Hey guys,

I am looking at buying my first atv. I have had my heart set on an older woverine 350 4x4 as I think they fit my needs nicely.

I came across a 1995 for $2,000 a very good deal for my area. I emailed the guy a few times and we agreed on a price of $1500. I was to go pick it up tomorrow.

I got an email from him today, saying he took it out of the shed and it wont start. He does not seem to know to much about the problem other then it wont start, he said it ran perfect before he put it away for winter. He said if I still want it, I can have it for $1100. What do you guys think?

Besides checking for spark and compression what else should I be looking for if I decide to go buy it?

 

p.s the next best deal in my area is $2500

 

I would check over the engine like you plan on doing...but I had a 95 wolverine that I sold this past summer...some other things to check. I would check the tires-new ones that are decent are going to rack you a few hundred bucks, front drive shaft takes a lot of wear (I replaced u-joints twice in five years on mine-450 bucks if you want a dealer to do it!), rear brake was almost unfunctional on mine! I sold mine for 1500 bucks and it had a new muffler and new u-joints in front drive shaft and new front wheel bearings and started right up every time! I would have a VERY hard time even paying a grand for a quad that doesn't run and is almost 20 yrs old now!!

 

Sounds like he put it away with the gas line on, and the carb is now filled with old gas varnish. I owned a 1995 Wolverine from new to just last fall,when I sold it to cut back on wheelers, since I now drive a Grizzly 700. I loved my Wolverine, and had it all decked out, FourStroke Tech 446 bore/stroke, Works shocks, Warn 424 front disconnect, 25" Maxxis Sur Tracs on DG rims with reinforcing rings, was sorry to see it go.
If this guy is telling the truth, could be as simple as draining out the old gas, yanking the carb and giving it a good cleaning, unless it was abused and not maintained, that quad will run for years, mine had several thousand miles on it (no odometer, but I rode the crap out of it for over 15 years) and besides the motor work, it took very little to keep it in great shape. See if he will let you take it home and try to get it running, or work in it there, maybe even get the price down a bit more for your trouble, if he had stored it correctly, it would have easily fired up once the gas was turned back on.
You are right on track with your idea to check the compression and spark, if both those are good, check the plug, if it is dry, the needle and seat is probably gummed shut from sitting, I let mine sit in a shed all winter, and had to use a needle nose to pull the varnish glued needle from the seat in the carb !! after a good cleaning, it was back to starting and running great.

 

Here in South Eastern ontario quads are just an insane price so I think i'm going to take a chance on it as long as everything looks ok tomorrow.

I don't know that I want to work on it and get it going there and then have him try adn put the price back up to 1500 if it turns out to be something simple? It's his atv until he signs over the ownership, and once he's done that i'm stuck with it regardless.

He also mentioned previously the electric start does not work, but he never had any issues with the pull start. So I am wondering if it is something electrical (which is right up my ally, i'm great with anything electrical lol)

It has all new tires, and new rear wheel bearings.

I did find another deal on a 2000 Polaris Magnum 325 4x4 that looks to be in good shape, but it's $2200... and not as good of a machine as the wolverine from everything i've read. So I think i'm going to look at it as if I take it for 1100, and can get it fixed for under 1000 I still have a good deal and that would be if it required an entire rebuild. I of course will hope for a quick fix and spending under 50 lol.

 

At that age, the starter brushes could be shot, a new one off eBay is around 100 bucks or so, but it could also be the starter relay or solenoid,or even just a blown fuse inline. if the quad is in good overall shape, and you can get it for 1100, and he is being honest about it running good before storage, that would be a good deal, and you should be able to have it running with a good carb cleaning, then track down that electric start problem, could be as simple as a loose wire, a bad relay/solenoid, or the start button could be bad !!

 

thanks for the advice guys As long as I don't see anything obvious tomorrow i'm going to take a chance on it. I was pretty down when I got the email from him as I have been looking forward to it for a few days now! I don't have the cash to spend 5k on one that's only a few years old, and I don't want monthly payments on a new one so I am really hoping to get a decent quad out of this one!

 

Thats why we are here !! and if you need any help, I'll do what I can, the 95 Wolverine was the "orphan" model, they went to a CV type carb on the 96-2005 models, the 95 uses the Warrior carb, a few little things on it need attention, but you get more power and better top end out of the 95 carb set up, in my opinion. The CV does have a smoother throttle response, and works well, but as long as you keep it clean and adjusted, the 95 set up is the way to go !

 

I didn't wind up getting it. The engine was the least of the problems with this quad. The brakes didn't work the lines where full of water, and i'm pretty sure the rear end was shot as well as the boot on the drive axle was ripped off and it was full of water, mud, etc and all rusted.

 

Good job on doing a thourogh inspection and catching all the problems. that could have been a real mess, and an expensive one at that. Dont worry, plenty of quads out there for you to pick from.