My 1995 Sportsman 400 4X4 wont start. At first I thought the battery was just not powerful enough because is was struggling to turn over so I charged it still wouldn't crank. My recoil was broken so I replaced it and realized it was so hard to pull it felt like I was going to rip the handle off and it would just about move. So I removed the spark plug and it cranks freely with both recoil and starter. I'm thinking it must be compression locking some how. I looked in the shop manual and don't see anything on compression release so I'm stumped. Can anyone give me some advise as to what to check next? It's like the exhaust valve is stuck shut but it's a 2 stroke.....

 

If you suspect the exhaust valve may be stuck shut I would just check the valves to see if they're out of spec. If it's been sitting for a long time exposed to the elements its possible the exhaust valve rusted or has build up preventing it from opening.

 

FlawleZ - Thanks for your response. It's a 2 stroke so there aren't any valves, just a reed box on the intake side and and exhaust port in the cylinder wall I believe. but somehow it is getting compression bound.

 

Oh ok I apologize I read that wrong. I wonder how it would do if you attempted to run a compression test?