Hey guys, I have an 01 recon that has been sitting for 2 or 3 years. Before it sat, I had just cleaned the carb out, replaced some missing choke components (long story) and drove it for the winter. It ran great. Over the course of those 3 years however, I neglected to start it more than a few times and each time I did it became less and less drivable.

FF to today, the quad wouldn't idle, pop and sputter etc... typical dirty carb symptoms. I flushed the gas tank, blew out every jet, replaced the fuel line and put it all back together. Even after all of this, it still ran really lean (popping on deceleration, flat up top) and adjusting the pilot screw 4 and even 5 turns out didn't seem to help. It also had another strange problem, the quad would stick on deceleration and get hung up at a low rev for 10 and sometimes even 20 seconds before returning to idle. I checked the throttle linkage and it looked good and I could even hear the needle snapping back in the carb when I let off so it didn't seem like a cable issue. I also flicked and pulled at the cable when it did it but nothing changed. The idle is erratic and occasionally surges too or stalls.

So it STILL seems like a carb problem, right? That's what I thought, so I swapped on a cheap ebay carb I had lying around that was never used (I bought it for the choke assembly parts). This cheapo carb has no air stop valve but I figured it should at least fix the sticking throttle issue. However, it did not. The quad runs good at WOT now but still has an erratic idle, sticks at a low rev when decelerating and stalls out of nowhere. The problem seems to get worse as it gets warmer. Funny thing is, it starts up with one pull of the recoil start (batt is dead) but as it warms up, it gets harder and harder to restart when it stalls. The only way I could start it most of the time when warm and it stills is to crank the idle screw all the way up or have someone hold the throttle while I pull start it. It fires right up then.

Plug now shows rich and adjusting the pilot screw seems to make no difference....I can adjust it all the way in and the quad still runs so I guess that means the main needle needs to be brought down a notch. The popping on deceleration now is probably due to having no air stop valve, but what the heck could be causing the sticking idle? I know i should probably replace the ignition wire (original) and get a new plug to see if the idle gets better what what is causing it to get hung up? Could valves or a vacuum leak do that? I would think it would have the opposite effect and cause it just to stall out, not hold an rpm.....

 

How about putting a new battery in it and see how it does.

 

My girlfriend let her 250 recon sit for about 5 yrs and after getting 2" of molasses out of tank and cleaning carb it does almost the same thing at wot in upper gears and also stays at a high idle after riding. Im at the point of buying a new carb. We can ride all weekend with her daughter driving it and it stalls occasionally. hopefully an answer comes along that is helpful to both of us.

And hey there OPT you go all over helping out. I bought a brand new battery simply because it needed one and it doesnt seem to matter.

 

I ramble around everywhere when the old lady's watching X Factor,The Voice,American Idol,Dancing with the Stars,etc Another thing,it runs worse as it gets hot as you say? How about valve clearance,vent lines from the tank and carb? Plus replace missing parts from the carb you mentioned. Just fishin' again.

 

10-4 On bat OPT. thats would be an great place to start.Is throttle sticking or just runs like throttle is sticking? You can spray intake manifold at mount with wd40 to see if have air leak before an teardown or removeale of cable..If you spray at mount an engine loads up an goes dead or runs better then most likely air leak in intake or oring at mount to head.If runs the same then remove cable from thrumb throttle assembly an see if thats helps thrumb throttle lever could be sticking from sitting up so long before now. let just get stuff isolated like better so we all can better help you..Good Luck

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies!!

Could not having the batt really cause an issue? I was under the impression these things didn't need too much juice to run and the stator would be doing what it needed to battery or not. If I am wrong on this feel free to say so, I will take the advice and buy the new battery (need one anyway).

As for the throttle cable itself, I took the cover off and it seemed all nice and greased, pulled and recoiled smoothly I adjusted it so that there was a ton of play and when I let off the throttle, it seemed to go back to being a ton of play. I don't THINK it is anything in the cable....I mean I flicked, pulled, shook it and everything when the throttle got hung up and it made no difference. At first I thought the piston part that holds the main jets needle was getting hung up on the throttle adjustment screw as there was a groove worn into it, but that was ruled out when I completely replaced the carb. Also replaced the spring so it can't be that either.

As far as vacuum leaks, I sprayed carb cleaner around everything (manifold to head, carb to manifold) and didn't hear any change in idle but I will try it again.

I also checked for constant fuel flow out of the tank on the carb side of the fuel line, no problems there.

I am definitely going to check the valves, probably has been 7 years since I adjusted those last. I figured that could be the culprit of the misfire/erratic idle. I just can't figure out while breaking it down logically what could cause it to hold a low rev after letting off the throttle. I mean a motor needs fuel and air to hold a rev like that. If I am closing up the throttle body by letting off the throttle, and the needle is going down as it should....how could this thing possibly be holding a rev?

Only thing I can think of is that the throttle is actually set higher than it should be, but something else is causing it to miss and run rough at idle which lowers the idle speed to where it seems like it should be. When letting off the throttle, momentarily it runs as it should (for reasons I am unaware of ) and idles at the correct rpm with the given idle setting just before it drops down again, runs rough and eventually stalls.

 

Todays atvs got to have 12 volts for the electrical system[IGNITON] to fire correct..i know its sounds weird but sometime low batt or no batt can change ignition curve an can cause fuel mixture to change.Before I would go tearing down everything just barrow an batt off of an lawnmower to see if you have other problems..Batt and spark plug can make an person have an long day I know I have been there,,Not sure this is your problem BUT its an great place to start

 

Before I do an carb job I check compression and igniton system before I do any carb just an rule of thrumb in my job.I have seen techs spend alot of time tearing down carb time and time an still cant adjust out.An 90 percent of the time its an ignition or compression problem when cant tune an carb.

 

Not sure what an 01 recon is but if it has a CD carburettor the “vacuum piston” can stick, take the air box off and look down the carb, blip the throttle and take note if the black plastic slide is moving smoothly up and down. A perforated diaphragm can also give trouble. A damp ignition coil can make the engine run “rough” but not weak.

 

Papa hogg and merryman thanks for the advice. I am going to pick up a new plug and battery today. Figure worst case scenario I can return the batt if i can't get this thing running right (I was only trying to get it running for some winter fun if it snows but it isn't a huge priority and don't want to spend too much money fixing it). I may pick up a carb rebuild kit for the old honda carb as well as it is probably a good idea to have the air stop valve.

Figure I will rebuild the honda carb just so I can completely rule out the carb once and for all...

Change plug

Install batt

If I still have nothing I can do a quick compression test although I don't think that is the issue as it has plenty of power when running now (no longer flat up top since i put that cheap carb on, pulls hard).

Then going to adjust the valves. If I still have a problem then I will be really baffled but at least I would have ruled out a whole bunch of stuff and I can probably do it all for under 75 bucks which I am ok with.