I havent looked at the wheeler yet...guy i used to work with is selling a 90 or 91 suzuki 250 4 wheeler...all i know is it is a 4 stroke and he says it burns a little oil...i'll try to find out more information on it as i'm going to go look at it soon...

he says he wants to get 7 or 800 out of it...i'm thinking of offering him 500...

I've never had a 4 stroke 4 wheeler so what kind of problems do these things have...

i used to own a 250 polaris trail boss and rebuilt that thing for about 400 bux but that was a 2 stroke and i'm pretty familiar with those engines...

never messed with valves and what not on an ATV engine...

I'd just like to get opinions...and if you guys think this is a good deal and/or worth buying...

I was also lookin at some older 3 wheelers on ebay and whatnot for around the 300 dollar range...i just wanna get somethin to bomb around some trails at our camp

basically wondering if i should try to find a mint 3 wheeler for cheap or if this is worth it and am i going to have a lot of problems with 4 stroke...i dont wanna buy it and have to sink tons of money into it.

thanks guys...

Jeremy

 

The 4 stroke will out live any 2 stroke. Sounds like you may need to freshen the top end up. ie: new piston/bore
The timing isn't a big deal. Like any motor, they have marks to align up. Prolly a good deal IMO, depending on the condition of the rest of the machine.
Hope that helps a lil. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Suzuki made the LT250s in 89 and 90 only. For this reason, IMO, its a collector's item. The 250 is an improved 230 quadsport. It came stock with a wider axle, a-arms, and frame. It has a bigger bore, 246 vs 229. The exhaust port is designed better for more flow. It has upgraded shocks with longer travel. 4th gear is closer to 3rd in the 250 and that makes it a bit "better" than the 230. (So much so that I just bought a box of 250 gears off ebay for $115 for my 230). There are some other improvements too, just can't think off the top of my head. Suffice it to say you should get the quad. If nothing else, you could double your money on ebay parting it out. A 250s will sell FAST because they only made them for 2 yrs. Oh, and they make a 273 kit for it too. About $300.

The known problems on a 250s include: Bad swingarm bearings (guys overtighten the chain and kill the bearings). Cracked plastic (the sun must dry the plastic out coz every 250 seems to have chunks missing). Ripped up seat. Everything else is bulletproof.

 

OK so i bought this quad. JustRandy it isn't the quad you are thinking of. I looked up the model and whatnot and it is an LT-F250 I believe its a 90 but not sure...It has been sitting for a while and the battery was dead so we got out a jump box. we thought maybe there was water in the gas so i ran to the gas station to get some new gas quick as we were gonna drain it and put in fresh. when i got back he had it running. Took it for a spin and it seemed decent so i got it for 550. Towed it home took it for about a 15 minute ride and i noticed a little dark smoke out the exhaust, nothing too crazy though. after a little while i went to park it and it idled down and quit on me. first time it started up fine then while idling it quit again and tried starting it and battery is kinda dead...tried pull starting it, no luck..so then i got my car and jump started it quick had to crank awhile before it would start. then after it stalled again at idle and went to jump it and took a real long time for it to fire and was really hard starting. Im thinking maybe the valves are out of adjustment? or rings are going bad? carb need to be cleaned? would a almost dead battery have anything to do with it? once i get it running it runs good and has no problems but at an idle it wants to quit....

 

Battery shouldnt go dead while riding around. Do you have a voltage meter? Measure the voltage while its running. It should be more than 12 at least and should go up more as your rev it up. If not, something is wrong with your alternator or regulator or wiring.

I think you should set the valve lash. Then clean the carb and clean/replace the air filter. Maybe put a new spark plug in it too. Just general "anyway" stuff.

What's the 10th digit in the VIN? "L" is 1990.

 

it didnt go dead riding it around it just didnt have enough juice to start it, i think the battery is probably half shot cuz it doesn't seem to to hold a charge, i gotta hit it with a trickle charger for a while. what do you mean by set the valve lash? oh by the way the spark plug was really black like its running rich or burning oil. or both

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: acke61
it didnt go dead riding it around it just didnt have enough juice to start it,</end quote></div>

Would it have gone dead eventually? You need to find out if the alternator works.

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: acke61
i think the battery is probably half shot cuz it doesn't seem to to hold a charge</end quote></div>

And a bad battery is bad for an alternator.

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: acke61
what do you mean by set the valve lash?</end quote></div>

When the engine is at TDC (Top Dead Center) there is a gap better the rocker and the valve to allow for expansion when hot. The little gap is the lash. Measure the gap with a feeler gauge when the engine is cold. It should be set so the intake is .001-.003 and the exhaust is .003-.005.

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: acke61
oh by the way the spark plug was really black like its running rich or burning oil. or both </end quote></div>

Probably because you need a new air filter.

 

when you say feeler gauge do you mean like the metal ones you use for gapping spark plugs or those plastic ones you use for checking tolerances in bearings and stuff?

 

Metal ones.

 

Ok. i havent had time to check the valve lash or clean the carb yet or anything but i let my girlfriend ride it for a bit today. It was cold and ran great for about 30 minutes...then at idle it stalled and woudlnt start.

Battery was ok.

After cranking it for a while with no firing i put some jumper cables on it because the battery was getting drained.

Took a long time of cranking to finally get it started. Then it died again. I took the plug out and it was really black and all black carbon. Not fouled at all just real black soot. like a chimney for instance.

Put a new plug in it and it was still really hard to start but finally once it did start it idled good for about 15 minutes. Then i shut her down for the day and parked it.

Any ideas as to what is going on here...

I'm not sure if its related to the engine getting hot and being hard to start...

or if its burning oil and thats making it not want to start after...? i'm not really sure.

Seems like when its cold it starts up great and runs great then gets hot and runs worse and is really hard to start...