I bought 2 1985 LT230s' and have been going through them. I flushed the gas tank, flushed the engine, rebuilt the carb (stock jet) new fuel line, new oil and filter, new air filter, new spark plug. I think that's all for the motors. One of them will sometimes run like it has 50% of it's power. If I start pushing it and riding it hard it comes back to full power. Usually when it's coming back it will surge in and out of good power for a few. Sometimes it just plan runs great from the second I start it until I shut it off. This last time it ran like crap, it started fine then my wife rode it (she kind of dogs it and stalls it occassionally). I got on it after she rode it for a while and it had lost power again. I ran it hard for 10 minutes and it came back to full power. Any ideas? It did this before I did all the above work too. Just more severely. Compression is 130 (I'm at 6500 feet). Dealer says above 110 at this altitude is ok... They sat for 3.5 years before I bought them.

 

cdi problems are similar in issue to this when crapping out exhaust get near red hot. i had a bad cdi box that would come and go, run good then crap changed out along with new stator coil and ran great ever since

 

thank you... I'll check into that.

 

Raumeet it could also be carbon build up in the combustion chamber runnig to rich of fuel mixture , do a plug check to see what color it is when it start's doing this again ; as well as albung said about the CDI ,Stator coil and the entire ignition system ! It could be that the valve's could be gummed up from sitting up so long ! What did you us to clean the carb before you installed the kit ? If you didn't use a good cleaning solvent on the carb it could still have some gunk or thrash in the fuel system coming from the gas tank , i alway's install a clear inline fuel filter between the gas tank petcock/on off reserve valve and the carb on something that has sit up this long ;in fact it would be a good idea to install one of these clear filter's on any atv even if you weren't having any trouble with the fuel system because you can see at a glance water or trash or dirt with the clear filter's ; you can get the filter's at most all small engine service and repair shop for less than your local suzuki dealer charge's ! And i use a product called Seafoam in the gas tank ! The Seafoam is a fuel cleaner/stabilizer and has a water drying agent in it , this stuff will clean the eintire fuel system andl also the combustion chamber of built up carbon deposit's, it's a great product i've used many type's in over the past 20 yrs in the Small Engine Service and Repair Industry ; i even use it in my S10 Chevy p/u and my GMC S1500 Jimmy 4x4 MPV it's safe to use in 2 and 4 stroke's and this stuff is the best i have ever used you can get the Seafoam from most auto parts stores ! I get mine from O'Reillys auto parts for $5.99 + tax , this stuff does such a good job at cleaning fuel system's ; that i call it a Miraicle in a can ! I've told so many people about this product and what all it does that i've had folks ask how much stock i have in Seafoam and i sadly have to say 0 share's ! Here's what i use for cleaning small engine part's like carburator's and all metal part's , it's the Berryman chem dip you can get it in the gallon can size or 5 gallon size can for bigger part's like small engine block's ; the can's come with a part's basket inside the can . But just be sure you remove all gasket's,o'ring type and anything plastic or rubber ; it will eat gasket's and anything made of rubber or plastic , and don't get it on your skin i use long needle nose plyer's when i put the part's in and out of the cleaning basket ; unlike the Gunk Kits that use to be as good at cleaning part's but it isn't as strong as it use to be ! With the Berryman brand you don't have to let part's soak 30 minute's or over night ! You just take the handle of the parts basket dip it in the can in 3 to 4 second interval's , you will see the gunk melting on the very first dip and by the second or third you'll see the the metal shine in some real stuff area's i use a brush any kind will do i use my old tooth brush's most of the time ; it will take the paint right off also so any part that's painted and if you want the paint you'll have to repaint it's that strong ! And after cleaning i use a pan of plain water to rinse the chem dip from the part's , then i use either compressed air or dip the part's in acetone to dry out the part's faster ! Hope you get it going , and when you do have fun riding ; but be safe this is a wonderful sport that i love dearly but you know anything can be dangerous if you aren't carefull and can be fatal ! Oh one thing i forgot to mention is that the Berryman Chem Dip is banned in the state of Califoriia , there it has been linked to skin cancer in rat's by laboratory testing ; so if you live in the California you won't find it for sale but you could maybe get it from mail order or across the state line i'm a Ga craker so we can get it ! And the exhaust could be parcelly clogged from carbon build up or a dirt dobber's nest remove the spark arrester and gun the engine to blow out any carbon buildup in the exhaust system , if all else fail's you shound check the valve clearance ! sorry for the novel i just want to cover all the base's i can to help all i can ! And again like albung said about the CDI , Coil , Stator and the rest of the ignition system as well , these part's of the ignition system can start slowly breaking down ; but fuel and spark are two thing's to check first ! I had a 93' Suzuki LTF4WD 300 King Quad that one day i was riding with a friend , my friend was riding the KQ and i was riding my first ATV a 86' Honda TRX 350 4x4 when the KQ started stalling on my friend ; he had never riden a quad before and i thought he was hitting the kill switch or the choke by mistake ! So i switched with him and it did the same with me , i had to put the choke on full to keep it running ; and when the headlight's were on it would suddenly die on me ! I had to run it with the choke on full and with out light's back to the house , by this time it was to dark to check it out ; but the next day i remove the plastic cover to access the battery i found that one of the wire's going to the battery was loose ! I had to strip the plastic coating from the wire so far back it wouldn't reach the battery post , so i had to trace the wire back to the ignition switch and replace the wire ; after rewiring and hooking it back up to the battery it was like new ! This just came to mind last night so that's why the edit to this reply , good luck and i hope you get your quad going ; i also added the info on adjusting the valve's as you ask about i tried to make it as easy to understand as best i could i don't have a scanner or i would've tried to scan the pages with the instruction's with the photo's as well ! Good luck again with the Suzuki my cousin bought his wife a new Suzuki 230 Quad Sport back in 1986 and it was a great machine ! ................................................

