Hello, just joined and have a problem with my daughters LT80. The quad is very hard to start so I removed the carb to clean and teh petcock valve. The carb was pretty gummy and had some sand in it so that has been all cleaned out. There was a rubber boot iin the bowl attached to the main jet boss and it was folded against a risen part of the bowl almost completely covering the pilot jet. Is this supposed to be attached to both places and is it needed? I alson took the petcock appart to clean and found that there was only one screen on it, attached to the valve it self. Should there be a screen on the long tube also? Inside the valve after I pulled the lever off and pulled out the white plastic assembly there was a bent piece of metal at the very bottom. It has two prongs on it that look like ae supposed to be in some slots of the vale, what is that? I will do a compression test on it but if anubody has any ideas please help.

 

where's washougal close to?hey, your topic is too eerie, it's almost exactly what I asked fairly recently. read my topic "LT80 petcock". If you use the search option on this forum, it should display my topic. If not, review a few pages, it wasn't that long ago.

1) I'll bet your upper tube screen is floating in the gas tank. shake tank around and you'll find it. I jammed mine back on,I probably shoulda thrown it out because it's just gonna come off again.
2) I use an in-line fuel filter, way more reliable IMHO.
3) I use a 1/4 valve petcock on fuel line too. also very reliable. Cheap, like $5-10.Ya, it only leaves a few inches of fuel hose after all the splicing. As long as you can get fuel flow from petcock, this solves those problems. For some reason my petcock needs vacuum in all 3 positions, won't let fuel free-flow in prime or res. Only problem is you tend to forget to turn the valve off/on sometimes. Sure is an easy fix when you remember.

I think it's that flat/bent washer (piece of metal you called it), that caused my problems. I think that's supposed to be flat (although I don't know for sure). mine broke, so I removed it and put an o-ring back there to keep the hole on the white plastic thing lined up with "on" and "res" tubes.The metal piece may help with the vacuum assist spring/pump on the other side of petcock.i.e.-when it turns to on position, needs vacuum to suck gas, but turned to other 2 positions, should allow free-flow of fuel.

That black rubber boot in the carb, not sure what it does, but I had your exact same thought. It seems to stretch over 2 areas, the jet and a cast piece inside. I can fax ,or scan and email you a photo of that boot in the carb, as per my factory manual, on Monday from work.It's not a great photo , but it shows it. PM me if you need me to. It looks like it will block fuel flow, but if it's on right, it doesn't. I'd really like to know the purpose of it too.

clean the airbox and filter, or at least check it.

you're right, check compression. I think the guys here said you need MINIMUM of 120psi just to get it to start. hope my bad luck isn't yours, but I had to rebuild top end (including bore) and now it starts in a snap. also had to put in new battery and rebuilt starter, but those things should be obvious on yours when you're trying to start.

Did you check your spark,and try a different plug just in case?

BTW, sounds like you've got old gas, so dump and try new.

Lastly, there's NO air/fuel mixture on carb, only the idle screw.

Good luck, let me know how ya make out.

 

one more thing, just a maintenance issue, there's a drain plug near the back of the exhaust pipe. a lot of slop dripped out of mine when I undid plug.

 

my post was middle of page 3 here. some info, but not much.