I'm trying to help a friend get his non-running Kodiak 450 going again. He said it was running fine but one day he shut it off and it wouldn't start again. I disassembled and cleaned the entire carb. After putting it back together it still wouldn't start. I noticed that there wasn't any suction at the air box with the filter off so I did a compression check and got about 60. I tried adjusting the valves and they were within spec. I noticed that when the rockers had slack was when the crank was 180 degrees out from the TDC mark. So I removed the tensioner and cam gear and put it to where they matched up according to the service manual. Once I got it all back together I tried cranking it again. This time I felt back pressure coming out to the air box. I even tried spraying in some carb cleaner and in was pushed back out. I tried cranking it with the choke and with it off and it didn't help. After all that I pulled the plug again and it was dry. I checked the compression again and it was a little bit lower. I don't have a screw in compression tester, just a harbor freight one with the rubber end you push in the hole. I know it's a long write up but I tried to be thorough. Any ideas? I'm stumped. Thanks.

 

Sounds like you got the cam 180 out of time to me. If it ran and then would not start that tells me the thing was in time.

Then you took it apart and messed with the cam timing. I have no idea why it would not start the first time without you checking spark or fuel or things like that.

But to me it now sounds like you have it 180 degrees out of time.

Good luck.

 

I did check the spark and it was good. Also it was getting fuel the first time. I don't understand why the rockers were tight when the timing mark on the crank was aligned with the timing mark on the housing. When the crank was in time I had to rotate it 180 out to get the pin on the cam to line up with the mark on the head. The way I understand it from the manual is that you make the cam pin line up with the casting mark on the head, and then rotate the crank until the timing mark is visible in the sight hole. Then install the timing gear, chain, tensioner, etc... That should be timed. Am I wrong?

 

I'm sorry, I forgot to update. So after checking the timing again I decided to take the top end off. The exhaust valve was leaking around the seat pretty badly. The intake valve had a little leakage past the seat too so I took the head to my buddy that owns an ATV shop and he is going to put in new seats and valves. I will report back after I get it back together