Hey guys I have a 2005 Kodiak 450. It runs great and the plug seems to be a nice greyish tan color on the tip. The problem I am having is if its warm and idling fine I shut it off, If I come back say 30 minutes - 1 Hour later it barely wants to start again, I have to rev it up a little for it to idle normal again. If I shut it off and wait say 5 minutes or anything under, it will fire right up with a nice solid idle. My pilot screw is at 1 1/3 turns out and I took it to a small shop and they adjusted the float height to stock spec ( it was off a little bit) so they tell me. He also checked the valves and said they were right on. Could this be a needle valve issue, maybe not seating good? Let me know guys, I also run NO ETHANOL in my bike, previous owner didn't though.

Also do any of you guys have a service manual I can download for all the stock specs like float heigt, pilot screw adjustment etc.

Thanks, Dan

 

Dan,
I have a problem similar to yours. I bought a used Kodiak 400 a couple months back. At first, I was able to get on it and drive around for about 15-20 minutes with no problems. Then, the machine would idle down and shut-off if I didn't keep the throttle in it a little. Once it idled down and shut-off, it would fire right back, but when I tried to go into reverse or fwd, it would die immediately and not go. I could fire it back up, throttle revs just fine, but no go fwd or reverse. Now, it will only start and die as soon as I try to move into a gear. I checked the valves, cleaned the carborator, and changed the plug (it was shot), but I have no idea why it won't go into gear without dying. Any suggestions?

 

hmm, try to adjust the float height on the carburetor, check your pilot screw (see how many turns out) also check the pilot jet again, there are some fine holes in there that could be plugged, let me know how it goes. I am still having my problem as of right now, I just ordered a complete Shindy carb kit for my Kodiak, so well see how it goes!

 

i have a manual if you need

 

Turns out my machine had work done it prior to my purchase and someone put the non-reversing clutch on backwards. Since it was on backwards, as soon as it was cranked the clutch would begin spinning and when trying to engage into FWD or RVS, it would catch and die as a safety mechanism to protect the thing from breaking something. The clutch isn't supposed to spin when in the correct position until a certain number of RPMs is hit on the motor after one puts it in FWD or RVS, then the clutch pushes out and engages. There's an arrow on the clutch and the book said if we couldn't see the arrow it meant it was on backwards. A clean carb and swapping of the clutch gave us a running machine.