My daughter was riding her LT80 in some mud and puddles and it stalled. I got it running again but barely. Three days later, it still won't run right. It will fire up, but dies when I give it throttle. Choke helps a little, but not much. I know I can fix it, but I'm not sure where to start. Is this a symptom of a fouled plug, wet magneto, or water in the air box? The puddle was about 1 foot deep, so I guess it could be all of the above. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Mike

 

Ya got yuck in the carb.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] I think a good carb cleaning will get ya going. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
You should clean the air filter and associated parts.

 

One other thing that helps sometimes, is to duct tape the plug wire to the top of the engine cover. Our old LT hated water! I finially got the idea to duct tape the rubber hole plug that is around the spark plug wire to the top cover and it solved our problem. Later I discovered the wire would get wet and short out not putting a good spark to the plug. (That hurt by the way!!) Just an idea!

 

That's what I figured. I didn't think it would fire up if it was electrical. I guess I'll pull the carb and see what I find. Thanks!

 

jack
i thought he was talking about you getting wet and running funny

 

OK, I cleaned the carb and filter, removed the jets and blew everything out. Put it back together and now it wont even start. I think there's a problem with the seal between the carb and the reeds. The oring is trashed , so I have to order a new one. I really hate the connection for these carbs. I'd like to upgrade to an aftermarket one, but they're a little pricey.
Anyone got one laying around?

 

I would change the gear oil as well. If oil got in there, it could be bad for it.

 

Well I got it running again. Luckily I found a spare o-ring in my parts box. Of course this was after I had ordered $30 worth of parts, but at least now I'll have some spares. Those little batteries don't have much cranking power. I ended up jumping it off my Vulcan. Runs great now. My pull starter cord broke and I tried to fix it, but got tired of fighting the recoil spring. I think I'll just seal it up with one of the newer covers without the pull start hole. I'm a little concerned about draining the battery on the initial startup though. The machine only gets ridden once or twice a month. I guess I could start it the day before she'll be riding and charge the battery overnight. The gear oil should be fine as it's in a separate part of the motor, but it may be due for a change anyway. Thanks for the help.

 

Oops did I say oil? I meant water.

 

If you dont have a battery tender....you might want to look into them. You just plug them in, and connect it up...and forget about it. When your daughter wants to go riding, itll be fully charged and ready to go.