230 Mystery
 

I have a 1986 suzuki 230 qaudrunner. I have had it 2 years and all of a sudden when I first start it it spits & sputters for maybe 2 minutes & then it runs great. Now it takes about 5 to 10 minutes to run good.At times i start it and it runs great. I sent it to a shop and it did the same thing the gay said he checked compretion & everything else he could but nothing.

I hope someone has had something simular to this and found the problem.To this day it has not fouled a plug. When it runs good it will outrun my 250 same year. If you have anything to suggest thanks.

sounds to me like your valves need adjusting

The atv gay said he checked that but ho knows i will check them.Thanks for the input and if it was valves or timing would that fix its self? This thing goes from spit & sputter & backfiring to balls to the wall?

The intake valve being out of adjustment is definitely a cause of cold starting and running problems. Dirt wears away at the valve face and eventually the .001-.003 lash setting goes to zero and the valve never closes. Your carb may need a good cleaning too. Backfiring is lean, so maybe your jets are plugged or your air filter came loose.

When was the last time you treated your engine to a new sparkplug? If the answer is I don't remember, you might give it a try.

The carb cleaning and valve adjustment ideas are also a good ideas.

Yeah, no kiddin... I remember having similar issues and right before tearing the carb apart I just happened to try a new plug. Whadaya know LOL! Stroke of luck on my part that I just happened to think of a new plug before commiting hours of work on a goose hunt.

yes
 

I have replaced the plug twice and no change . This thing goes from barly running to excelent running in a second? and back to crap in a second. not really a second, if i keep it running it does fine for a while and it will spit and sputer then it will run fine again?