Hep me!

My 03 Foreman 450 ES smokes when I give it gas while idling. It also gives off a light but constant smoke while riding, any tips? The smoke is white but sometimes I also think it gives off a bluish smoke. It doesn't have too much oil in it, I've checked repeatedly. Any suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated.

 

Does it make any difference, whether or not the choke is used? It might be running too rich.
Try going for a test ride, with the air box lid off. This will lean it out alot, and if the smoking goes away, and it runs better, then its too rich.
Was any kind of additive added to the gas for storage? If alot of seafoam is used, itll cause smoking.

 

Thanks for the quick response. I'll try your suggestions tommorrow, the wife drug me in and made me get ready to go out.

Using the choke doesn't matter, i let it idle for a long time, trying to see if it would burn off, whatever it was. As far as the gas, I'm going to run this stuff all out and try some new 89. I also changed the oil recently but it ran fine for many rides before it started doing this. The gas can't be old but it may be 87, I guess it could be that. Other than that, I think my valves need to be adjusted, I think they're too noisy, need to check it against a similar machine.

 

sounds to me like you need a new set of rings in it. aka the blue smoke. Most likely from water in the motor at one time or improper air filter, not oiled. What kinda oil do you use in your 450

 

Whether it's atv or the wife, rings sound expensive! I use the honda 20w50 earl. Water could be it too I guess, i got a new pressure washer and was a little worried about water in the exhaust pipe so i put a rag in it but i guess it could have absorbed it and trickled in. Will it burn off or really screw my pooch? LOL...

 

Gotta be careful with pressure washers...its posible to cause lots of damage, when the pressurerized water, gets to places it shouldnt...like behind seals.
How long has it been since the air filter was cleaned and reoiled? Is there any standing oil in the bottom of the air box? Colored oil from the air filter is ok, but too much engine oil usually points to blow-by.

 

Do you ride in water that goes over your pull start?

I had a 450es that burned up a set of rings @ 60 hrs, 3 months old. The dealers denied me warranty service and said it was abuse. I spoke to one of the mechanics (who was a very nice guy, with no control over the service department) and he told me if the pull start has ever been used (even tested), that water fills the recoil start housing and seeps into the engine via the rear seal where the recoil start engages to the engine. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

I admitted to riding in my and water at depths of the recoil start handle, but never anything deep enough to get in the factory snorkel. I ended up doing the rings myself-- 020 piston, 10 hours of work-- gasket set... about $350 of parts.

So moral of the story, drain the recoil housing every time you ride... oh yeah, it doesn't have a drain (or mine didn't)-- so it has to be removed.

sounds like rings... sry

 

Ya you would have to hold the pressure washer right into the muffler get water into the motor. Have seen were mud and water get past rear seal under the recoil. Still sounds like rings, not a real big deal. around 800 if you took it to a dealer to get fixed. So what is the condition of your air filter, is it a K&N or stock, what kinda oil if any were you putting on it?

 

Thanks for the tips guys. It looks like its running rich. I ran it with the airbox cover off and cleaned my K&N filter and it's not smoking. What would make it run rich all of a sudden? Any suggestions on how to fix it? About the pull start, mine was junked when I bought it, all rusted up inside, packed full of dirt, I'll keep an eye on it in the future though. THanks for the info.

 

Its posible the wrong oil was used on the k&n filter. It might have had foam filter oil on it. Or it could have just been plugged with dirt,..either way, sounds like its fixed. Plan on cleaning and reoiling about every 10 hours of run time.

If you plan on riding in a dusty environment, id get a foam filter...my 2 cents.