Hi gang, I haven't bought the manual yet for my 06 sportsman.
I get home from vacation and some inexperineced adults had ridden it a bit.
It will start with a smallest amount of throttle (gas) but won't start or idle at idle like before. No throttle = it dies. Choke = it dies. I assume this carb to be like most - with both high speed and idle jets, right? I'm no great mechanic, but I've put in a few carb kits before. I'm thinking first thing to check is the idle adjustment. Bike only has about 60 hrs on it. (and the wench flashes as usual when I start it, but I never cleared it before). Any ideas welcome!

 

I would imagine the throttle cable is out of adjustment. The is an adjustment on the cable before it goes into the pod and it it's too loose there is a safety switch that will kill the engine in case of a stuck throttle. Try that first before adjusting the carb

 

My first guess is you haven't checked the valve clearance ,even if you have already taken it in to your dealer for the full service afte break in period a lot of dealer's will not check the valve's unless they are making any unusual noise in the engine valve train area some just won't even check them at all , even though they're suppose to check and service everything with the first service ! And after that they or you are suppose to check them every 500 mile's or every six month's ! But first try a new spark plug , clean and re oil the air filter change the oil and oil filter ; and when you change the oil see if it has a milky color in the oil ! and if it does you have water in the oil ; whitch mean's it's been sunk in water or mud hole and sucked water in the intake and cylinder ! Check the color of the oil first it should show up on the dip stick , if not it will when you drain the oil if it is milky you'll have to change the oil 3 or 4 time's or untill you can ride it 30 minute's ! And after that the oil should look like it does straight from the oil bottle ! After checking for water in the oil and it look's good to go , Try to adjust the idle speed . I don't have a polaris but i do own a 2006 Arctic Cat 400 FIS Auto and they both have the belt drive clutch and both have about the same service guide's ; the idle speed adjuster should be on the right side of the quad mine is long with a flexable coil of wire around it ! And at the end it should have a **** or screw big enought to turn with your finger's , clockwise should increase idle speed ; and counter clock wise should decrease idle speed ! Unless polaris carb's are backward , please don't think that that coment about polaris maybe backward's from my AC ; that i'm trying to Brand Bash your quad because i'm not out trying to get everyone to change to my brand ! Here's hoping it's an easy and inexpensive job ! ...............

 

MORE INFO: Well, I took at look at the ETC module and see why it dies when I have no throttle depressed.... but this doesn't make sense to me yet..... I'm missing something. So please enlighten me!! The ETC has a built in kill switch (a safefy feature) and when I have no gas depressed, the switch is closed, killing the engine. But I have NO idle, and the idle has to bypass this somehow. I played with adjusting the ECT so that no contact was made at Zero throtle... still no idle, just a rather fast engine speeed. I could't find the Idle screw on my carb either, as the manual shows it as a long screw coming out the bottom.... nothing there. So what do I check next? By monday, I'll have to take it into the shop, but I LIKE doing things myself if I can. Ideas?

06 Sportsman 450 stock. Very Yeller!

 

textrout this may sound silly but it could be a blown fuse , the reason i just thought of this i remembered the first Japanese import car i ever had was a 1977 Toyota Corolla , one day i had to go get a check cashed so i could get some stamp's to mail some bill's ; it was idling just perfect and there were 2 car's ahead of me in the line ! After i got to the teller window and cashed the check , i pulled i to the end of the lot and pulled into the closest parking spot next to the stamp machine and postal mail box. The engine stalled out before i even got the car stopped and in park , but i didn't think anything about it ; jut got my wheel chair out and into the chair ; then rolled over to the stamp machine got the stamp's put them on the envelope's ! Then i put them into the mail box and rolled back to the car , got into car ; pulled chair back in the car ; shut the door ! Slid over into driver's seat put on my seat belt , put in the key hit the starter it fired right up then it stalled again ! I Started it again and it stalled again , on the third try i hit the gas to keep it running , i had to ride the brake and gas when i had to stop for traffic light's and stop sign's ! But i got home pulled in driveway and the engine stalled again , but i made it home anyhow ! I was lucky the first week i had the car i went to the local Auto Zone Parts Store to get oil oil and air filter then i rolled over to the part's counter and got in line to get plug's plug wire's, distributor cap and rotor point's and condenser for the tune up , while i waited in line i saw these Haynes shop manual's on the lower shelve in front of the part's counter ; so i started looking at them and i found one for Toyota Corolla's ; the manual covered 1975 through 1979 All Corolla's all model's ! I went into the house and dug out the manual , i started off in the trouble shooting part of the manual ; when i got to the part about engine stalling i saw the part about blown engine fuse causing engine stalling ! I didn't even know where the fuse panel was but the manual showed it under the left under side of the between the steering coulum and hood pull cable i went back out popped the panel cover i saw for the first time a blade type fuse ; all i i had was the round glass type fuse's . I called my brother at work and told him to stop at the part's store on his next trip up my way , about an hour later he pulled up with the fuse's ! I put the new one in and it started right up , and idled as perfect as new ; so you should check out all the fuse's ; it will be alot faster if you have a repair shop manual ! A O.E.M. manual would be best but a haynes,clymer are chilton would work out may be even better as long as it cover's your model and year ; because they show how to make jig's and other tool's you can use in place of many of the special tool's the manufactuer call's for to do certin repair's ! But i still think that the valve;s should be inspected and adjusted if they are off just a little , it doesn't take much off the spec's to cause an engine's performance not to be as good as it could be ! When i adjust the valves i like to get them in the middle of the spec's. ! I've called three different shop's and i've gotten 3 different setting's It was a beautiful day to ride , i took my Cat for a short ride today i would've liked to have gone to the mountain's for a long ride ; But maybe next week hopfully i can go for a good long ride ! Did you check the throddle adjustment that SCRAMMYTODD was talking about ? Well textrout i hope you get your quad going soon , it's dry and dusty in North Ga. we got some shower's and thunderstorm's but it was dusty on the track today ! We're way below what we should be for this time of year Let me know what you find out ; ..............................................

 

Armed with a little more information, I was able to get this thing running correctly again, in a most simple and logical manner. Good think I trusted my instincts on this one.... BOTH the ETC and carb Idle screw had to be adjusted until I brought it down where it should be. Seems a well-intentioned neighbor tried to help out while I was gone and my company (my lawyer niece, believe it or not) couldn't start the thing because she had turned it off with the kill switch on left handlebar....
Quick question: I set idle at about 1200rpm. What should it be at?
Anyway, it sound right again and I'm ready for the grandkids! :-)
Thanks for the help guys!!
gpatim

 

I have the Factory service manual for the 2005/2005 Sportsman 400/450/500.

Idle speed is 1100 +/-200 RPM.........Hope that helps.............you should be O.K. @ 1200

If you need help with your Flashing Wrench Icon.......Just ask!!!...Caper........

 

OOPS 2005/2006 Sportsman...........typo.........LOL....

 

I assum you are all good with your quad now but I thought I would tell you that mine was doing the same thing a few months ago. Dealer adjusted the throttle and its been perfect since

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: caperinmuskoka

OOPS 2005/2006 Sportsman...........typo.........LOL....</end quote></div>

did you forget what yr you had since it came out in 06' lol.