It's mid 90's, I think 97. It's chain-drive.
Been freshly over bored once from stock recently.
It is totally stock and has never has anything else modified or changed in any way aside from the over bore.
I have also pumped grease into the trillions of grease fittings located all through out the quad.

My questions are:

What type of attention should I pay to the clutch since it's pushing 10 years old (do parts wear and effective its performace)?

Does a worn belt affect performance(I'm not sure how old it is although it looks fine)?

It seems slow to rev in neutral and doesn't pull any harder after throttle is past 3/4. Is there a jet kit that is proven or should I look elsewhere?

Anything else you guys can offer on this particular model.

Thanks [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

John - the newbie to atv'ing.

 

the 400 two stroke that polaris makes has a wide variety of engine performance parts available for it to increase power. a worn belt can decrease performance some. I dont know how long you have had this quad or its condition but the throttle problem past 3/4 could be a carb issue or a throttle cable issue. If your interested in having work done ive heard all good things about Rick Ritter

http://www.rittercycle.com

for increased response the clutch components like springs, weights, and the belt are the first area to tackle. Nothing should really wear out accept the belt if it has been mantained decently. i dont know what kind of an inspection youve given it but you could also check the airbox. My buddy had a polaris that wasnt running right and he learned later he had a mouse nest in the airbox and another one inside the clutch housing.

how long have you had this bike/ where did it come from etc?

 

It's my roomies quad, he never really touches it and I am the one who will take it for a spin from time to time.

The throttle cable is good and working fine. The slide comes up all the way but the engine just changes tone but doesn't accelerate more. I suspect the machine is either running to lean or too rich, as opposed to some other proglem. I have not looked at the plug because it's an old one I put in a year ago and won't accuratley tell me what the deal is. I'm not going to risk my life doing full-throttle plug chops on this thing anyway, I just don't trust it at speed. I'll just play with the jetting until I think I have it as good as it's gonna get. Also it won't idle with the choke on. To start it from cold I turn the choke on and have to give it a little throttle or it won't catch. When it does start to fire I have to flip the choke off right away or it'll stall when I release the throttle.

I'm convinced it should rev a little more crisply than it does. Thing is, I have no other similar machine to compare it against. In neutral, when I open the throttle half way to rev it, it takes its time getting there, like a second. It has to catch up the the amount of throttle. Is this normal? Feels slouchy to me. No load and it still takes it time revving.

I have replaced the rear chain and sproket assy and the front sprokets were changed last year by me as well. I just finished replacing the rear axle bearings - what a nightmare! All other bushings and bearings are good. Wheels are at 5lbs and rotate freely.

Thing is... my buddy bought a 2006 Brute Force 750. I know there is no comparison but what I did notice is that it seems to stay in a low gear ratio longer/more throttle before beginning to change for a higher ratio. It's so easy to just slowly torque over things without the wheels trying to spin too quickly when you feed it more throttle.

The 95 Polaris 400 Xplorer on the other hand feels too heavy, like it's struggling to get moving almost. It actually feels like it's in too high a gear ratio to begin with in comparison to the Kawasaki. When I am trying to tractor slowly over a steep hill it won't fully engage until I give it more and more throttle all the while the engine is loading. Then, when it does start to move it tries to get moving in sync with the engine which I have at 1/4 throttle. So, it starts moving too quickly for any amount of smooth control.

I hear about belts getting wet. Would this cause it not to grab right away and have to wait until the clutch is squeezing it way more and therefore going to a higher gear ratio? I'm certain the clutch/belt housing is not a water tight fit anymore. As a matter of fact, I think there is a hose missing off the bottom where I think cooling air is fed in. What are the symptoms of a wet belt?

Thanks [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

John

 

I just read a response in another forum about a certain spring and 'holes' ect.... it was in an effort to get it to 'hang' in a low gear ratio longer. This is what I'd like.

Any tips on my particular quad?

 

I had a 91 trail boss that was pretty much doin that...we changed the needle and seet in the carb and turned the idle up a bit..solved that problem.if the quad has been sitting like u say then u could have a bit of old junk in there it may even look like varnish and kinda smell that way to or like shilack. but i'd try a needle and seet and turn the idle up a bit and u should be good. good luck

 

