I have a 1990 LT250L that has been sitting in a yard partly covered for 6 + years and I am looking for help in what I should do to get running again. Quad is clean and had little use before being put out of owners mind. i cleaned the air box and cleaned the carbs but that is it. The quad is a kick start but I have no history with a magneto style power source. Any suggestions would help before I take to the local dealer for a complete overhaul....I am trying not to dump $$$$ into a quad valued under $1k.

 

You could have problems caused by anything from moisture to spider web/eggs, to lacquered gasoline, to even mice. When I went to run an old LT-230 that had sat for years I did the following:
1. drain all fluids
2. remove and flush the fuel petcock from the fuel tank to remove all sludge/sediment, flush the gas tank with good gas, and pour out afterwards, visually inspect for any rust inside the tank
3. open the airbox, remove the old filter which is probably dry-rotted. remove all air ducting that goes between the airbox and the carb. Visually inspect to ensure that bugs/vermin haven't gotten in there, spray out with brake cleaner and wipe clean. A mouse set up housekeeping in my airbox, and chewed a hole through the top of the box itself. They love the foam filters for bedding. When I went to the shop to buy a new filter, the guy said it was the third one he had sold that day due to mouse damage.
4. pull the carb, remove the bowl, all external adjuster screws and internal jet(s). spray out all jets and orifices in the carb with carb cleaner. check float bowl for proper operation and clean as necessary. reassemble seating the adjuster screws lightly (don't over tighten) and back them out the same amount of turns that each was positioned before removal from the carb (check before removing to clean)
5. remove kill switch assembly from handle bars, disassemble in half, spray out dust/dirt/rust with appropriate solvent, like liquid wrench, or anything else that works on rust. then spray with silicon to lubricate and protect and reassemble.
6. clean blade contacts on coil assembly with emery paper
7. check spark plug boot for cracks, dry-rot, replace boot and/or wire as necessary
8. remove spark plug, pour small amount of oil into cylinder to lubricate, as it's been sitting a while
9. fill crankcase with oil
10. check for spark using new spark plug connected to wire while still removed from the plug hole, hold the base of the plug against the cylinder head, have a buddy kick the starter lever with the kill switch in the "on" position, watch for blue/white spark at electrode gap on the plug. If no spark, troubleshoot magneto assembly/coil, etc. by the way, hold the plug with an insulated tool or you'll get shocked
11. Once you have spark, place new 93 octane fuel in the tank, turn on the petcock, and start.

Total cost for all of this shouldn't be any more than forty bucks for the solvents, fluids, new gas, oil, spark plug and new air filter, assuming that you do all of the labor, which is pretty simple, yourself. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Question:

Is there a electric start conversion available for this quad? My girl is riding and is having a tough time kick starting.

 

Don't know. How's it running now?