Hoping you can get me up to speed as the new owner of a 2006 Arctic Cat, 400, 4x4, automatic.

Gave my son my old Suzuki 250 that I've had for many years so I'm used to a softer ride, smaller unit, with good speed. I must say I'm disappointed in the lack of all of the above in the short rides I've taken on the AC.

The engine revs seem excessive for the achieved speed in 2w high range. 4,500 rpm to get 15-18 m.p.h. doesn't impress me very much. I've tried changing tranny from high to low, 2 to 4 w.d., but it doesn't help. Also it runs so hot you will scorch the hair on your legs if you're wearing shorts.

Unit has less than 350 miles on the odo, so I don't think the belt could be worn enough to lose that much "go". Is this normal or do I have a problem? Any experience will be appreciated.

 

the cat line up is not made for speed. Sure the bigger bores will run a little better than the smaller bore arctic cats but not a whole lot. (excludes the thunder cat) Most will agree that cat is a work horse more than anything but makes for a good trail atv as well as a good hunting rig. The 400 seems to rev a little more than other 400s and ive heard they get a little warm too. The 400 is air/oil cooled i believe so that's one reason it runs warmer,no liquid with a fan,and that it revs higher as well,which creates friction(heat). They are great atvs to most,never hear of any problems really. As far as the get up and go well its kind of a heavy machine and with a 371cc motor its gonna take a bit but shouldn't be too bad. From what ive read in past posts it tends to wake up after 500-900 miles on it. top speed is gonna be around 52mph give or take a few.

 

I need to know if you can hear/feel a shift of the automatic tranny. Its not shifting and that makes me think its stuck in first gear. Before I starting throwing money at it, I hope to get some feeback to establish the normal baseline.

Since this will mainly be used for work at slow speed, the top end isn't an issue, BUT I'm afraid to exceed 20 mph for fear of harming the engine due to over reving.

 

You have a problem,you should hit 20 mph even in low range. The ATV should do 45 mph all day long atleast. Its the same motor used in the Suzuki 400 Eiger and King Quad and they do 50 MPH. If its a Auto (Belt) there is no gears to shift,just the option of High or Low range and reverse. You may want to check your belt or its stuck in low range.

 

I talked to an ATV tech who sounded like he knew what he was talking about and he said without seeing the unit that the drive belt is probably shot and slipping from the old owner riding around in 2 wheel high all the time. He said people should use low range much more than they do, especially for slow driving with a passenger or towing. He compared it to a manual tranny taking off in 3rd gear all the time. Eventually you'll wear out the clutch or in this case the drive belt.

Any guess on the cost to replace one? Is it doable for a bad mechcanic or does a shop need to do it?

Will post when I find out for sure.

 

Could be a worn belt. Quite correct that you should use low gear in rougher terrain, where you will be going slower, otherwise you really wear the belt. Use low gear whenever possible for longer belt life.

My 07 400 TRV will go 23-24mph in low gear.

 

Update: I took it to the local Suzuki dealer. Service mgr. said it was the same engine used in the Eiger and another ATV and they should be able to get back on its feet. Said it sounded like a bad drive belt, but I haven't gotten the diagnosis yet, so not sure.

Local AC dealer has no tech and can't find one, which really sucks. I'll keep my fingers crossed its a simple fix.

 

my gf just got a AC 05 400....i will say that it does run hot....esp. on my right leg....i would not want to wear shorts and ride this machine.....

 

Welcome to the forums Brother Dave !

The first thing i would've done before taking the quad to the DealerShip is remove the clutch housing cover and inspect the belt and clutch for exccessive wear or damage / unless the quad was still under warranty , as for the heat check the valve spec's and adjust if need be ; improper Valve clearance can rob you of power as well as over heating of the engine to the point of blowing a head gasket or melting a piston and ring's !

I have the same year and model Cat that you have , i bought mine on Feb.7th 2006 right off the Show Room Floor ; 2006 Arctic Cat 400 FIS Auto powered by Suzuki's 376cc air/oil cooled with thermostadt controled Fan for cooling the engine with Suzuki's Duramatic Belt Driven Clutch .

I wanted a foot shift manual tranny but the Dealership was sold out of the manual's , they only had 3 of the 400 in stock and all were Auto's , one in Lime Green , one Dark Green and one in Red ; i chose Dark Green i was tempted to get the 500 manual but i didn't want Liquid Cooled more maintaince and more part's to wear out for me but that's just my opinion !

Like my dear old uncle use to say " Opinon's are like butthole's " everyone has one and everyone think their are the best one !!!

The Dealer was an old freind and offered me a free month trial peroid to make up my mind , i almost took it back after the first ride because of the higher RPM's and the fact that it was a belt drive i had been warned by other's about getting into deep water and getting the belt wet was one of my first fear's ; that fear was laid to rest when i drove into a hole where water came up to the bottom of my head light's and no water got to the belt/no slipping of the belt !

After i got home i took the drain plug out of the belt housing and no water came while reving the engine in newtral , the next day i called Tammy my Dealer and asked her how deep was to deep for the Cat ?
She told me that the air iintake's for both belt housing and air box intake were high up in the front plastic's near the handle bar's if i had hit the hole fast i could've sucked in some water but i was going slow so this didn't happen to me .

