I have owned my 1991 suzuki lt160 for about 5 years and have never had any trouble until now. It starts and idles fine but under load when I accelerate it hesitates and somewhat backfires. If I keep the throttle low it will putt along alright until I open the throttle it is like it is going to die and spits and sputters.

I should add that it does not start as nicely as it used to with some sputtering and some throttle required to get it going. Also the the spark plug looks tan in color which I believe is normal.

I read a post about valve issues on a hard to start 160? Could this be my trouble?

I am going to try the usual tune up stuff ..like a spark plug air filter oil change ect.
But it seems like there may be some carberator troubles here. Is there a kit I can buy for it?

I think the timing chain is loose too I can here it clanking in there? I see the adjuster there for it. What is the proper procedure for tensioning this sucker?

Any suggestion would be greatly apperciated !

Not sure where to start.

Cheers

 

do you ride it all the time or has it been sitting for a while,
when is the last time the carb was pulled apart and cleaned?
cam chain adjust is easy
put piston on TDC
loosen off cam chain adjuster
it is spring loaded so it will tighten up on its own
retighten locking bolt and nut on the adjuster
my guess is carb needs cleaning

 

Thanks for the response mudgeek. I pull the carb off and see if I can clean it up.

I will post my results.

Cheers

 

Everything worked out good for me and my Quad is running great once again.
Just needed some TLC.

I changed the oil and oil filter, air filter and spark plug.

Took the carb off, took it all apart, cleaned it with some carb cleaner. Let it soak for a bit, blew out all the chambers and jets with compressed air and reassembled.

Found one electrical connection that was not too good going to what I think is the coil.

Put piston at TDC and adjusted the cam chain.

I also tightned the two rear motor mounts.(Was loose)

Tightened up the rear wheel hubs.(Were loose)

Took up some slack in the drive chain and lube'd it up good.

Back in buisness a little tune-up did the trick for me !! (this time....:-)

I bought this quad about 5 years ago fixed it up a bit and this is the first time I have ever had trouble with it. For a 15 year old quad its still a tough runner.
I have some real kewl mud tires on the back and it purrs through alot of mud.

Kewl !!

Safe ridin' !!!!!!

Cheers !!

 

good deal

 

hi

i have a 1989 lt160
that starts and revs up perfect from cold (without cold start)
after around a minute it struggles to get above a quarter revs and starts cutting out and back firing etc but will idle all day faultless.

so far i have checked
timing/ valve clearances
changed plug
changed coil
cleaned carb
checked for loss of ht spark
checked fuel lines

its now starting to get to me now
any advice welcome
thanks

today i checked
compression.............ok
float height..............ok
wiring......................ok

managed to get hold of a workshop service manual
checked values on
pulser coil.......ok
primary coil.....ok
regulator.........ok

when i checked values for cdi they were nothing like it said in the manual
surely it wouldnt run at all if cdi was faulty?
so
still scratching my head

 

im tryin to get a 160 running right to,..hard to find info on this quad tho'