Guess I should have put the thread in before I hit the button, sorry. I have a problem with my bike that feels like it is starving for gas at speed. It will start the very best, idle the best and will run well as long as you give it too much throttle. At idling speeds form 30 km \hr and up it will jerk and hesitate, almost like it wants to go into limp mode. Also, I have the 2wd - 4wd flashing back and forth. It was timed to indicate the 4wd actuator was bad, dealer replaced it under warranty. The flashing never stopped. I had the engine brake control changed last summer.
I have put on a new choke cable, changed the plugs, had the valves adjusted and cleaned the air fliter\air box. That did not cure the hesitation, it did improve gas mileage though. Plus, I still have the 2wd - 4wd flashing problem. The dealer give me a new cdi to try last weekend. That still did not cure the problem. This weekend the dealer is going to give me a control box off of a new bike and I will try that. From my understanding, that control box governs the engine brake and 4wd actuator.
Is there any chance that the control box would have any bearing on the bike running bad? Does it have any control over ignition or maybe a speed sensor? The dealer told me today that I should pull out the choke cable when the bike is running bad and see if it will make the bike run smooth. That would indicate a lean condition. If it runs worse than it is running rich. Am I going in the right direction or should I try something else?

 

There are 2 problems with your ATV, at least:
1). Hesitation
Are you at sea level? Install fresh CR7E plugs and run at 3/4 throttle open speed for at least 1/4 mile. Then pull out the plugs and see. Since, it starts easy as you said, I would say the plugs would read lean and not fouled up. If lean is the case, I would fatten up the main jets to next bigger size (Front has #138 and Rear has #142 on stock P700). That will tell you if it is running too rich or lean. If that sounds like too much work, here are some cheap tricks:
Is it too lean?
Set the choke lever at various settings (1/4 open, 1/2 open, etc.) and try to duplicate the hesitation (you are intentionally running rich). If the hesitation is gone at certain choke lever setting, then it is lean.
Is it too rich?
Open the air-box lid and try to duplicate the hesitation.
Is it Conrol box?
Not likely at all unless the EBC finger is always pushing against the drive converter cover plate bearing. Is your ATV creeping at idle speed in H or L gear? If not, then this is not it.
Is it CDI?
I have not seen CDI causing hesitation problem - usually no starting or running at all.

2). Flashing 2/4WD
What is the flashing time interval? You need to count the full cycle time, not just half. Measure the time interval fo flashing from 2WD to 4WD to 2WD. Disconect/reconnect the battery cables and see if it resets the flashing. If it does, a new Control box should cure it. If flashing continues, your EBC actuator is going bad and the flashing interval should be 2 sec for this failure. Think of this flashing cycle as a square-wave function. 2WD light ON for 1 sec and 2WD light OFF for 1sec (actually 4WD light is ON instead).

If still under the warranty, I would demand the dealer to fix it CORRECTLY...

Good Luck.

 

I have another thought on this hesitation problem:
Have you checked the cam timing? I am seriously suspecting if the cam chain has skipped a tooth or two on the sprocket and the valve opening/closing timing is out of synchro. Because, if it is too lean, you would feel the hesitation when you snap open the throttle from the standing still. If it is too rich, there would be some bogging. But you said, it is just fine from starting to about 30kph. Valve timing becomes more critical at higher engine speeds. If plug reading comes out negative, you should have your dealer open the head and check if the punch marks on the sprocket is aligned with the head mating surface at TDC. Also, check if the cam lobes are in good shape, especially the exhaust side (runs hotter).
Good Luck.

 

Has your jetting been adjusted?

 

Thank you guys for the info. To answer some of the questions... No, I have never touched the jets. The idea of opening the choke cable a little at a time was suggested by the dealer. I think that the hesitation is a lean condition and is a separate problem from the 2wd - 4wd flashing. The plugs only have 150 km on them, I will take them out and see what shape they are in.The bike is still under the 3 year warranty, thankfully.
We are going to the dealers this Friday and he is taking my bike out to a track near his shop and give it a spin. We are also taking another 700 and we are going to switch control boxes and see if the flashing problem will happen on the other 700.
I wonder if the valves were adjusted incorrectly and this is leading to hesitation in the motor? Again, thanks for the help.

 

Just wanted to give you the final solution to the problem. After valves being adjusted, changing plugs two times in 200 km., tried new cdi , took carbs off had them cleaned, carbs reinstalled ( syncronized, vacumn checked), cylinder leak-down test done, cleaned foam air filter, we still had our hesitation.

Service tech called Kawasaki Canada and they suggested putting washers under the jets to increase fuel flow. My gas mileage was already bad, I was not too keen on this suggestion. We agreed that this fix would be the last try, we would swap carbs off an '04 700 demo that they had at the dealership first.

Today the tech was looking at different things and he decided to swap the foam part of the air filter off the demo and and put it on mine. We did a spin on the bike and went like a bat out of hades. ALL this work and it was a plugged piece of foam! The tech had cleaned the filter last Friday and evidently it was just plugged too bad. I have 8500 km on my bike and I clean that filter faithfully. I am using the foam out of the demo this weekend and ordering a new one.

What a hassle for the sake of a filter. I only hope the dealer takes pity on me when I get the bill this afternoon.

 

Watch out 2 up with all that power that's been waitin' for ya.