My buddy and I were riding his 450 Kodiak and Polaris Ranger RZR this weekend and we had a problem with the Kodiak. We went through a few small water holes nothing higher than the axels and then after one hole we were climbed a decent sized hill. At the top of the hill the Kodiak bogged down. It would idle fine, but as soon as you gave it any gas it acted as though it was starving for gas. It was also making a popping sound in the exhaust. We checked the air box for water and there was none. We changed the spark plug, drained the carb bowl, and tried adjusting the idle. It seems to me, without taking tbe carb apart, like the main jet may be fouled. The only thing that worries me is the popping in the exhaust that kind of sounded like there may be water in the fuel. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

My kodiak will act like that but only when the fuel is low enough that it needs to be put on reserve but defenetly sounds like a lack of fuel from the popping sounds you were disscribing make sure you are getting good flow from the tank then clean the carb up

 

I've never experienced that on my 450 Kodiak but the 400 I had previously on two different occasions did the same thing you are describing.

One time it was from silt or sluge from riding in shallow murkey water building up in the cooling vent for the belt case. I just undid the clamp around the vent tube at the rear of the case and cleaned out the silt, it ran great after that. Before cleaning out the sedement the bike would idle fine, I could walk beside it giving it gas but as soon as I sat on it it would bog like a slipping belt or something.

The second time while riding with a riding buddy, we were trying to hill climb each of us pushing steeper and steeper inclines. After arriving at the top... First of course... I noticed the same charateristics of the "slipping silty belt syndrome" so I removed the vent and it was clean. Well F@*K what do I do now?! There goes the extent of my mechanical knowledge!!! It turned out after removing the plastics to get to the carb it was a small piece of dirt stuck in the jet. We used a tip cleaner for a torch that was super small to clean it out and I was back in action.

 

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I think the dirt in the jet came from some dust that settled in the bowl of the carb and from going up the steep incline must have gotten sucked up into the jet. Keep in mind this is just wat I think happened... I'm not a mechanic. I just do what it takes to keep runnin' and sometimes I get lucky.

 

The backfire is just a sign of lean fuel mixtures, when the mixtures get back to correct, the backfire will stop.
It sure sounds like its out of gas. Did you try the reserve on the gas tank?
I think removing the float bowl is gonna be the next move. Look for crud or water , and like you suspect, it will be the main jet which you want to focus on.

 

We had just filled up the night before so it was at more than half a tank. We did try switching over to reserve and still showed problems. It sounds as though it is only running lean when it is more than 1/4 throttle, up until that point she purrs like a kitten. From everything I have ever seen and read it keeps pointing back to the main jet. I am just trying to get some other possibilities that my buddy can try out if it's not the main jet. I'm just trying to do my part to get it fixed since I was the one riding it at the time. I really appreciate the replies and let me know if there is anything else we should be looking into. Thanks!!

 

bump

 

Well here is a little update, this past weekend my buddy was finally able to get some work done on the Kodiak. He pulled out the carb and took it all apart to clean it. He said it was spotless, there was absolutely no varnishing or trash in it. At this point he was a little unsure of what was going on. Then he noticed a piece of "trash" in the main jet. It turned out to be a millipede. Some how a millipede had crawled up a vent or something and gotten into the carb and then some how gotten sucked into the main jet. This was a new one on me, haven't ever heard of that being the cause of the problem!! Thanks all for your help in trying to diagnose this one.

 

Oh yeah, btw after removing the millipede the little 450 runs great back to purring like a kitten!! Once again thanks!

 

Good to hear! It is quite a reliable little engine!! Many doubt it.. but to heck with them! I am still having fun on my Grizz 450!