 

Seafoam wont hurt either,i post the cdi box problem from experence, and i changed the cdi box and ran great, change back and ran ok and then crap! was out at nite so i notice the glowing exhaust. this is a fairly common problem with these bikes so if u really like the quad and plan on keeping it id buy a new cdi,even though expencive. i got one off ebay and had same situation!If in ohio or pa can let u use my spare box to try

 

Guys-

On the LT230S....

Can someone please inform me on how to check/adjust the valves.

"Mr. Clymer" says to take it to a dealer. I'll bet it's fairly simple???

Thanks for the help- TJ

 

Timmy J i have a Intertec Maintenance Manual 2nd edition it has the info you need, it cover's your's if you have a manual starter ! here it is : Ajust the valves when cold . To ajust valve clearance , first remove the seat , fornt fender , spark plug and valve adjustment caps , remove manual starter and timing inspection plug ; the inspection plug is right by the manual starter cover ! It's just a round plug that screw's into the engine crankcase on some model's you have to remove the gas tank , manual starter and timing inspection plug ; you have to remove the manual starter cover where you can rotate the crankshaft ! To find Top Dead Center you rotate the crankcase untill the ' T ' mark on the flywheel alines with the with the stationary mark ( M ) on the crankcase ! It has to be on the compression stroke when the marks are Alinded , to ensure piston is on the compression stroke , rotate crankshaft 1/4 turn past ( TDC ) Top Dead Center while observing/looking at the intake valve. If valve movement is indicated , rotate crankshaft one full revolution and aline timing marks again ! But in plain old engish you turn the crankshaft till the timing marks T and M are alinded with both valve's closed and you can wiggle the rocker arms ; they shouldn't be tight ! And to adjust the valve's there is a adjusting screw and a locknut you have to loosen the locknut and with a feeler gauge you should be able to slide the correct feeler blade in between the rocker arm and the valve stem , the clearance should be Intake: ( 0.001 to 0.003 ) and the exhaust valve clearance should be ( 0.003 to 0.005 ) I alway's set them in the middle so they have room for wear , and this way they don't have to be adjusted as often ; so i would go with the intake at ( 0.002" ) and the exhaust at ( 0.004" ) I use a boxed in wrench and a screw driver wihen there is enough room for the boxed end wrence ! You loosen the locknut turn the adjusting screw untill you get the right size feeler gage blade to slide between rocker arm and valve stem , then use the screw driver to hold the adjusting screw while tighting the locknut ; then recheck the clearance again because the adjusting screw can tighten up past the correct clearance and you may need to readjust them again to make sure they are at the correct gap ! Sorry for the long instruction's i just want to help you all i can so the job will be done right , because if they aren't set right it can cause damage to your engine ; and i wouldn't want to cause you to damage your engine ! Just be sure you are on the compression stroke ! You can also tell when you are on the compression stroke by removing the spark plug and putting your finger in the plug hole , you will feel the pressure pushing again't you finger on the compression stroke ! I hope this help's there are so many model's in this manual it's cover's a long range of Brand make and model's ; but they are very close to the instruction's on most of all the atv's in this book ! Good luck with your quad and let us know how it turn's out ! .....................................

 

EXCELLENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Williebee, I really appreciate your time. Thanks for the help. TJ

 

Wow... Thanks for all the input. I used "Gumout" carb cleaner and a Moose products carb rebuild kit. I used "Gunk" motor flush in the crankcase and Chevron Techron in the fuel. When using these two products my new oil turn black quickly. I assume from all the carbon and gunk it's removing. I put in fresh oil again and clean fuel w/ a little techron. We went on a 4 hour ride and my wife said it didn't lose power... but it did blow some smoke here and there. I'm thinking maybe a valve is sticking sometimes from all the gunk. At first the smoke seemed white to me but I talked myself out of it because obviously I don't have antifreeze anywhere. Maybe it has a little blue tint but I don't think so. If it's not white then maybe a light gray. When I ride it an push it harder, it doesn't seem to smoke at all. Hopefully it will clean itself out. I did swap her carb with mine before this ride to make sure that was not the problem. It didn't lose power, but neither did mine with her carb... go figure. Have any of you used Techron? I've had great luck for years with that product. It is the only additive Porsche recommends (I've heard only good thing about seafoam however). My oil is staying cleaner longer now. My plugs did have some black carbon build up, but that seems to be decreasing as well. Again, thank you all.

 

mine smoked a slight bit even after rebuild with all new valve components 2 years on a big bore 265 and its needin a new set of rings i run it hard. slight smoke id consider normal 4 a 20 year old bike