this may sound odd but i've seen this from a hole or rip in a carb boot.

 

My old man let me borrow his spark tester last night. I tested the spark cold, then I ran the wheeler until it warmed up and stalled and tested again. I'm getting plenty of spark which leads me to believe this is not a coil issue.
I have not tried draining the carb bowl yet. I'll try that tonight after work and see if i find any junk or water.

As far as taring out the carb to clean it. Thats a little out of my league and I'll have to take it somewhere to have it done.

Man, this is frustrating!!! only 500 miles on this thing, always covered and never beat on!

Thanks for asking about my status Bluethumb!

 

Since the snow has melted and my friends and neighbors have brought back ot their 4 wheelers, that have been minimally used this winter and I can't count how many have had fuel issues. In each case we have removed the carborator, turned it over, removes the 4 or so screws on the bowl. Removed the bowl and cleaned it out with carb cleaner. Spray the cleaner into every jet and opening and put it back to gether in reverse order. replace bowl, put 4 screws in, install in machine, tighten clamps, connect hoses, connect battery and fire it up.

Every single time the problem has gone away. I do not think you can get all the junk out of the carb by simply draining it. You may get the some of the water out but if there is dirt or gunk it will not come out that easy.

It is a simple enough job that you should be able to handle it. If you want to see what the float bowl looks like go to brownsleisureworld.com and look at their parts micrfiche for your machine.

It is a common enough problem that I have added removing the carb and cleaning it to my once a year maintenance schedule. I even have an inline filter! Water, dust and dirty wate can still get into the carb through some vent lines and get around the filter.

Good luck

SJ

 

Man, you guys rock! I'm thinking that joining this forum is the best thing I've done in a while! You guys have lots of good advice and input!
I guess I'll never learn to clean a carb if I don't try, right? I'll give it a shot.
Thanks again to everyone, and I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

Jim

 

So, I said that I would keep everyone posted on my progress. I bought Seafoam over the weekend and added it to my gas....Let it run for quite some time with no change. It would idol but i can't give it any gas or it will breakdown and stall. I referenced a CD rom that i purchased on Arctic Cat atvs which pretty well gave me step by step instructions on how to take off my carborator and disasemble it. I did this and cleaned everything very well with carborator cleaner. I found no evidence of dirt/grime/trash at all. I reassembled the carborator and put it back on. The thing is still running the same as it was. Good news, I can now take my carborater off and clean it which is something I've never dared try in the past. Bad news, either i missed something, or this isn't the problem.

 

What color is you spark plug if you just let it idle?

It should be a tan color. If it is black its running rich which is what it sounds like.

If you can start it and let it idle for a few minutes, long enough to warm up a little, then shut it off or give it gas until it dies. Then check the plug color.

THis will give you a better idea if its got too much or too little fuel.

It does sound like a fuel issue. Might also check amount of fuel flow through fuel line from the tank, Check the choke to make sure it actually moves when you operate the choke lever. I also believe that your carb has a rubber diaphram fuel pump that is actuated by vaccum. So it could be starving for gas. Plug color will tell you.

Don't be afraid to take the carb off and clean it again to be sure. Did you blow air from a compressor through the jets as well?

Also, did you remove the float and needle and clean it out? Some people try not to because there is a little tiny spring connected to the needle valve. If you don't remove it the flow of fuel into the bowl can be obstructed and case problems.

Good job on taking the carb apart, not as hard as it seems was it? Hang in there and keep woring at it. We are all pulling or ya.

SJ

 

I have put a new plug in, and in no time it was very black. Should mean its running too rich then? I'll clean the plug up in good shape and try it again. I did use a jug and checked how much fuel was coming out of the fuel line from the tank. There is plenty coming out.
I believe i removed the needle valve yes, but i did not blow anything out with air. I think I will take your advice and take the carb off one more time and go over it, and blow what I can out with my air compressor.
I do have one other question. Inside the carb i found a fragile black rubber piece. Probably the diaphram you were refering too. This did not fit around the groves of the carb like i thought it would. It seems to be too big. I had to place one side in the groves put the top of the carb on, then i started to tighten the 4 screws and very carefully seated the other side (diafram) in with a small flat headed screw driver. Is this common? Can't say that i enjoyed that part. I was thinking that this may have swelled because of being in contact with fuel? Thanks again for taking the time to give me advice on this!!!! Jim

 

Yeah, black is not good, choke cable hanging up? So when you give it gas from an idle it stalls? That would point to the pilot jet would it not? With it running that rich, it should still rev up enough to get some black smoke out of it. Strange. I honestly thought the coil was going. Maybe your float is set too high causing a flooding condition. There's only a few things that it could be, I'm sure you'll narrow it down. Good job on tearing the carb down. They have tiny passages in them that can get plugged up. Couple guys I know said that they would soak it in Yamaha carb cleaner, it's supposed to be really good stuff, as is Seafoam I guess. Did you check the coil just in case?

 

I will check the choke cable and see if its hanging up, but what i do know is that it idols with the choke off, but when i give it choke while it's running it stalls. Thats why i really didn't think it was lack of fuel, nor the choke cable sticking. My dad is an auto mechanic (who won't touch wheelers by the way) thinks the thing is flooding out.
He and I checked the spark with a spark tester - first cold (plenty of spark) - then hot (still plenty of spark). He was actually surprised how much spark it had. If i have spark 3/4 - 1 inch long, it should eliminate the bad coil theory, correct?

 

Black plug means too much fuel and not enough air.

Real question is is it getting too much fuel OR not enough air?

There is a small air/fuel mixture adjustment screw on the carb. I do not remmeber what it should be set at off the top of my head.

Yes the little diaphram thing is on the top of the carborator. It can be a real bugger to get back into the slot because of the way it curls over onits top edge.

Sometimes, if you shut your fuel off while it is idling you can cause the engine to lean itself out. You might give this a try to see if it allows youto rev it up.

On my machines if it idles for about 4 minutes with the fuel shut off the rpms pick up as it leans out.

It should stall with the choke on because your choke is actually and enrichment system. It allows fuel to bypass throught the carb thus enriching the air/fuel mixture so it starts easier.

You already are running rich so it floods it out, just as you Dad said.

SJ