Hello, I'm new to posting on ATV connection but have been a frequent reader since April. I have a 2001 Scrambler 500 2X4 that was running great until the other day.

The quad stalled while riding lightly and I tried re-starting it once or twice with no success. I figured I ran out of gas (the tank looked dry) and thought I would just turn the fuel selector to reserve. It still didn't start. I filled the tank with gas and still no luck (reserve fuel or 'on' fuel).

At this point I pushed it in the garage and began to try and diagnose the problem. I tried starting fluid, which this quad never needed, and it would fire for a second until it burned up the starting fluid and then die. I removed the cab, then drained and removed the gas tank (gas flowed out fine in the reserve setting, the fuel valve did not seem blocked), and put in a new plug. The old one looked very used, but with a gray/black tip that looked ok. I checked for spark and had it. However, the spark plug was not wet at all. I tried running the quad pulling gas from a glass jar and still no start or wet plug. I pulled the lines on the fuel pump, and two of the three looked wet (I'm assuming one is the vacuum line). I then pulled the intake line on the carb and it looked wet.

BOTTOM LINE IS I feel like the gas is getting to the inlet line on the carburetor but somehow not making it to the firing chamber. I really think I ran out of gas, and for some reason the gas is not flowing through the carburetor now. Has anyone had this happen (run out of gas and no start) and is there anything I can do to fix this besides taking it to the shop? Taking off the carburetor seems complicated, but if I have to I have too. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

Try opening the drain plug on the carb. I think it is like a large nut on the bottom of the carb. This will allow any airlocks to pass through. After reinstalling the drain plug, crank it with the c hoke one (and pumping the gas some of course) and see if it'll start.

if it doesn't start,pull the drain plug out again and see if fuel is getting into the carb. You might need a can of patience (lol) to get this nut off if its your first time.
best of luck.

let me/us know how it goes.

 

Thank you for the reply. I'm not sure exactly what bolt/screw would be the drain plug, but hopefully it will be evident as I'm looking. I've viewed the parts diagram for the carburetor, but the only description is 'screw' - I wish it described it as drain plug.

Another thought I had from reading other posts is that the fuel pump isn't primed... Is that possible? I've read to cover the air intakes so it forces the carb to draw in gas and get rid of the air in the fuel pump or lines.

 

The floats in the carb bowl may be stuck in the up spot not allowing any fuel to enter the bowl...........................This will think the carb bowl is full of fuel, but it's not!!!.........Just a guess here by what your are telling us,........Caper.........

 

I agree with Caper. It sounds an awful lot like a stuck float.

 

Thanks so much guys for your help. It turned out to be something much easier than a stuck float - the fuel pump just needed primed. I found another post by Farmr123 that said put your hand over the intake so it pulls the gas in and not air. It started right away. This site is great!

 

That's good information. Glad to hear you are back up and running. Thanks for posting.