I bought my first quad 2 weeks ago. A 1998 Suzuki King Quad 300. it was a problem tho. When you try to start it in the morning you could crank it all day and it won't start, so I started push starting it. Once it is running and warm it's a champ, but it won't hardly start once it sits for a while. The shop says probably need valves adjusted, so I was goin to do it myself, but when I bought it it didn't come with a manual, so I don't know what the valves should be adjusted to. It is pretty much worthless if I can't go out push the start button and take off. Please help.

Thanks,
Wyatt

 

First thing I would do is give the carb a good cleaning, might be some gunk in there making it hard to start. You should be able to google the valve specs and even the adjustment procedure. You could even google " King Quad 300 hard starting" and see what others have posted on the subject. The internet is a great thing !!

 

I had it serviced a week ago and I found out the carb was all cleaned and the valves had been adjusted so cross those off the list. When I am at home at 5000 feet it has no isusse at all starting or running. But when I have it hunting at 8000 feet is when it started hard starting. So I first thought it needs jetted. But then I talked to a different shop than my normal one just for another opinion and they said jets just have to do with top end and running, not starting. But that is really the only thing it could really be I think, so could that second shop be wrong and it really is the jets?

Thanks,
Wyatt

 

They are partly wrong. The MAIN jet is for running at 1/4 throttle and above, but you also have a Pilot jet, just in front of the main, that supplies gas for starting and idling, along with the choke circuit. Makes sense, if you go up in elevation, less air,makes your quad run richer, when it doesnt start, is your plug wet? I would make sure the choke is not partly open, on that quad, I believe it is an "enrichment" choke, that is, it opens a port and adds extra fuel, instead of using a butterfly valve to close off the intake on the carb throat. Could be you are flooding out at higher elevations, which would make it really hard to start.

 

Plug is a little blacker than normal, but not even wet a little.

 

You have a worn intake valve. You can adjust some slack back into the lash, but its going to keep happening until the valve eventually pops thru the head.... if you can keep it running that long. Once the hardness is worn thru, you won't get much time between lash adjustments. This is caused by a bad air filter sucking dirty air in. Its pretty well known. Set the valve so that you can feel some slack. At this point, it doesn't really matter what the spec is. Just don't make it so loose that the rocker slaps hard againt the stem.