hey fellow polaris riders. i own a 1996 polaris xplorer 300 4x4. and my question is that when i start my engine all goes smoothly until i rev it after a minute or so of idling and i let off the gas ( in nuetral) then the rpms drop then it goes into a engine rhythm sorta like bing, bing, bing, bing, BING then sometimes a little back fire. this never happened before so i was just wondering if its just a bad warm up procedure or what!.

also after a day opf riding weak- strong riding my chain gets real loose. anything i can help to prevent that also?

Thankx for any help!

 

It is good hearing from people who take action on the first time strange/different noises are noticed - most of the people I deal with bring 'em in after it's tore up, and say "Well, I noticed a different noise about it sometime ago...."[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img] Although, truthfully, it is much easier to diagnose something that is already torn up.

Your sound effects may be a little misleading, but does this occur only during a cold start? or can you make it repeat at any time during a ride?

I'm just throwing out some thoughts, nothing set in stone. This could be the first signs of your plug starting to foul (ie. misfiring) but, if it is only during the cold start, my thoughts are that maybe the engine is still trying to get rid of the un-atomized extra gas that has collected in the bottom of the crankcase - ie. a semi-rich environment? Noticable only in the "unloaded" neutral condition. Although backfires are common with exhaust system leaks, rich fuel situations, misfiring plugs, and ignition timing.

As for the chain tension, sounds like the carrier housing clamp bolts are not tight enough?

 

yeah it only does it on a cold start none other time when its warmed up.. so a fouled plug is kinda what i was coming to but i was jusr kinda concered.. thankx for your help!

 

chckmagnet18:

I've got a '99 300 but have never had that exact problem. It does sound similar to what mine does when someone forgets to turn off the fuel, and it sits for several days or so. I believe you have a little fuel in the crankcase and it will stop doing that when it vaporizes out. Could actually pull the drain plug and check it.

On another note, sometimes my unit acts like the governor has kicked in (usually when high beams are on) and I have to hold in on the override button to get her to rap out correctly. Ever notice anything like that? If so, what did you do?

Oh yeah, on the chain, make sure you really crank down on the bolts that hold the rear eccentric. I believe they're supposed to be torqued to something like 65 ft/lbs or so. That's pretty tough to do with a standard 3/8" ratchet w/out a cheater. Buy a $10 torque wrench. Mine used to loosen up quite a bit till I invested in that torque wrench and locked them down tight. Could be your chain's simply wore out (ever replaced it?). If so, it will stretch a lot during a hard days riding. Consider replacing, as if it breaks, it could crack your crankcase and that's way many $$$$$$$!!!.

Let me know if there are any other changes you might have made or fixes you've had to do. Not many 300 Explorer owners out there, and even fewer who've wrenched much on their quads. Must've been a pretty good model...which they cancelled.