Just got a 95 xplorer 400 4x4

How tough are they? Are they tough enough for mud and muskeg?

 

Tough machines as we sold quite a few over the years to farmers,ranchers that worked them from sun up to sun down,hunters and people that just like to play in the mud. A lot of maintenance on this machine as it has 3 chains,plus I'd check over the whole machine since you just bought it.First thing I'd do is to change the hub fluid and gear case fluid if dirty and dark along with checking out the chains,counter balancer fluid to make sure it's clear and not milky colored(water pump seals leaking) Any machine if it at least had regular service should last,but all depends on the previous owner.Plus being a 2 stroke and 19 years old,unless low mileage,top ends rebuilds are more frequently needed than on 4 strokes The 400 engine is complicated if repair is need,that's why I stress regular maintenance. Here's one view of the crank case and what's involved in the bottom end.This view doesn't get into the water pump,counter balancer,cooling system,etc. That's what a good service manual is for.Here's a pdf manual you can use if you don't have one.http://gh-ftp.com/ORV%20Manuals/Pola...e%20Manual.pdf

 

Thank you. I appreciate the pointers. I will start on those checks right away. The top end was just rebuilt and I put a new chain on the back. A prev owner unhooked the oil injection. I read it's a popular thing to do but dies it effect performance?

 

Premix 40-1 and should be okay.Plus no harm in doing a compression test to show condition of top end. A lot of people premix on the 400,some for good reason if the pump wheel located at the front of the machine becomes corroded/frozen. Bad design on having the pump there any way where water can easily enter the pump housing.

 

Hope you got it cheap, better choice would have been an older Sportsman 500. You can get those pretty cheap now. Shaft drive and irs(much greater ground clearance) and no stupid chains to break or get bound up or simply get loose and fall off. I had bad luck with an older 400 scrambler a couple years ago so I'll pass on any 2 strokes from now on. The 500 4 stroke is a much better engine in my opinion.

 

Thanks tech. Great advise I have been looking online for a month with no clear answers. I will get a compression tester soon.

Greg. Good advice this is my first one. Figure I can change a chain and learn some from this one. I got it for 900 CDn. All I had to do was put on a chain( didn't have a rear when I got it ) good news I know the front pulls it along because that how we dove it on my truck. Started great on the key and a couple pulls of the cord ( no machine should be without this backup, won't buy without) showed strong compression. Top end rebuilt justbefore I got it.
Threw a winch on her and now going through what I can before any tough riding. I don't think I could fix a shaft breakage on the trail at this point but carrying and changing a chain is no problem. Next quad will be abit beefier but this will be passed to kids once I am comfortable with its reliability.

 

Quad gets to 55 kph max on hard packed gravel road. What's top speed for these?
Would a carb cleaning help this?

The override switch. How do I know if it actually kicks in? I tried it and got no more speed. And never sounded like any more revs.

Thank you.

 

I have been reading the forum and says should get 60mph. Even if my speedo is off it's nowhere near 60mph.

 

35 mph is low. New top end with everything else in order when new they would run around 50- 55 or so if my memory is correct. Everyone was a little different. A 2x4 would be a tad faster because of less weight.Could be carb related,clutch related problem? That's where the manual comes in handy. If limiter is working ok,the engine would start to limit when you are around 5-7 mph in reverse. Pushing the over ride bypasses the limiter allowing full power in reverse. If there is no limiting in reverse,then the reverse limiter module black wire has probably been disconnected.I'd leave it that way as most short out anyway.Just a safety idea that most other makes didn't have or need.

 

So the override is just for reverse. Good to know.
I have a shop manual for the machine so I will clean or rebuild the carb soon see if it helps. At least now I have a couple places to start. As it is I would never keep up with the guys on the ride I got this for next June.
Tech your a trove of info thanks