Hi ! I owned a 1997 Explorer until last March. I logged about 6000 miles miles before I sold it. It is a high maintainance quad. You have to be on top of the grease, the sprockets, the drive line bearings, the chain/adjustment, the swingarm pivots, out put shaft bearing, etc. I found the motor to be reliable. It was not sluggish to rev. The clutch is similar to that on a snowmobile and does need routine maintainance. At about 5000 miles I pulled my primary and found I needed to replace the weights or arms and the pins they swing on. The pin holes had started to become oval shaped and the pins were worn somewhat.(I have a friend who did a similar inspection on a 2000 Sportsman with about 9000 miles and one of his pins was next thing to being cut off, the wear was that bad). I never did buy a spare belt for it. I did compare my belt with others and wear was minimal. The engine burned cleanly enough that spark plugs were not an issue. I bought one for a spare only. Clutch weights are relatively inexpensive and they don't use bushings like a snowmobile. Be sure to check and change your counterbalance fluid regularly. Starters can be a pain especially when you have to dissamble half the quad to remove one. Front axle seals are also an issue. Hope this is of some help to you. By the way, I installed a Dynoport pipe which woke the engine up a little. And, yes, I did have to replace the needle/seat combo in the carburetor. Jetting stayed the same even with the pipe. Even one size larger mains produced a noticable stumble in the motor. Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, I figured out real fast this quad is a nightmare of preventative maintainence, comparatively. When I first took an interest in it I discovered that whatever could wear was worn. My friend never payed any attention to its up keep. 800 dollars in parts later it was alright. You name it, it had to be replaced. After going through this quad from top to bottom I was amazed at the poor engineering and cheap short cuts Polaris used to slap these things together. Just look at the rat's nest of unprotected and exposed electrical connectors of the main junction board. Brutal. Also the tiny and thin screes used to hold the two halves of the headlight assy together. Duh!!! Bang that thing once and they just tear out of the soft plastic. And yeah, working on them is a nightmare as well. I had the oppurtunity to change the starter as well.... and everything else for that matter. Even the front struts were blown.

So now I'll get into the clutch.

Are there parts that wear or need maintainence in the secondary clutch assy?
What's balance fluid?
Is the needle seat refering to the needle valve? Should I just get the carb parts from Polaris or go through Mikuni?
Is there a jet-kit avail for this model? It's a 95.

Thanks again [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

John

 

The secondary clutch should not be problematic. If the weights and pins go unserviced , the weights may go out of line badly enough to score the spider and then you have a whole new expense. The needle and seat can be accessed by taking the float bowl off the carburetor. The seat is a hexagonal shape brass fitting screwed into the main carburetor body. The needle is a small device which hangs from the float adjustment tang and moves up and down inside the seat to control the flow of fuel to the carb. When these become worn they must be replaced as a set. They come in different numbered sizes and you may have to buy from Polaris. Cost is about $45.00 for the set. When they go the carb floods and you will usually see fuel on the floor below the quad. The motor has a counterbalancer which help to quell vibrations inherent to the motor. There is a short metal dipstick with a round mushroom top which can be seen by looking behind the motor from the right side of the quad. It is best accessed by removing the seat and part of the air box. You need a large long flat head screwdriver to unscrew the dipstick and long needle nose pliers to pull the stick straight up. The old fluid can be drained by removing the skid plate.and removing the center drain bolt. Once drained about 3.25 oz of 10w30 motor oil should be added through the dip stick hole. As far as jetting is concerned, as I told you, even with tha dynaport pipe stock jetting worked fine. I increased the main jet one size to accomodate the pipe but had to backtrack when the engine quickly developed a rich burble. Also, if your battery starts to go south, do yourself a favor and replace it instaed of repeated chargings. The electrical system is meant to work with the battery hooked up. I once blew all the bulbs because of this and low beam bulbs are a Polaris part at about $28.00 a pop. It's much easier to replace the battery. When my quad worked, it worked well. It had plenty of power and speed and rode reasonably well. However, as the miles started to pile up the repairs did as well. I sold it in excellent condition with everything operational. By that time I had spent about $1000 on it over the 5 or so years of ownership. I previously owned a 1990 Suzuki 250fwd which was not nearly as much fun but also not nearly as problematic. Hope this helps.

 

Excellent help [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

He told me there is a repair manual floating around somewhere for this thing. I'm going to find and read it because I'd like to adjust the floats in the carb as well as change the fuel valve seat and needle.

He also had no clue there is a balancer mechanism in his quad. I just looked over Ronnie's online break downs and what I think you are talking about is at the back side of the crank housing. #43 at http://216.37.204.202/polaris_oem/Po...e=13&A=57&B=44.

I'm just curious though, how does this oil squelch vibration?

I will say that if changing it dampens that big jug from shaking like it does at idle it will be very welcome.

Just a note about me. I'm 35 and last year I got into motocross and bought a KX250. I've always been a street bike guy so this was new. I fell in love with the sport and have been at my local track every chance I get. The faster and crazier I go, the happier I am. Same on my racebikes. I've always seen these type of quads as over weight cumbersome 'old fogy' couches with wheels and never paid any thought to them.

I've been out on this thing a few times now on the trails around here and it has really opened my eyes. I love the feeling of putting it in low and 4x4 and negotiating tight twist trails with massive ruts and obstacles. It feels like I am driving a tank, it just powers itself over anything in a controlled methodical way. I like the feeling of challenge it gives me. I like feeding it throttle in just the right way as to not get too much tire spin and loose traction. Loads of fun.

So, now I am on the hunt for a used quad for myself. I am going for shaft drive of course and a 4-stroke. I hear about these older honda 300's so I'll try for one of those. I'm also trying to convert my clan of motocross friends. They think I'm nuts for talking about atv's like I do now. I've always been the extreme guy on bikes.

Thanks for the help

John

 

i dident read this whole post but i would check your buttons in the clutch they will affect your rev and shift out and can make it seem like the jetting is bad there a cheap easy fix...