Hello, I am at witts end trying to figure out what my problem is. Here it is in a nut shell; the last time I had it out running, it did not want to idle so I had to always hold the throttle a little to keep it running. I managed to get it almost all the way home and it stalled. Since then, I have not been able to get it running again. I took the carb off and cleaned it out. Cleaned the air filter. Replaced the spark plug with a new one. I pull started it behind a vehicle (the only way I can start it now) and had it start twice but as soon as I try to do anything, it stalls. I try to put it into neutral, the machine stalls. I take my thumb off the throttle, it stalls. etc. At the end, pulling the quad would sort of fire but would not stay running. Now, I cannot start it at all. I checked the timing today and it looks fine.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Oh and the plug has always been carbon fouled and it does burn a little oil but not bad. I have great compression and good spark.

 

Update: I have put in a new carb kit. Replaced all the jets, orings, etc as part of this kit. I pulled the fuel tank off and found some more melted wires. I fixed them and had the quad running just fine....a bit slow idle but it was running. I turned the machine off, put the tank and whatnot back on, and it would not start again. I took the tank back off and followed all the wires, redid a few more but still cannot get the machine to fire up. When I pull the plug, there is gas soaking it. I have cut all the wires going to the lights so there are no lights of any kind connected (and possibly shorting) at all. Do I need these?

Please, Please help!

 

wow, still sounds like an electrical or even as simple as a pinched fuel line when you replaced the tank. Take the tank off again, and re-evaluate.

 

I have the tank off now and haven't installed it yet until I get the machine running again. I found the coil had problems so I have replaced with a generic new coil and new wire. I have had it backfire a couple times but still can't get it to fire up. Should I be looking at the components attached to the back now? ignitor, starter circuit relay, etc...

 

OK; I'll bite. Why the melted wires? If it's getting "too much gas" it won't fire. Are you running the correct plug (heat range?) Fresh gas, right? (As in.....it hasn't been in the tank for a couple years...) No restrictions or mice nests in the exhaust? (don't laugh!) Double-check your wiring schematic to make sure you've only cut the wires to the lights and nothing else. The "too much gas" thing intrigues me...

 

The melted wires are a little curious. Several years back, my rectifier/regulator started smoking and melted. I had to change the plug for this and of course the component itself. It ran awesome for a year or so and then the wires to the light switch melted from the switch on the handlebars down to the plug where it joins the rest of the wire harness. I'm still not sure to this day as to why this happened but I just disco'd the wires and everything seemed fine. I have had no lights for a few years now but don't care becasue nothing else seemed to be affected. That is until now...this is the first time I've had the fuel tank off since all this started happening so I was unaware of the condition of wires under the fuel tank. That leads us to now and my original post. I have checked the wires many times over and they all seem to be fine now.

I'm not sure if it's related or not but since I got the machine, it cuts out at high rpm's. Doesn't matter what gear I'm in or if it's in high or low range. It has always done this so whereas it is frustrating at times, I have learned to live with it and drive accordingly. The winch also seems to work intermittently. Most of the time it works but sometimes, at random, it will not function. I have a new switch on this as well as that was one original problem when I purchased this machine.

 

I think you still have some wiring/grounding issues, and/or overloaded circuits (which originally caused your regulator to implode.) Might also explain why the engine cuts-out at high rpm. Double-check the schematic, as well as your replacement wiring. Solder; right? No wire nuts and Krazy-glue? Might also (literally) write-down how the engine behaved before/after every "repair." Re-trace your repair steps to when it was last "running." What's different?
(I would ditch the winch, for now.... You have the "basic" circuits to worry about.)

 

Thanks Jeff. All my connections are soldered and all that I can are shrinkwrapped as well. So moisture and debris should stay out of the connections. I have also taken most of my other connections appart to check them and shine up again. I put dielectric grease on the connectors before I put them back together. I will check them all again but I am fairly certain that the new wiring I have done is all in good condition.

I will try disconnecting the winch for now just to eliminate any possible issues with that. I am leaning toward a bad ground someplace now. Not sure. My neighbour wants me to check my valves but I realy don't want to start taking the engine appart as I know once I do this it will be opening a can of worms. After talking with several people, I think you are correct in that it must still be a wiring problem someplace. I will update you again once I have had time to look at the machine again. Thanks for all the suggestions thus far.

 

Ok, I finally am getting back to this thing. I have disconnected winch entirely now and am trying to get this back up and running. It's been almost a year since it ran last so it's a little stubborn but I think I can get it running now. Regardless, what is the minimum electrical I can run on this machine? Can I basically disconnect everything except the kill switch and starter? Or do I need to have all the other electrical components operating correctly in order for this machine to operate?

 

OK, so, winch is disconnected. Tried starting both with starter and pull start. Tried, and tried, and tried. Other than the occasional backfire and every now and then a fire, it did not want to start. Tried several attempts at pulling it behind a vehicle to start after a few tries (about 60' each attempt) it did fire up and I had it running for about a minute. Then it died and after a few more attempts gave up on it. It may have run for all of 3 seconds after that but otherwise did not run again. It seemed like it was missing once in a while or something like that while it was running. Since it's been almost a year since it ran last, do you guys think that is my problem now or do you think there is another problem somewhere?

Any help is appreciated.