My 2000 Trail Boss's 325 engine has spoiled me, as it has always run very well, up until the last couple of months. It is a little harder to start, and it runs sluggishly, almost quitting when under a load, like a hard acceleration or a hill. I have changed plugs twice, and had limited results. I have changed fuel filters. I have run the tank dry and used new gas. Is there anything I can do or try before tearing into the carburetor for a good cleaning?

Larry

 

Make sure the carb vent hose is not kinked. If enough air can't get into the tank to displace the gas flowing to the carb, it can starve for fuel. An easy way to check is when you're accelerating and it's running rough, quickly unscrew the gas cap. If it smooths out, that's your problem. If not, it's time to clean the carb.

 

Hmm, Put a HotSeat Power Kit (Pipe, Silencer, Clutch, K&N Filter and Jetting) in it. than it will run the opposite of Sluggish (HeHe) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

same thing happened on my snowmobile, i figured it out cause once i got done riding and shut her down and about 3 seconds later i heard the gas tank pop like it was sucking itself in.

But check your compression too, sounds like that might be why its a little weak

 

When was its last valve adjustment?

 

Somebody else mentioned valve adjustment, which I have never done myself, although the dealer might have on the once or twice I have taken it in. I haven't looked at it since then, to see if it is something I can learn or manage. Is it in the owner's manual? (I'm at work, and don't have the manual). Also, is it something I can do myself?

I live in a subdivision that is pretty strict about things (they even made a guy with a flagpole take it down). So, I took a quick ride up and down my street, doing some hard turns. It seems like it does it mostly on hard right turns, although it will also do it occasionally on a fairly steep hill. It has done it on some hard lefts too, but those usually ended up with me on my right side 2 tires, so it simulated a hard right turn. Does this help anyone?

Larry

 

im not a 4 stroke guy, ive only really worked on my 2 strokers besides small engines like briggs and stratons, but the valve adjusting may fix your problem, or the first thing that came to my mind was check your compression, rings may be getting bad, oh and yea umm u guys prob wont believe me on this, but my buddies 300 engine is getting rebuilt for the 2nd time now, and has to be bored .40 over and when we took it to the machine shop, they suggested not running our wheelers/motorcycles completely out of fuel, they said that when your tank is too low, it may not get all the fuel it wants so it can cause your wheeler to run lean, and we all know what running lean can do to your quad. Also the machinist suggested at least a 3-5 minute warm up on your quad before goin out and hittin her hard, cause the block is not yet warm and the piston is running hot, therefore your piston tries to expand and the cylindar will not like its suppose to, i dont know, maybe some of you dont take this into consideration, but im just trying to help everyone out the best i can.just my 2 cents!


Goood luck, Haz!

 

OK, pulling this one up from several weeks back....

I haven't tried adjusting the valve, as I can't find anything about it in the manual.

However, I started disassembling the atv to get to the carburetor. I was carefully checking each hose and each component that went to the carb. I found a hose that had a dirt clog in the end of it. That hose goes to a T-connector, which splits to two similar hoses, one going to each side of the carb. I cleaned it, and made sure all 3 hoses were free and clear.

Two questions: What is this hose? And, could this be my problem? I don't want to re-assemble it, drive it (on a trailer) back to my riding spot, only to find that I should have kept going on my troubleshooting. I can't ride where I live.

I have already spent money at the stealership, and it wasn't fixed, so I'm tackling it myself. Help!

Larry

 

I would say that yes, that was your problem. Those are vent lines for the carb. to vent out excess gas in situations like you described. By not being able to vent the excess gas out it was probably trying to flood itself and running like crap. Alot of times people will experience the same troubles when going through deep water and the cause is the same vent lines being down in the water and the carb cannot vent properly, so it stalls out or runs rough. It is always a good idea to check your vent lines for kinks, pinches, dirt, etc. before each ride or at normal maintenance intervals.

 

Yep. That was my problem. Put her back together and put her in the field. She runs pretty well now. After all that spittin' and sputterin', it really feels like it is running well. Thanks for all the help, guys!

Larry

PS: I never got an answer from anybody about valve adjustment. It is not in the book.