All-


I was playing last weekend in the Northern Michigan snow -- what a blast - until.......

....when i was almost done with my ride, I went through a large drift and the machine started to sputter as if it were sucking in moisure... ... it was. I limped back to my buddy's heated shop and pulled the cover on the airbox. It was full of snow - and smelled of fuel. I cleaned out the airbox and was pulling out snow that was saturated with gas.

I left it in the shop overnite to thaw out, and figured it would be fine.. I started it the next day (and it fired right up) and proceeded to ride it to the barn at the top of the hill. It barely made it up the hill. anything past 1/4 throttle and it falls on it's face. When you rev it with no load (nuetral) it seems OK. As soon as you try to put it in gear, it falls on it's face and barely moves. It idles OK, but that's about it.

I have not had any time to diagnose, so I thought i'd get your suggestions. Here's my ideas:

1) cracked intake boot / manifold -- It is a 02' with an early build date.

2) fouled plugs (i think is unlikely)

3) Ignition problem?? doubtful.

Remember:

1) Frozen lines / parts unlikely -- thawed in heated shop for 14+ hours

2) Gas (and snow) found in airbox

3) Water in fuel is unlikely - added small amount of dri-gas on last tank.

4) Probably not ETC system -- I've already adjusted the cable.

Please let me know if this has happened to anyone else while riding in snow.

Thanks in advance...



Kevlar1 02' SP700

 

My 700 was doing something similar to that the other day, but it was my fault. The clear carb vent hose that runs through the piece of foam between the gas tank and the seat was out of place and sucking the foam up in it. You might check that, since you had the air box off.

 

Hey kevlar Il bet the farm{if i had one}that its your intake manifold.That sound exactly what mine did.Theres an updated one out now.I parked my 700 one night running great and the next day it started.Its not that big of a deal taking it off.But look close there cracks can be very small..I got the new one and never had the problem again......thats my guess

 

As already posted you're problem is that transparent carb vent hose. If you are not careful when putting the airbox lid back on it is easy to get it into the snorkel. Take the transparent hose end out of the snorkel and your problem will be fixed. That will be $5 please[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Snowride,
you're funny!
LOL[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Guys,

thanks for the input. I'll troubleshoot as soon as I get back to michigan. (I'm in Texas this week). I'll post what I find.

Snowride..... I'd send ya' 5$ if I hadn't spent all my $ on this quad. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Kevlar 02' SP700

 

Hey Kevlar, don't forget that's only about $2.00 Canadian!!!!!

 

The reason the air box smelled like fuel is that the snow cut off the airflow through the air filter. This forms a vacume that will suck excess fule from the bowl. This will cause the bike to flood and spit and sputter for a few minutes, and you might get a few ounces in the airbox. As far as your problem you have now, I would drain the carb a few times to make sure there is not water in your bowl. Once that is done, I would check the intake boot. I would guess one of these two.

Greg