I have a 1995 Lakota. With a few problems.

1. The starter wont do anything when I try to start it. As in I push the button and absolutly nothing happens. But sometimes it works fine. It seems totally random when it happens. And theres no sure way to get it to work. Im sure somethings loose, but im just curious if anyone else had the same problem and can point me in the right direction.

2. The quad runs fine, but after a long slow ride (read: hot) to a mudrun in my club im starting burn oil, what seems to be a lot of it. It was full before I left, and after about 6 hours of riding, im a little under a quarter. Could I have a ring seized in a piston?

 

Problem#1 possibly a starter relay going bad. I think before I did anything I would make sure that all wiring connections at the starter and battery are clean and tight. If not clean and snug them just so they are tight. Problem #2 may indicate a top end rebuild. You might at the very least get by with new rings, if not and your wife/pocketbook says ok go for a complete top end, new cam and clutches. JMHO

 

i have expericenced both of those problems........as far as the starter this happened to me 3 or 4 times this winter where i would just press the start button and nothing would happen so i pull started it and once i got it started the starter worked fine........it only happened when it was outside for more then a hour or 2 when it was real cold out so maby in my case, my starter dosnt like the cold, lol....i know other people have had this same problem in the winter with their lakotas too.

now to problem number 2.......i would ride for 6-8 hrs with 2 quarts of oil when i started and when i came back for the day i ended up with hardly even a half a quart.......turns out my whole engine was wasted(top and bottom end) and it cost 900 bucks to get it repared but thats like the worse case..........hopefully your piston rings just need to be replaced.....does it smoke?

 

1. It wasnt cold out.

2. The thing is, why would I need a complete top end rebuild after about three rides? It ran fine, and still does. Lost no power, just all of the sudden it started to smoke.

 

its only been ridden three times since 95, i asumed that it had alot of hours on it because it was 10 years on it........three times riding for around 6 hours would mean you are still in the break in period so the engine must hve bbeen broken in bad and a piston ring must have broke...................replace all ur piston rings and you should be ok but check and make shure every thing else is ok too and that the sleeeve dosnt have any chips in it......it is a fairly cheep reapir if you do it your self probally around 30 bucks for parts

 

o and do a compression check.......a healthy engine should have 145- 160psi

 

Sorry if I wasnt clear. It wasnt used much, but anyway. Ive riden it since ive owned it about 10 times total. (Ive owned it for about a month) the first 9 rides it was fine, and this last ride, both of the people who followed me (who followed me before) noticed it burnign oil. It never did this before. It is new. And it is starting to consume oil which it didnt do before.

So this is a NEW problem. I cant imagine rings wearign out all at once.

 

Uh, oh- I'm expeiencing the same 2 probs w/ my '00 lakota- 'cept I don't really notice much smoke, a little on cold start up, but out in the woods, I don't see any & I'm constantly looking back to check....
As far as the start prob, I gotta look into it myself- My bike was severely wrecked & put back together by an idiot, there's different sized fasteners all over, the right lower Ball joint thru bolt was replaced w/ a regular nut & bolt instead of a castle type w/ cotter pin, etc, etc. I'm feeling pretty sure the wiring's been messed w/ also--
Let us know what you find out.

 

i would say its just one bad or broken ring........i would just replace them all while your in there because its fairly inexpensive

 

If I end up doing a top end rebuild. What will I need for parts? Gastkets?

I know ill need rings, but what else.