Hi guys, thanks for looking, please chime in if you can help!

BIL gave me an old Moto 4 Quad, either 200 or 250... The poor thing needs some work done badly, but hey it was free so I took it!

I'm not really familiar with maintenance, used ATV's for work, but never had to do maintenance myself.

For starters, the clutch was completely stuck, like it would not move an inch, no play at all... So we sprayed it, tapped it, changed the oil, tapped it again, let it sit for a couple of weeks... Today finally we were able to kinda shift it, the clutch is now able to move from neutral all the way up to what seems to be fifth speed. The quad runs but we cannot shift like a regular semi-auto... I have to get off the quad and push hard to put it back in neutral, impossible to move by foot.

Question is, any idea what causes that?? Is there anything I could add to oil to maybe clean it more without having to rip it completely apart or make some kind of adjustment??

Thanks all for reading this!!

 

No idea, anyone??

 

You can try this.
I had a 1988 250 Moto4 that was super stiff to shift by foot, I changed to full synthetic motor oil and it shifted very easy and smooth for some reason.
Before I needed work boots to shift after I could shift it with sandals on.

 

Thanks! I heard that synthetic was not the best for ATV's but I'm willing to try.

I was wondering if there was anything I could put in there instead of oil for a bit to maybe scrub the gears/plate...

I will certainly try the synthetic trick!

 

I used to have an 86 moto4 with a stiff shifter. On the moto4 I believe its by either the shifter or foot brake i dont remember but its an adjusting nut that says increase and decrease. its for the clutch. mark where it is and turn it very slightly in either direction. if it doesnt do anything turn it back to the mark you made. turning too much will screw up the shifting. that might work a little.

 

Yeah, we saw that nut and started to mess with it, all it did really was that the gear either "gripped" harder or did not grip at all... Seems to be getting a bit easier to move the clutch lever but still only one speed when moved all the way up!

 

Only the synthetic not made for wet clutches. Their are plenty of synthetic oil made for motorcycles which all have wet clutches.
To popular brands are Amsoil and Mobile1.

 

I will make sure to check those out! Thanks!

 

Well, after changing the oil again, riding it with only one speed I felt the clutch was moving a bit more freely after that. Sprayed the clutch lever with some Zep, moved the lever about one hundred times up and down, did some errands, came back, moved the clutch again, felt some resistance, felt something "give" in there and now it's back to working normally!!

Took the quad for a ride and it shifted up to third with no problem!!

I will change the oil again, and use some synthetic this time.

Thanks all who chimed in! Merry Christmas!