01 Sportsman 400 won't start
 

Been using the Sportsman weekly for general home duties & plowing snow. It has been running flawlessly. I parked it the other night in my unheated garage. Last night I decided to adjust the trans linkage because it was getting a little squirrely going into reverse. All I did was remove the air filter housing from the carb and make a few linkage adjustments & topped off the gas tank. Tried to start the ATV & nothing. The starter cranks, engine turns but will not start. Drained the battery 2xs trying to start it. Checked & it appears to be getting fuel, sprayed engine starting fluid, etc but still will not start. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Start at the easiest part first,remove plug and check that it has spark. You can pull plug cap off if necessary and ground to engine while turning over. If has spark, replace with new plug,if no spark then you have other problems. Let us know OPT

Check the dumb stuff 1st, air, fuel, compression, spark, key switch working, red switch on handlebar in the right position.
I had the same issue with my 02 sportsman 400. It was the pulsar/pickup coil behind the flywheel. Cost me about $60. easy fix.---Dave

you unhook some wires by accident when removing parts? as mentioned check for spark.

Check spark for sure, all engines only need 3 major things to run, air, fuel and fire. Air is always a given unless your filter is plugged solid, fuel pretty well the same unless filter is blocked, which only leaves fire (spark) which can be checked easily. Now if it is no spark, then you got to start checking why. Good luck. Let us know what was the problem, might help someone else one day.

01' Sportsman running again!!
 

Check for spark, check the plug - all were fine. What I found was that the connection between the carb and the engine came apart. There are so many parts that hide this connection it is very hard to see. The only way I found it was that I noticed fuel leaking near the engine. When I started feeling around in there I felt a gap between the carb connection & the rubber hose that makes the connection to the engine. After removing a bunch of stuff to get access I found the clamp worked its way loose. I probably moved the carb assembly just enough to make the diconnect when I took off the air filter housing. What a strange design!!!!! I fixed it good enough to get through this weekend. We're expecting 20" of snow and will need to plow. I will need to remove the carb and take a good look at the hose because it appeared dry rotted to me. Once I put it all back together it ran great.

My only other problem is that it seemed the spark plug would not tighten. It would get snug but as I kept turning it seem to become looser. I snug it up as best I could to get thorugh the next few days. I'll get a new plug next week & see if that helps. If not it looks like a major repair. Any suggestions on repairing stripped threads in the head will be appreciated.

Thanks for everyon's help

Glad you got er going!

I don't think a new plug is going to help. Sounds like time for a Heli-coil kit available at any auto parts store, but make sure you know what you are doing when installing it. You mess it up, and then you have some real work on your hands.

Do some research before attempting this one. Lots of opinions on how this one should be done.

Are you sure you have the correct plug with sufficient length threads on it?

Good Luck

if the plug didn't strip then the hole sure did. i would take off the head to fix it so no metal shaving go down into the engine. imo