Hello All, hope someone can help me out.

First off it is a 2001 Arctic Cat 300 4X4. The machine has run fine since July 2000 when I bought it. I beleive I have about 3500 miles on it.

Problem 1:
Electrical issue. Intermittent no lights or accessories. Also electrical burning smell from the back of the machine. Suspect voltage regulator as the battery is fine. Or could it be the stator coil? I have heard that the voltage regulators on 2000's and early production 2001's are known to crap out.


Problem 2:
The machine would start to bog down for no reason and and backfire tons, then after gearing down to 1st or 2nd it would either quit or start running again. After driving like this for 5 minutes I notice that my exhaust pipe from the head to tip was glowing orange, bright orange.

Here's some more info.
The machine was low on gas. Could something have come from the bottom of the tank and leaned out the flow in the carb and caused the issue?
The machine still has good compression.
Pulled the plug. Plug was black, actually a little rich.

One suggestion I received was that due to the possible voltage issue I am not getting good combustion and getting some ignition in the pipe.

Another suggestion was that the valve sprocket that attaches to the cam shaft may have jumped or stripped a tooth or two allowing the intake and exhaust valves to get out of sync and allowing combustion in the pipe.

Anyone have know of any issues like this?\
Thanks in advance.
Drew

 

If the gas got real low, you could of sucked some dirt or water into the carb, first thing I would do is pull the carb, give it a good cleaning,and if there is no inline filter, maybe install one to prevent any more stuff from the tank getting in. If the plug was black, either you are not getting a good spark to burn the gas, or the carb is dumping way too much fuel into the motor. Give it a good run after cleaning the carb, and let us know what it runs like.

 

Part1, the electrical will have to be troubleshot. You need a manual, or at least someone to send you the parts of the manual to troubleshoot the electrical. I have a 2001 250, same electrical as your 300 and my electrical system is just fine. Am on second battery, but the charging system works great. Does you battery stay charged? It could be a fuse or connection corroded.

On part 2, first change the spark plug. It's cheap and they do go bad and can cause your problem. First problem can't cause second as they are not tied together. There is a seperate part of the stator to run the ignition. You need a fuel filter between the tank and the carb, good sense and manintenance.

I do have the manual for the 2001 models and if you would like I can e-mail the electrical and carb sections to you. PM me your e-mauil address if you want them. Oh yeah if you do pm, remind me what you want.

 

Thanks Guys,

I have gone ahead and stripped all the body plastic, racks and bumpers to make easy access to everything. I will go ahead and pull the gas tank so I can give it a good cleaning. If there is any junk in it I might as well replace the fule lines and add an inline filter. Carb cleaning will be next. I suppose a new plug and oil change may be a good idea too since I'm there.

As for the electrical, The system was not charging the battery intermittently. Also head/dash lights were intermittent even when the machine was running. There was a distinct "hot" electrical smell coming from the battery and voltage regulator area. I guess I'll have to throw the tester on to see what's up.

Bear4570, If you could send me the electrical section of the manual that would be great.
andrew_leger@mitel.com

Thanks,
Drew

 

Leger; Electrical sent. If you want the carb info, let me know.

 

Thanks for the info Bear45/70.

I'll start with the info I have. Have had the carb apart more than once so it should not be a problem.

Thanks,
Drew