Hi guys, I'm new to this site and the '04 Polaris I bought yesterday!
I found that the only basic way to start it when cold is to hold down the throttle a little. The choke really doesn't help. Once it starts, I need to hold down the throttle for a minute or two otherwise it will die. The owner said he had the dealer replace the choke twice with no change. However, when its warm, and you pull the choke, it dies. The needle and seat were replaced last year. Any ideas???

 

Check your valve clearance. Sometimes cold start issues can be linked to valves out of adjustment.

 

Most likely the valves are tight. Also check where the carb fits into the intake boot on the head. The carb pops out of the boot sometimes.

 

I'll check the boot. I'm hoping I don't have to mess with the valves. A buddy and I are going to clean out the carb this weekend as well. I'll post back!

 

Doing the valves on the sp500's isn't really to big of a deal. Service manual suggests every 100 hours which I think is a bit excessive but depending on how many hours and miles you have on the machine it might need it anyhow. Valves tend to get tighter with time which can cause the valves to not fully seat. With properly adjusted valves you'll notice better fuel economy and performance as well.

 

You are aware the choke has two positions?

 

Boots are all secure. I will probably adjust valves this weekend along with checking the spark plug, cleaning the carb, and checking adjustment screws and choke.

 

On the bottom of the carb, probably under a brass cap is the air/fuel screw, if you drill through the brass cap, thread a sheet metal screw into it then remove the cap, I use an 1/16 inch bit and an 1/8 inch screw,the air screw should be set at 2.5 turns out from lightly seated, I have found them completely shut, this will help with cold starting.

 

Sorry for the hijack but would these suggestions help on an eton 90 two stroke my nephew has? It is the worst thing ever to start when cold.

James

 

Well, we finally figured out the problem. After cleaning the entire carb and checking all adjustments, it was still a pain to keep running cold. We checked the valves and all of them were way too tight. We adjusted them to the proper setting and now she starts and runs great. Thanks for the help!

FYI: My '04 did not come with a gas gauge. However, I had to replace the tank and got a newer tank with a float. My '04 actually had the wiring for the float from the factory! Now I have a gas gauge! I needed to do some modding but it works great!