I have a 1997 polaris sportsman 400 that we thought was flooding out. Took the carb off and the floats and jets and everything seem to be in working order. There was way more oil in it than we thought there should be when taking it off, wondered if anyone had any suggestions?

 

Check the oil pump at the front of the atv.If the pump wheel is stuck/corroded or someone set the pump too rich,oil can drip right back into the carb.The way the intake manifold is angled down along with the injector being right there,this can happen over time. I've found several carbs like this over the years that had a layer of oil in the bottom of the bowl. IF you're premixing,the same thing can happen if the oil to gas ratio is too much. 40/1 premix is enough in most cases as 50/1 is what the pump is metered at from the factory.

 

I will check that, if I were to pre-mix the gas would this solve the problem?
What other steps would I have to take to pre-mix gas?(minus the actual mixing of the gas)

 

Just check the oil pump out first. If the pump is working ok,pump is set close to the marks,wouldn't really worry about it. If you wanted to premix,injector line has to removed from the intake manifold and a 6mm screw and washer used to block off the hole. Either way not that big of a deal to find some oil in the bowl.On the pic you can see the mark on the pump wheel and barely see the casting mark. Pump is set a tad rich but no big deal.

 

good deal!! I will check that out. Our problem is when the atv is running it sounds like it is flooded if you shut the gas off it then clears up and runs good till you turn the gas back on....the carb looks good besides the oil, not sure what to check at this point!

 

Sounds like too much fuel from a worn needle and seat,float level off,etc.Might be time to rebuild the carb.Shindy Carb Repair Kit For Polaris Sportsman Sport Xplorer 400 4x4 94-95 03-404 Fairly simple carb to clean and rebuild.These videos can help.

 

Just rebuilt the carb on sunday.... at this point I am kinda scratching my head and dont want to take to a dealer as I only paid $500 for the machine to begin with

 

Well then if you just rebuilt the carb and it's still bogging down,then next thing I'd do is a compression check.100 psi or lower,then that could be the problem. Low compression,leaking crank seals,etc can cause problems same as worn carb parts by not being able to take fuel correctly. Shutting the fuel off can give the engine time to catch up so to speak and use what fuel it can take.Jetting is another. Make sure the jets in the kit are the same as what the old ones were. Stock jetting on this model was a 30 pilot jet,200 main jet.Another thing on these 2 strokes is that you can pull the black wire from the reverse limiter and see if that helps. They can fault and start to limit in forward range also.Item# 37. Just pull the black wire at the terminal board.