I recently purchased a 2003 Polaris Predator 90 that wasn't running. After a new battery, spark plug and a carb cleaning it will start and idle great but it won't rev much beyond idle. As I slowly open the throttle, the engine will begin to rev up and then it will start cutting out like a rev limiter is working. It reminds me of when my 14 year old will go wide open throttle in his car while parked in the driveway. It has a new CDI box that was installed by the previous owner and after talking to a dealer, I learned that a jumper wire needed to be removed to allow the engine to rev higher. Well, the jumper wire was already removed so that isn't the problem. I have messed with the carb adjustments many times but it doesn't seem to affect the rev problem. Could it be the stator not producing enough voltage? Do I have a problem with the carb that I am not aware of. It also appears that the coil and wire may have been replaced just prior to my purchase in an attempt to fix the problem. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

I have 2 ETONs which are made by the same company that makes Polaris and they act the same way as yours. Have you checked the compression? Both of mine are around 50 psig and I have a third that is 50 psig as well and runs very good. Compression is supposed to be 90+ psig. I am debating on rebuilding the top end.
Let me know if you find a fix.

 

The stator was what I was going to suggest checking.

Not familiar with this model, but does it have a reverse over ride? And when you engage it with it in forward, does it seem to clear it up? (somewhat)

 

I haven't checked the compression and don't think that it would affect the rpm like this. This model has no reverse. Of course the local Polaris dealer doesn't want to offer any suggestions except for "bring it in and we'll look at it". I've looked this thing over a hundred times and it appears to be a pretty simple machine, so I feel like an idiot not being able to figure this out. Would it be worth it to spend $50.00 on a service manual or will it even aswer my question? I think it has to be an electrical problem which narrows it down to the CDI box or the stator. I have readthaqt these have stator problems. What kind of voltage should it produce or do you ohm test them to see if their working properly?

 

I got a Predator 90 from a friend, but it had been sitting in a shed with fuel in it for 2 years. So with some difficulty we got it started and it ran pretty well all last year. Well, this year we tries to start it and it worked fine until I tried to push on the throttle. Then the engine wants to quit. We messed with the needle valve and such, but no luck. We got carb cleaner from walmart and sprayed it in, and nothing got better. So we went to our last resort, we took out the carb and cleaned the bowl, float, and the jets, and we started to see a glimmer of hope. But it was nowhere near perfect. We took the fuel line out from the carb and sprayed carb cleaner down the main line. Now it is going with some difficulty. Now we are just running it and running it until it gets all of the dirt out of its jets. Hope this helped.

Oh and by the way, I am an amatuer rider and have a tiny stock atv and have never really fixed anything on it before. If I can take apart a carb and clean it, you can too.

 

You guys need to remove both jets, the float needle and seat. Spraying cleaner around does little.
After that do a comp test. Then it's on to the stator.

 

In addition to that make sure the air filter is clean and the carb is getting a good flow of fuel..You can pull the gas line off and run some gas into a can to check fuel flow...Also make sure the wires are tight on the coil..

 

I am having the exact same problem with my Predator 50. I have put a new batt, new plug, new carb, drained and cleaned the oil resevoir, taken the muffler off and ran it and I have had zero luck. Keep me posted on what you find, I am going to keep trying some different approaches.

 

I had the same problem with my 03 Predator 90 and here the oil pump had went out so it had low compression. I drained the tank mixed up some 50:1 and she goes like a champ! Hope that helps somebody!