My 2002 Praire 650 is over heating. I had not used it for about a year. I drove it for 25 min. and the temp. light came on. I changed out the coolant and water in the radiator, checked the thermostate, and cleaned the filter. Drove it another 20 min. and it over heated again. One more thing I noticed that the motor oil dip stick smells like gas. Does anyone know of something else I should be checking? Thanks for any info.

 

Sounds like while it was sitting, gas flooded into your cylinder and past your rings and is now sitting in your crankcase. Because gasoline has no lubricating properties your engine could possibly be overheating from lack of lubrication.

 

Overheating:
> Is the cooling fan comes on when hot (~192 F)?
> Is the radiator clean?

Gas in oil:
> Change oil and filter immediately.
> When not using the quad, turn fuel petcock to OFF position always. Yours don't have auto vacuum operated fuel shut off system.
> If you feel your quad less power than before, check cam lobes for wear (possibly due to gas).