I'll be damned, the whole problem that I was having with the scrambler was fixed with a vented gas cap.

The problem that I was having with my quad was that it would shut down at different times during a ride and it acted like it was running out of gas. Once it did this it would take quite a long time to get it to fire again. It was doing this exactly 6 months after I bought the quad and the only things that I had done to it were a clutch kit and a pipe. I had changed the CDI box, put a new carb on it, blew out all the gas lines and the vent tube and still nothing worked. One day it happened again on a ride and low and behold I took off the gas cap and then tried to fire it up and damn if it didn't fire. So I took my gas cap and drilled a hole in it and put a piece of neoprene hose in it and vented it and I'll be a monkeys uncle it works just fine. I was able to finish my first ride all year after having started about 7 this year and getting pulled out of the woods every time.

I would now like to get polaris's address so that I can send my makeshift gas cap back to the engineer who designed it and tell him to shove it up his a**. I can't believe that they could sell something with that potential problem. If you look at the vent tube it is about 1/2 the diameter of any other quads. Guess I am just venting.

Balzak
2000 modded up scrambler that actually runs now WHHHOOOOHHHOOOOO!!!

 

Balzak

I actually emailed Polaris asking for the address of the engineer that designed the plastic steering stem bushing so that I could send the piece of junk back to him/her. I only received a reply that I should work with my local dealer to fix my problem. I never realized how small the vent line was until I tore my Magnum apart to check the valve clearance. I think Polaris was trying to eliminate the external hose running to the handlebars design that the other manufacturers use, while doing this actually creates some additional problems. I will give Polaris credit for trying to improve things with new designs, but if it isn't broke, don't fix it. By the way, we are heading down to Wayne National Forest on Sunday (July1) and riding sunday, monday, and tuesday if you are interested (I like long weekends).

 

Yeah, I have never seen one so small. I like what they tried to do, the idea of hiding it is probably a good idea but being that small of a vent just created a problem for me. I wonder how many others have had problems?

I will be there at Wayne that weekend. I usually put in at Dorr Run, I will probably be riding with a friend of mine, we will probably get there early, like around 8:00am. I will be there sunday, if you would like to hook up to ride let me know, we know the trails enough so that we don't get lost. The guy that I ride with has a 500HO 4x4 and just got it back together from snapping the right side of the swing arm in half. He is 52 years old and rides like a little kid, and he is pretty fast on that big thing.

Balzak
2000 scrambler 400 and running strong now

 

Balzak

We won't be getting down there until about 4:00pm on Sunday afternoon. I can't get my riding buddy to leave any earlier. We still have to get our riding permits so we probably will only take a short new straitsville loop ride. We will be staying at CampOhio. If you are interested in riding (not sure how late you ride), let me know and we can meet you there.

 

Magnum:
Thanks for your response to my "Tank Lock" thread. I wonder how many folks have had this problem and no idea what caused it. You probably saved me the cost of trading my wife's Scrambler for a new machine.

It is interesting that not all Polaris machines seem to do this. My Scrambler may have done it once while my wife's would do it nearly every time she rode. I suspect that the vent line, if routed near anything very warm, gets soft and possibly collapses where it is routed against something or makes a sharp turn. Perhaps just letting it drop off the tank and over to the side away from the exhaust would help.

A larger diameter vent fitting and tube would probably be the best solution.

 

Deskbound

I am glad that you got your problem fixed with $0 to be laid out. Those are the best repairs. As for letting the tube hang down, I would not recommend it. You want the tube to be higher than the tank. When the machine is on an incline, the gas would exit the tube and flow out of the tank. Also splashing would cause leakage. I think the best bet would be to vent the gascap as Balzak did and you should have no problems.

 

Deskbound

I emailed Lurch77 and he was kind enough to send me a link to a guy on ebay who sells the vented gas caps for Polaris quads. vented gas cap It looks as though he only puts one at a time up there but as soon as one ends he starts another one.

I would also like to thank The Quadfather for letting me know about Lurch77's thread.

Balzak
2000 scrambler now with vented gas cap and running again

 

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I've seen this alot with modded 400's. I've run a vent on my cap for three years. I once bought a new cap and didn't vent it. The problem came right back.