i have a 400 kvf 2002 it reves up out of gear put it in gear and you can only get about 15km down the road it just doesnt want to rev up in neutral clutch seams to be working and in gear they seem to stop about mid way its got me stumped

 

I have a similar issue with a 2002 prairie 400 4x4. The thing revs up just fine in neautral and idles and starts great. I have checked everything from cleaning the carb to disassemling the clutchs and reassembling them correctly, checked valve clearance, compression, there is nothing locked up in the brakes or driveline, I did a leak down test checked the ignition timing and tested the stator and ignition coil. I pretty much did every test imagionable on this quad and there seems to be nothing wrong with it except that it won't go over 20-25 mph and in gear doesn't seems to have all of its power. I have rejetted leaned out the carb and richoned it. I have posted many posts on this issue on a few forum sights and there seems to be no one who knows anything about it. this seems to be an unpopular quad because I cannot even download a service manual and there is limited info on them. The only place I can find a service manual is kawasakis website and I am not paying 90 dollars for something I could download for 5 bucks. sorry for rambling on but this thing is just frusterating and I cannot figure it out. let me know if you figure out anything

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

 

two things to check. under a load sounds like fuel restriction or exhaust clogged. {not enough coming out under a load} i would start with fuel as any motor they rev fine in park or neutral but try to put load on them requires more fuel. check vent to make sure it isnt kinked or clogged. pull fuel line at carb be sure u have gooood flo as it could be screen at the tank clogged. if it all is good there take carb off and clean main jet. let us know what happens.

 

Thanks for the response. I agree for grizzly46's 400 you need to check the fuel system and exhaust.

But on my 400. I Have had the petcock off and cleaned the screens, I replaced the o-rings in the petcock. I have had the exaust off and the exhaust is not restricted. The fuel line is not kinked or clogged I have good flow there. I ran it with the fuel cap off to make sure it wasn't the fuel tank vent. I have had the carb off 5 times of more and richoned it, leaned it out. I cleaned the heck out of this carb there is not a spec of anything in it or any of the jets. I have played with float height but I set it back to spec though. I put a brand new needle in it. (the needle and seat needle). I have tryed running it with the air filter off and choke on and off to richoned it and leaned it out. Literally I think I have checked everything and it all checks out good or does not make a difference. Maybe it is a flat cam?

This has been one of the most frusterating ATVs I have ever had to fix. what a pain haha

 

as far as a manuel goes i searched internet until i found a post leading me back to this site for a link to a downloadable version for 10.95 they have thousands i think it was atv downloable manuels .com as far as your problem if it revs good in neutral then it is fuel or exhaust related take it loose from head and run it down road i have seen them not be cloged but a baffle inside come loose a restrick flow. what wasyour compression it should be around 175 or up if it is lower than that it could be a cam prob or rings, or rocker arms worn but comp test will tell that does it have a over ride switch for the four wheel drive if so diconnect it see if it is shorting

 

Really the compression should be that high? I think it was about 110-120psi. I will test it again tomarrow. Yes I believe there is an over ride switch. I will have to check that out.

you found a pdf manual for a 2002 kawasaki prairie 400 4x4? I will check out that sight you said

Thank you for responding. I have posted lots of posts on this subject on this sight and other forums and no one has really answered. I appreciate it a lot

 

i dont know if this will help u but it ended up being the slide in the carb the diafram was ripped the butterfly was working and it sounded like it was reving up in nuetral but once i found the rip ireplaced the slide and diafram and it fixed the problem if you seem to be having a problem i would pull the air box pipe of and make shure the slide is working aslong as the butterfly

 

oh nice thats an easy fix for ya then. Unfortunitly mine the slide works fine and there are no tears in the diaphragm.

I tried searching again for a downloadable manual and I couldn't find one for less then 35 bucks. Ill spend 10-15 but not 35 for a pdf. do you have that link to the manual you found notmyday?

thanks again

 

ok I just did a compression test on the prairie and it was about 90psi and about 460 rpm. (I have a digital tach I hooked up to it)

according to the tuning specifications I have off of kawasakis website the compression should be about 60 psi at 290rpm.

That sounds too low to me. maybe its a typo and it should be 160? I don't know

what do you think?

 

here is the link to the spec. chart from kawasakis website:

Welcome to Kawasaki.com