn't hydrolock it. Sounds like the "Eveready Bunny" ATV. If you get a new ignition switch, spray a little silicone spray lube inside. Might help a bit to waterproof it.

 

I will check the switch this coming weekend. Yeah got real lucky it did not hydro lock. It was in the middle of December when it happened. The worse part was having to swim back out to it to hookup the winch from the other bike to pull it back in.

We should have just totaled it and cut our losses, but its still running at this time.

 

Now you know how tough the old Arctic Cats are. I slammed into a big rock , couple weeks ago, that was hidden in the tall grass , on my AC 400 going way to fast. Huge "bang" the handlebar slammed me in the ribs and I went over the bars into a heap. 65 year old, 250 lb fat bastid with the wind knocked out of him. The only thing I could imagine was the front wheel must have been ripped off and I must have some broken ribs. Once I got my wind back, I was surprised that nothing happened to the ATV, even front end alignment was spot on. My ribs are still sore as hell.

 

I can imagine your pain, had to push the 500 off myself more then once. Yeah it definitely doesnt quit, theres a 500 polaris we also use occasionally, and it can't even come close to being on the same level with the cat.

I may end starting another discussion when i tear into the carb on a 2008 650 ht cat we just purchased. More on that later this week.

 

I had a popo 400 sportsman, POS tried to kill me I swear. I sold it, took the money and bought my AC 400 and had $100 left over! Never, ever again. I still wake up in a cold sweat, from nightmares of that Polaris.

 

Those old Suzuki King Quads are tough machines too. They weren't very fast but they run forever. Old Yamaha Big Bears I would put in the tough category too. Unless you buy a Honda, there just aren't any other options for a 4x4 utility quad that isn't cvt auto anymore. I've gotten a bit spoiled by the cvt autos but I have owned more than one semi-auto quad and there are definite advantages sometimes to being able to shift for yourself. No belts to ever break or wear out either.

 

Greg, first thing I had to do with the popo was replace the belt, of course when it went, it took the housing out too. So nice to have 2 reliable manual shift AC work horse ATV's. Hope Kentuckyhunter gets his back on track.

 

Funny thing was with the multiple Polaris quads I had, the belt was never the issue. The 4x4 system was though. Once they get older, they almost all end up needing work. I actually almost bought a Sportsman 500 a couple years ago but I passed because the 4x4 was out on it. To be fair the Grizzly 660 I bought instead wasn't a great quad either. It had plenty of problems and I got rid of it as well. I actually wished I had bought the 450 Foreman S that I passed on to get the Grizzly. I probably would still have the Foreman and would be quite a bit of money ahead now. I would have probably just put new tires and a winch on it and done routine maintenance like oil changes, brakes and maybe a new battery. The Brute Force has a lot more power and I like it but I only bought it because I basically wanted to dump the Grizzly that was bleeding cash because it constantly needed something fixed. It finally got to the point that it wasn't even about the money, it was about having something I could rely on to ride when I wanted it. The Grizzly just was a big disappointment. To be fair, the Brute I have now had a lot less miles when I bought it. I've got about 2000 miles to go before I get to the mileage the Grizzly had when I got rid of it. We'll see how well the Brute holds up. So far so good but I'm only at about 1650 miles so far.

 

The real problem here is the fact it went swimming! Be an ATV or automobile or any other motor driven vehicle, once they drown they will have continuous electrical problems. Look at all the vehicles from the hurricane and floods, nobody wants them as they will have electrical issues down the road... With that said your best hope is a complete replacement of all electrical switches and connections, once water invades these then all kinds of issues develop over time, and have a habit of continuing. Ask any insurance adjuster about a flood vehicle and they will tell you to part it out or junk it.