Hey guys, new to the forum and new to ATV's and Ive got a problem. Bought my first ATV today from a semi friend ( friend of a friend) and Ive rode it several times before its a 1998 trx300fw and the engine fires right up and runs great for about 15-20 mins and then it starts to spit and sputter and cuts off and will not crank for about 5 mins or so. After that it cranks again and runs fine for another 15-20 mins and the whole process starts over again. Im stumped if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. Thank You Randall Kepley.

 

Make sure the vent switch in the gas tank cover is switched on. If it has a hose comming out of the gas cap for a vent make sure its not clogged.

If neither if these fix your problem, when it starts to spit and sputter remove the filler cover all together to vent the tank and see if its OK.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: action450s

Make sure the vent switch in the gas tank cover is switched on. If it has a hose comming out of the gas cap for a vent make sure its not clogged.



If neither if these fix your problem, when it starts to spit and sputter remove the filler cover all together to vent the tank and see if its OK.</end quote></div>

Exactly. Whats happening. is you are running on the fuel stored in teh float bowl.
When this runs out it dies... then Slowly refills over the 5mins, thus running again. This repeats as long as you continue to ride...
Check for a semi cloged petcock, fuel line, fuel filter, or as stated above, a clogged fuel tank vent... all of these will limit the speed at which the float bowl refills.

 

Yup, Ive experienced this when riding in VERY deep water, the vent hose on my foreman goes into the handlebar stem, when that fills with water it clogs the vent hose and the tank no longer vents. Fuel will dontinue to drain for a short while (15 mins) then shut off. Opening the gas cap (and waiting a few secs for the bowl to fill again and the bike is fine.

All I do for the rest of the trip is to take the hose off, blow it out and reconnect it just haning it over the bars until it dries out.

 

Thanks guys, I did what you said and and it run fine! But it was a combo of a few things. 1. I think the gas was about bad and 2. when I took the pet **** out it has a long filter sticking up in the tank, well the filter was kinda brownish orange espc, at the bottom. I took apart the petcock (3) pieces and cleaned w/ kerosene and lightly blew out everything . When I was done the filter was white and w/ new gas and reassembley It runs like a charm! Thanks R.K.