This is my first post so here goes
I am a rokie on atv's. I have had motorcycles when I was younger but now that I have kids I wanted something that they could ride. So I bought used to see if we would like it.This is great for the budget but not so great when they mess up.
I have had the 96 King quad for a couple months It started up perfectly ran fine but after I went out one day and rode it hard the oil light came on. I let it cool and later that evening it was still on .I left it until the next day and it went off. I later noticed some oil seeping from around the bottom of the head it drips down on the front driveshaft.not much but when it gets warmed up you can smell it.
being that I just got it I took it out again yesterday and was riding thru a wooded area not real hard .I went out about 2 miles and on the way back it started to bog down in 3rd gear so i dropped one to keep the r's up and it was ok for a minute then it boged again. so I looked down where the leak was and my eye poped out [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] The exhust pipe right off the head was cherry red glowing... I didn't want to walk out so I went to 1st gear and limped toward the end no good ! flames started to flare around the manifold. the bike was still running so I shut it down and got some sand and threw it on there to put out the fire. I have never seen a pipe glow before .I am open to any help and correction .

 

If I were you I would check the oil level to see if its correct. I would try and not overheat the atv too much. If you are riding in hot weather you might want to stop and let the Kind Quad cool off often. The King Quad is only air cooled so it wont stay as cool as a liquid cooled atv. Does yours have a fan. I believe you could get the fan as an option. I had a Big Bear and the head pipe fell off I had to ride 100 kms with a 1 foot flame shooting out the cylinder head !

 

I have owned a couple of King Quads and they will run hot in the summer unless you take a few step to prevent overheating.

1. Use a NGK D8EA spark plug, it has a cooler spark, in the winter go back to the D7EA

2.Do what MuddyNewf said and get an electric fan. It will make a huge difference.

3. Make sure your oil cooler is not clogged with mud.

4. Use 20w50 oil

5. Run the lowest octane gas available. KQs run better on low octane fuel.

For the oil leak, check the o-ring on the rocker inspection cap on the cylinder head. The o-ring will sometimes not seat if the valves have been adjusted and will leak on the pipe.


ODB

 

Thanks guys

ODB you busted me I am using the higest octaine gas I can find. Always thought that was best. I will drop the oil and see if I can find a fan. I did flush the cooler after the first overheat light. It is always hot here so maybe the KQ is not the best for here. My kids and wife like it and it is a beast with the low range but if it not a good Florida bike I can ditch this one and look for a replacement.

 

It gets extremely hot here is La. as well. After doing the steps listed above, I never had another problem with overheating. Last summer I pulled an atv plow all day in 100 degree weather and the oil temp light never came on. A fan is a must have if you ride slow. My KQ would actually run cooler than other water cooled bikes I rode with.

I wouldn't give up on the KQ so easily, there are few quads that have the stump pulling torque of that machine.

 

my 91 king was leakin oil from valve cover and dealer said to put permatex(silly cone) as a gasket sinse thats what the gasket was stock we did that and fixed er up good luck