Alright so Ive been thinking, in the past I adjusted the throttle cable up by the thumb throttle to set my idle. I understand that this is not the correct procedure. My polaris 400 blows blue smoke pretty bad, could this be because my throttle cable is opening both the throttle body and oil pump?

Should I readjust the throttle cable and set the idle screw? Would this fix both my low idle and oil problems? I just recleaned the carb and everything is clean.

Thanks,
Brad

 

I had more people that thought either the 400 oiled too much or not enough and most times wasn't the problem at all! IF the oil pump isn't corroded from water intrusion and frozen in position,it's never really a problem. Just remove the front cover plate and inspect if the oil pump wheel turns and retracts back when you blip the throttle.The adjustment at the throttle housing is mainly for throttle slack for the etc switch. This throttle setting is a little different than the four strokes since you do have a split cable system(keep the thumb throttle slack about an 1/8" at the throttle housing) IF you do have to thread the adjuster out pretty far(close to the end of the threads) just screw the adjuster back in,loosen the lock nut on TOP of the carb cable and turn this adjuster out a couple turns or so,tighten the lock nut,then adjust the thumb throttle slack at the throttle housing and then tighten the cable lock nut. Then the idle is fine tuned up or down by the idle screw on the side of the carb. If the oil pump system is working DON'T mess with adjusting the slack at the pump as it's pretty well preset from the factory.A lot of smoking can actually be too much fuel,NOT oil.especially if the needle and seat is worn(If the carb is rebuilt,needle and seat replaced float level adjusted,NOT just cleaned up) it should quit a lot of the smoking,BUT again as these two strokes get older they accumulate a lot of oil residue in the exhaust system and will smoke more than when new.Overall GAS was the biggest problem on 400s excess smoking,not the oil mixture. Replace the carb needle and seat and float arm and float pin if worn and wobbly! Look here under "carburetor" on your model.The 400 vibrated quite a bit and wore out carb parts fairly often. Make sure you have the rubber dampener under the carb on the transmission also as many would wear and break off. This helped dampen the vibration and kept the carb from dumping excess fuel into the cylinder. Browse OPT

 

Thanks, OPT. I think your exactly right on the to much fuel - I just didnt make the association with the blue smoking until I read your post. I replaced the needle and seat with an aftermarket, (I think Moose Brand) it just doesnt seem to be seating properly and Im seeing a small pool of gas under the wheeler. Also I believe I inserted the carb to far in the boot because its about a half inch off the rubber dampener on the transmission.

My new questions is, have you had good luck with aftermarket needle and seats? This particular needle is all metal and doesnt have the rubber tip. I'll try to move the carb back so it hits the rubber dampener and confirm and reset the float arm. Or should I just go back to Polaris and get all OEM replacement parts?

Thanks,
Brad

P.S. You should really have a link to a paypal account so people can donate you "good will" monetary tips for your expertise.

 

Problem may be the brass float arm and pin if you didn't replace them! Most people don't as it doesn't come with the carb kits and must be ordered from a Polaris source. (Cheap Cycle Parts is one of the best places) Before you order you might check the float arm setting. It must be parallel wit the carb body when you hold the carb upside down. Since it's leaking you could try to bend the small tang that holds the float needle a little downward,which shuts the gas off quicker to the carb and see how it does. If still leaks replace the float arm and pin. Moose carb kits are usually what I ordered for other brands that came into the shop and usually worked out well. Look here under Carburetor for the part numbers on these two items. Browse How about I give you my PO Box # for donations? OPT

 

I have the brass float arm, needle and carb/tran rubber mount on order, in the meantime I took off the oil pump cover and took a picture. It looks like someone set the oil up because the indicator mark is not lineing up. Please take a look at the picture, would this adjustment be the main contributer to all my blue smoke, I had a lot of blue smoke before my float issue so my thought process is pointing me to this. I do not want to make any adjustment until I pinged your expertise.

Thanks,
Brad

 

Off the mark a little,just loosen the lock nut and turn the adjuster down a tad. Shouldn't have been off enough to cause a lot of excess smoke. OPT

 

Alrightttt..... An update. So purchased the rubber dampner boot, installed new float arm and pin, have new 4 month old moose needle and seat.

For about 2 days it wouldnt leak, then I would come out and see a puddle. After going through this about 5 times, taking the carb apart and putting it back on to have the same thing happen, I noticed that the rubber mount was pushing the carb up in the rear thus making it not level. In order for it to sit horizontally level I had to turn it slightly so the carb was not verticly level. It seemed to solve my leaking problem. OPT any thoughts on this?


But...... I took out the Big Boss this weekend hunting and it ran great for about 4 miles (My trip into the woods). However when I started it back up to go back to camp, its SMOKEd like crazzzzzy all the way back. I can only image the float was open then I though if I run it fast should lean out because of drawing fuel faster but even then it was still smoking. When I got it back to camp it was leaking again.

I purchased an OEM needle and seat in case thats the problem.

Should I remove the new rubber dampner to level out the carb or do you think my floats are bad (they didnt seem to have any liquid in them).

 

With the carb dampener on the tranny it does kinda throw throw the carb up a little. Still it shouldn't leak if you have the float arm adjusted level with the carb body,PLUS if you didn't replace the float arm and the float arm pin,it could be sticking. Either way you can adjust the float arm tab (where it hits the float needle) DOWN a tad which raises the arm up. This shuts off the fuel quicker and the bowl level is dropped. Try this,if still leaks then you may have to install the oem needle and seat. I never had problems with Moose kits,but I've heard of others still having leaking problems. The plastic floats themselves are pretty well bullet proof. I don't ever remember having to replace any of these. OPT