2001 artic cat 250 2x4 ever since I bought from owner the battery never has changed. I just dealt with it and charged every couple weeks as long as I didn't run lights or anything else. Well the other day I warmed it up and about 5 minutes later it died,with smoke rolling out from voltage regulator.. I disconnected battery right away.. Now when I hook battery up it gets warm super fast so I've left disconnected.. I'm assuming my regulator is bad but my issue is what caused it to start smoking after a year of doing the same old thing.. Battery dies I charge it and away we go..

 

The broken charging system may have fully failed by now and over loaded the regulator. Shop around parts are not to badly priced especially off ebay. Also i would go over your charging system. You may have just had a disconnected or rubbed through wire causing the whole issue to start with

 

Take a pear of pliers and twist the gas line until you get it moving. It should come off, if not cut it. You should still have enough line to put it back on when you're done. As fas as the screws put your screw driver on them and hit them with a hammer. It should help to loosen them and hopefully come out. If they're stripped you may need to take a dremel and try cutting a slot for a flat head. I have a pair of snap on dikes and when I can get a grip on a screw 99% of the time i can turn it. But usually the hammer trick will work. They also sell a tool that you hammer and when you hit it it turns the screw. They're $10-15 at most auto parts stores. I hear they work well.