I also asked about what gear to drive in i was told that the only time i needed low range was when towing a trailer or riding up steep hill's , on my second ride with my little brother we went to the mountain and climbed some steep hill's that have the high tention power line's ; i was in high i could hear a knocking sound in the front near the engine i stopped and put it in low range and noise stopped .

The knocking noise was my first post on the Arctic Cat forum , result's to the post were , Engine braking valve chatter , plastic skid plate flexing or need to use low range ; it was the latter for me , after the first 100 mile's and fluid change i climbed the same hill's in high range with no knocking whatsoever !

I was use to my old 86' Honda 350 D Foreman 4x4 foot shift manual and my 93' Suzuki LT4WD 300 KQ foot shift manual ; but i desided to give it the full 30 day's before making up mt mind and returning the quad !

MY dealer told me that since she started selling Arctic Cat's in 2001 that the 400 was her best seller , and not one of the 400 Auto's had been brought back for a belt or clutch issue ; that's what really sold me on this quad and the fact that the quad was powered by Suzuki !

I'm a bilateral amputee so the heat didn't efect the ride for me , but you may have an issue with your 400 i would check the valve spec's and the fan should kick on before the heat really build's up my fan cycle's on and off more than my old 350 Honda did ; after i got to tow it to the maintain's for a good long ride i could tell that the faster speed i reached the RPM's stayed the same .

With the manual foot shift quad's you can vary your RPM's by simply upshifting to a higher gear , that's what i was use to on the Foreman and the 300 KQ , there's one advanage with the belt driven clutch and higher RPM's it's easy to get the best ring seal because you're alway's in the optimum range for a quick breakin' of the piston and ring's to the cylinder wall of these crosshatched cylinders and shorter pistons ; if you baby it or ride like you stole it aditude's of different rider's and wanttabe tech's !

I've only had my 400 at 3/4 throddle after the first 200 miles and i hit the 40 mph mark on the speedo and it stuck on 40 even though i could still feel the quad picking up speed the speedo on these quad's are electronic and aren't very accurate to start with , i would agree with mudslingingfool about 52 being top speed ; so if you want a sport quad for racing i wouldn't reccomend the 400 AC's or the 500 , 650H1 , 650V2 or for that matter even the ThunderCat 1000's because they are more of a utilitiy quad than sport and very heavy !

The seat hight on the 06' model's was a little scary to me at the start it did feel a little tippy as other's have posted on the forum , the first evening i brought home the 400 my brother rode my old 86' Foreman up beside the Cat i had to look down to see the front rack of the Foreman ; we went to a nearby creek where the water was so deep we had alway's had to go around the bank on the Foreman and KQ this time i rode on through water that came up to the floorboard's on the Cat ; when i started to go through the deep hole my brother went around this same hole we had alway's gone through before !

My brother stopped and looked back to see me start through the hole whitch went to the dam of a lake , i asked him why he didn't go through the hole this time his answer was that the " hole " was deeper than it use to be ; it came as a shock to him when i went on through the hole on my new quad with water up to the bottom of the headlight's and didn't back up and go around ; he was sitting on the spillway when i topped the hill and pulled up beside him , his mouth wide open and i didn't think about water getting into the belt housing !

And about the Cat's seat hight and tippy feel of the ride my brother Dan and i went for a ride on some mountain trail's near his home , Dan has a 2002 Honda Rancher 350 4x4 with double wishbone front suppention and single shock rear swing arm rear axle we got on some off chamber trail with large rut's in the middle coming back over from another trail ; Dan had to get off his Rancher because his rear wheel came off the ground !

Once he got around the rut's in the trail he turned off his switch and was about to help me get around safley , i just straddled the rut's all 4 wheel's on the Cat stayed on the ground this ride made me realize that the Cat wasn't as tippy as i first thought it would be ; i didn't let this occation make me think the Cat was unstoppable or wouldn't roll on a hill only that it was more stable than Dan's Rancher !

My 86' Honda 350D Foreman 4x4 had a heavy straight axle on front and a double shocked rear swing arm , my first ride on some off chambered trail's with rut's up the middle my front wheel slid into a rut and the other wheel and axle came off the ground now that almost made me mess my pant's , the rear axle would do the same my weight was 150 lbs. when i bought the Foreman 6 month's later i dropped 20 lbs. from throwing my weight around to keep the wheel's on the ground ; i had to learn to throw my weight at the right time and place and get up enough speed to make it to the top of some of worse terrain in North Ga. !

Sorry for the novel i've been told i tend to ramble on and on , but i hope i've given you some insite/info on the 2006 Arctic Cat 400 FIS Auto 4x4 from experious ; be safe and enjoy the ride while we still have trail's to ride on , to quote one of the fine forum member's here , don't ruin it for the rest of us !!!!

williebee......

 

Williebee.
Thanks for the great post. You've provided some good insight to what I've purchased. I'll use the unit mainly for farm work and pulling a 600 pound Swisher rough cut mower. I used it one for that purpose, cutting water weeds around our pond. I used to get stuck often on the Suzuki 250 2wd, but the AC just churned through the goo and I gave the pond bank a great and badly needed haircut!

I've already taken the AC to a Suzuki dealer (no AC service here) and they'll soak me for some repair and service work, but I think I've chosen the right machine for the work I have to do.

Once its running at full speed it should be fun to ride on the farm when I want to get out, so I'm looking forward to owning it for a long time.