yesterday i was riding on the river (it's frozen). i heard an awful crackling sound (like the ice was breaking). it wasn't the ice, but i stopped to check it out. i couldn't SEE anything wrong. i broke some ice out from around the front differential to see if it was the u-joint hitting ice (but i wasn't in 4 wheel drive at the time of the noise). i got back on and had no forward or reverse in either 2 or 4 wheel drive. walked two miles in deep snow and got a tow.

one other thing, does anybody run fuelline antifreeze? it's been exceptionally cold here. it gets to around 10 below at night only to warm up to 5 above most days. it hasn't been above freezing for 25 days in a row. i have had a couple of problems with my sportsman. when i'm going 50mph+ down the river, after about 2 miles it'll act like i pulled the choke and die out. i slow down and keep it running and then it's fine.

my kid's scrambler 50 does the same thing, but his is super hard to start afterwards.

keep in mind it's really cold here, but everybody else's stuff runs fine. ??????

thanks for any help.

 

I hope it was just the belt going south. However, if the cracking was 'awful' it may be more serious. Let's just hope not.

Gas line anti-freeze is fine with any of the 4 cycle engines. If you had a 2 cycle, there are certain kinds to avoid.

The dying out and running again thing after sustained high-speed running, but running fine after slowing down a bit sounds a lot like a restricted (dirty) fuel filter. It could also be just a bit of moisture that was in your fuel is now stuck in the filter, and is doing it, too. The filter catches moisture as well as dirt.

I hear what you are saying about the weather. We had it above freezing twice in the same time frame. It is supposed to warm up this week, though.

 

Bret,

Did you check your belt? Is it possible it somehow got wet & then froze? This might explain why you couldn't move in either gear or reverse?


Mikee

 

You got your belt wet or you broke it.Put the quad in neutral and rev the engine for several minutes while observing the outlet snorkel tube that is attached to the belt cover,watch for water coming out of the top of it.Once the water stops coming out of this tube,its time to start riding it in low range at an easy pace for a mile of so.This should do the trick and take care of your quad not moving,if not,you need to remove your belt cover and replace your belt,good luck,
Bill

 

You said if you run 50 and up your atv dies down. My yamaha timberwolf did that and so did my xpedtion. The jets are clogged I get that because iride in dusty conditions. Take the carb apart and clean jets and hole carb. Then check spark plug clean it up real good. It would be best to get a new one I recomend Ac delco rapid fire or Split fire two of the best spark plugs. I have an ac delco in now works almost as good as split!!! I would also change fluids. And the cracking noise was the belt braking because of the cold weather!! I recomend a goodyear gator back belt the best belt you can buy!!! GOOD LUCK

HAVE A NICE DAY