My husband has a ’99 440ex that does not want to start in this cold weather. It will crank over but it will NOT fire, even with a new Split Fire plug. The valves have recently been adjusted and the jetting is perfect. He mixes 3 gal.of pump gas with 1 gal.of Torco race gas in the quad.
It has to be pulled to get it to start and even then it can be difficult. Once it is warmed up, it runs great.
The Honda shop said the higher compression will make the quad harder to start. The bore kit was put in over the summer but he has had an after market piston(11:1)in it for well over a year now. This is the first winter he has had this problem. My ’01 400ex is a real pain to start in the cold too but his 440ex is BAD now!
Any suggestions as to what the problem could be?
Thanks…

 

I take it that its not in a heated area?? I recently had a problem starting mine and it took me 30 mins to get it going!! After 15mins into starting it I said " screw it!! I'm breaking out the salamander" But, I did have to change my spark plug because I flooded it. Let that thing blow on my 400 for about 10-15mins and "VROOOOM"

 

No..our quads are in an UNheated barn. We need to check into a heater ASAP(every one talks about the salamander). We just don't understand why now, all of the sudden, it is a pain to get started.
later...and thanks!!

 

YOU MIGHT TRY GOING UP A HEAT RANGE FOR THE WINTER .....MINE IS TOO HARD TO START.... I AM ALSO GOING TO GO UP A HEAT RANGE ....EVEN THE OWNERS MANUAL GIVES YOU A COLD WEATHER PLUG NUMBER IT IS A DPR7Z NGK PLUG.....HOPE THIS HELPS

 

I have heard many people having this problem. My 453 seems perfect. It has a DPR8Z plug and is jetted probely. Maybe other peoples problems are just their jetting. A week ago is was 7 degrees and it fired right up perfect. I choke it and don;t give it any gas. When it starts I got to half choke and baby it around the lawn for a couple minutes, then i turn the choke off and giver er heck. I did notice that it cranks much slower but still fires up quickly.

 

I also had the same problem with mine. My 440 has an after market FCR carb on it with out a choke. The solution I found was to change the battery to a 175 cranking amps model. The stock battery is 125 cranking amps. The additional boost turns it over hard enough to start in the cold.

 

Hey guys, try my Cold XR starting method I use on XR500 and 600R's
1. Full choke-full throttle-keep second ignition switch off-crank threw for 2 seconds to prime
2.full choke-ignition on-no throttle crank 3 seconds max
3. If no fire, try quarter throttle full choke
4. still no fire? Repeat all steps only with No choke because shes a flooded

 

Try jump starting it down a hill.
Take in consideration that it's a race quad and it's not made for cold weather riding.

2000 SCRAMBLER 400 2X4

SCRAMDADDY400

 

TRY GOING TO A 42 PILOT JET IN THE CARB IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY. IT MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE FOR MINE. THE 400 COMES STOCK WITH A SIZE 40.

 

Is the gas old?? Like over a week?? try putting fresh gas in there... Drain the carb then put gas in... Also I use a product called Ventstop (www.ventstop.com) that seals the gas tank so the gas does not start to brake down.. There is a review of it on atvconnection at https://atvconnection.com/atvconnect...s/ventstop.cfm I notice my 400 starts much easier...