85V8XJ
09-23-2005, 09:24 AM
I'm new to the whole ATV thing, so I'll apologize in advance for any stupid questions.
I just picked up an '02 400EX to cut my teeth on, got a sweet deal on it. Asthetically, and mechanically, it's damn near perfect. Never been on it's lid, hardly a scratch. I should mention that it's BONE stock.
The day I brought it home, it ran GREAT. The previous owner had just put a new plug in it, but said that it was probably due for an oil change, and the gas in the tank (about 1/2 tank) was 8 to 12 months old.
I'd fired it several times during the first couple of weeks we owned it, but didn't have a chance to ride it. Then, the day before we'd intended to ride it, it wouldn't fire. It popped a couple of times, but then nothing. Ended up running the battery down over the course of two days trying to get it running. I'd pulled the plug, which appeared to be newer, and confirmed that it had spark. There was some evidence that it was running lean, but it didn't seem too bad.
So I picked up a few new plugs (they're cheap, worth having spares around), popped in a new one. The bike fired on the first push of the button. Took it up and rode it, ran great all day.
We're going up tomorrow, so I'd decided to get everything ready last night. I tried to fire the bike, and I'm getting the same thing. It actually fired and ran for about 15 seconds, but died and now it won't light. I'm sure that installing a new plug will fix the problem, but I'd rather correct the problem than just treat the symptoms.
The only bad thing I'd found on the quad is that the previous owner had absolutely HOSED the stock foam filter with filter oil. So much so that the lower portion of the airbox had a bit of standing oil (filter oil). I'd replaced the filter since even filter cleaner couldn't get most of the oil out of the original unit. Could all that filter oil have plugged up the carb? Could the remnants of the oil simply be fouling the plugs? Like I said, it ran fine on my ride. Restarted all day long with no problems.
Any suggestions? Tests that I could perform at home?
All this aside, I'm very impressed with the 400EX. My wife and I are currently sharing it, our intent was to pick up a bigger machine for myself later on - considering the Raptor 700, but I'm not a very aggressive rider, the 400 seems to have enough grunt for my purposes. That, and my wife is a little too small for the 400, so we're looking at a 250EX for her.
I just picked up an '02 400EX to cut my teeth on, got a sweet deal on it. Asthetically, and mechanically, it's damn near perfect. Never been on it's lid, hardly a scratch. I should mention that it's BONE stock.
The day I brought it home, it ran GREAT. The previous owner had just put a new plug in it, but said that it was probably due for an oil change, and the gas in the tank (about 1/2 tank) was 8 to 12 months old.
I'd fired it several times during the first couple of weeks we owned it, but didn't have a chance to ride it. Then, the day before we'd intended to ride it, it wouldn't fire. It popped a couple of times, but then nothing. Ended up running the battery down over the course of two days trying to get it running. I'd pulled the plug, which appeared to be newer, and confirmed that it had spark. There was some evidence that it was running lean, but it didn't seem too bad.
So I picked up a few new plugs (they're cheap, worth having spares around), popped in a new one. The bike fired on the first push of the button. Took it up and rode it, ran great all day.
We're going up tomorrow, so I'd decided to get everything ready last night. I tried to fire the bike, and I'm getting the same thing. It actually fired and ran for about 15 seconds, but died and now it won't light. I'm sure that installing a new plug will fix the problem, but I'd rather correct the problem than just treat the symptoms.
The only bad thing I'd found on the quad is that the previous owner had absolutely HOSED the stock foam filter with filter oil. So much so that the lower portion of the airbox had a bit of standing oil (filter oil). I'd replaced the filter since even filter cleaner couldn't get most of the oil out of the original unit. Could all that filter oil have plugged up the carb? Could the remnants of the oil simply be fouling the plugs? Like I said, it ran fine on my ride. Restarted all day long with no problems.
Any suggestions? Tests that I could perform at home?
All this aside, I'm very impressed with the 400EX. My wife and I are currently sharing it, our intent was to pick up a bigger machine for myself later on - considering the Raptor 700, but I'm not a very aggressive rider, the 400 seems to have enough grunt for my purposes. That, and my wife is a little too small for the 400, so we're looking at a 250EX for her.