Hello all, I am new to the forums, and fairly new to the atv circuit. I have owned bikes in the past, even used to race cross country, that was a lifetime ago though. I recently purchased three used quads, a 2004 Kodiak 450 for myself, a 2001 Kodiak 400 for my wife, and a 2005 Raptor 80 for my kids. I used to do a lot Jeeping with the Alberta Jeep Jamboree, but with land use issues, and my son (he is 9) saying he would like quad, made me decide to sell the Jeep, and take up quading. Which I am truly looking forward to.

Any way, enough verbal diarrhea, my dilema is this. The 2001 Kodiak 400 that I bought, came from a dealership, they gave me a one month warranty on the machine. We took it to play a bit in the snow the other weekend and found that the fan is screwed. My wife, being the alert person she is, noticed the high temp light came on and stopped, waved me back to show me what was going on. long story short, this happend two more time on our way back to the truck, we stopped, let it cool down, and carried on. The dealership is going to replace the fan for me, but I have been wondering if the machine has been overheated in the past. So I took my brand new Snap On Compression Tester to see what we had. The guage is reading around 90 psi, and I know the ratio is 10.5 :1.

Is the 90 psi normal, or could anyone tell me what it should read. When I checked the compression I left the fuel on. I am by no means a mechanic (backyard mechanic maybe, I used to own a Jeep that I built myself), these smaller engines are new to me again. I have no problems with the wiring (I'm an electrician by trade), I am just a little concerned that there could be more wrong with this quad than just the fan.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Stock compression on the raptor 660 is 9.2:1. For that bike a reading of around 160-180 is good. My guess is you have a problem, I would make sure the dealership checks out the problem and potentially replaces whatever valve, ring or piston issue it might have.

 

Would it be advisable to set the valves and try again, I beleive the intake should be .004", and the exhaust .006"

 

You can, but it shouldnt make that much of a difference unless the vavles are way out of spec.

 

Id be concerned about a blown head gasket. They usually first show up as an overheating issue. Is the coolant level ok?
My service manual, for a 450, which is basicly the same motor, just 20 cc bigger, says 158 psi is the minimum reading ., after a couple of drops of oil in the spark plug hole, to help seal the rings. They say to do this with the throttle wide open.
If after putting the drops of oil in, and theres no change in compression..youre looking at rings, or valves, head gasket,or even piston.
My advice, is make sure they get it fixed...or take it back.

 

Thanks for the advice all, I will try to get another reading with some oil. The coolant level is ok, and it took a long time for the lilght to come on the first time. And the plug shows no signs of the engine burning oil, I am pretty sure they didn't change the plug before I bought it.

 

Well, adding a couple of drops of oil made all the difference in the world, that and holding the throttle open. This time I got a reading of 180 psi. I'm Feeling much better about the quad now.

Thanks again for the advice everyone, I'm sure it won't be the last time I call for help.

On a side note, does anyone know the best place, or where I could order a service manual that would cover the 2001 Kodiak 400, and the Kodiak 450, in an electronic (cd) version?

 

Ebay usually has a couple of repair manuals for the kodiak on CD for 5 - 15 dollars.

 

181 psi is the spec for a good motor, and yours looks good. It could have been low, due to the throttle being closed, but I wouldnt think it has a blown head gasket now.
Theres a circuit breaker, for the fan, under the front 'hood'.Thats probably blown, but if its still under warentee, let the dealer fix it.
Going price for a kodiak service cd is about 5 bucks, and the one that covers the 450 will be good enough if you cant find one for the 400. They are basicly the same, except for the hi lo, diff lock and gauge pod.
They do run a bit warm, even during 10 F temps, my fan does run a bit if im not moving much over 10 mph. But once its going along at 15 mph or higher, it shouldnt come on much unless the radiator is plugged, or its really hot out.
Welcome to the forums.

 

The breaker is fine, it is definatly the fan that is screwed, I put 12 volts straight to it, and nothing happened, then I measured the resistance across the leads and got 2.9 mega ohms. And being that I am an electrcian, I would call that an open circuit in the fan.
So now I am just waiting for them (the dealer) to get their act together and send me another fan. I know they are expensive ($373 dollars Canadian), but they are the ones that offered a one month warranty on a 2001 quad, so I'll get everything I can out of them.
Other than the fan issue, and getting the compression sorted out, I am very pleased with the quad.

And thanks for the great input "hondabuster