I have a '00 Xplorer 250, and lately it has this habit of sputtering out and dying as soon as I shift it into reverse. The problem seems to come and go. The last two rides, about 70% of the time, I couldn't get it to go in reverse, the other 30%, no problem. It shifts into H and L without any trouble. It also doesn't seem to matter if the engine is hot or cold.

What's causing this and what should I do or be looking for?

Thanks!

 

Is your battery in good shape? Relatively new? The reason I ask is because a couple of weeks ago my battery died and I could drive it fine but when I put it in reverse it would spit and sputter. I bought a new battery and it works great. Just my $.02 and someplace to start troubleshooting.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. The battery is in fact in good shape. After having the quad not start on me after letting it sit (with a 2 month old battery) for 6 weeks, I realized I should have been disconnecting the battery when not in use. So now, right after a ride, I always disconnect the battery, and when I reconnect, it has full juice and fires right up.

 

what happens if you hold the yellow button in and then put it in reverse? If it stays running the problem is probably in the reverse override thingy.

 

I did try that. Override pushed or not, it just won't go into reverse without dying. I can hear and feel the transmission shifting into reverse, but then the engine just peters out, almost like when you forget to turn the gas shut off valve to 'on'.

 

another thing to check is the play in the throttle box. that thing is designed to kill the engine if it sticks wide open and I have seen it do strange things if there is too much play. I dont know why it would only do it in reverse but stranger things have happened. I've got a Polaris repair manual for that bike, I'll look in the troubleshooting part and see if I can find anything.

 

Thanks, BF750!

 

unfortunatly its a "how to" book. it assumes you already know whats wrong. I found this schematic interesting. http://gotmudd.com/images/xplorer.jpg

 

Your reverse limiter is bad unplug the black wire from it and it should clear up.

 

Really? Even though when it does work in reverse, the limiter and the override work just fine?

BTW, BF750, I'm not sure if I know how to read the schematic, but I think I know someone that does. Thanks!