Greetings, Y'all.

I am curious to know if anyone has heard about the kinds of problems I am experiencing at the moment. We purchased a 2002 AC 400 automatic brand new from the dealer in February 2003. It primarily gets used for farm chores, pulling the small manure spreader, taking feed and hay out to the horses, going to the mail box, etc. It has right at 1000 miles on it. About a month ago, I started having problems with it shutting off when I would get off to throw hay into the paddocks and put feed in the buckets. My husband adjusted the idle, and it helped for a few days. Then it became hard to start. We took it in for service, and they have found all kinds of problems. The carburetor had to be rebuilt, and the CVI box (I think that is what they called it) was bad and had to be replaced. The latest is that the flywheel has disintegrated, a complete meltdown. I mean that the magnets have come off of it. They tried to pull the flywheel off, and it broke their puller. Now they are waiting for a part to come in so they can fix their puller and replace the flywheel. Of course, my warranty is up, so I will have to pay for all of this. I am considering sending a letter to Arctic Cat. This unit has not been ridden roughly, has relatively few miles on it, and has been serviced faithfully. Has anyone ever heard of something like this happening?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

nope, that sucks though. mail a letter of complaint to arctic cat, that would be good.

 

I have not heard of any problems like you have mentioned nor have I had any similar to that. I do know the hard starting and poor idle can be caused by your valves being out of adjustment. I also seem to remember them changing the 400 engine from the 2002 to 2003 year. But, I cannot remember for sure. There are two things I would do if it were me:

1) Defintely contact AC customer service. Your dealer should be able to tell you how. Each manuafacturer no matter how good has lemons of flaws that show up from time to time. It surely could not hurt to ask.

2) I would ask your dealer some more pointed questions. Such as did your puller break causing my flywheel to break or did it happen the other way around? CDI boxes don't go out. (unless there is another electrical problem and none was mentioned). I had a CDI go out and the machine would run fine until it got hot them it would quit running and there was no way it would restart. CDI went out due to a faulty charging system for me. Sounds like they did an exploratory repair on your dime. Make sure there is a valve adjustment in there too. There again, it wouldn't hurt to ask a few more questions of your dealer.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope the machine performed to your expectations prior to this. Also, welcome to the forum.

SJ

 

To be honest, it sounds like your dealer is giving you the runaround.

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. Definately attempt to contact Cat.

 

I have heard of magnets coming off flywheels, they are glued on only, but usually some moron hit the flywheel with a hammer trying to get it off or dropped it after it was off. Dirty carb, without an aftermarket fuel filter that's gonna happen. CDI boxes are electronics and they can have so many different problems that you just can't tell. The flywheel deal I would complain about, should never happen. The rest are pretty much normal wear and tear.

 

Thank you for your replies. The fly wheel magnets did appear to have just come unglued from the flywheel. We have kept the parts and are going to mail it with a letter to Arctic Cat. We got it back yesterday after being without it for a month. I really missed it. It was taking me a lot longer to feed the horses without it, and the half mile walk to the mail box had me rethinking my reluctance to fire up one of the trucks to go get the mail. It really has been a good machine except for this recent issue. I was just wondering if this was a common problem or not. By your replies, I think I am safe in assuming that this was just a fluke, and not something that routinely happens. I hope to have my Cat for many years to come.

 

It sounds like bad mechanics to me. If there is another dealer, take your business there next time (hopefully never) and see if they find less wrong with your quad.