[Yoicey]

Hi, I'm new here. I browsed around a bit and searched for other threads concerning my issue but found none. Anyways, I have a 2004 TRX 400 Rancher AT and I had it stored for the winter; however, I bought a snow plow and brought it out. It was running great last time I used it... (the typical phrase)

The issue is everytime I push the choke in after a 20-25 minute warm-up, its starts acting rugged and will stall if I dont push the throttle in. I leave the choke out and it idles great so I'm thinking its not getting enough fuel. I took the air filter out and its somewhat dirty, noticed an oil stain. Not sure how that got on there. I ran it without the filter and fuel seemed to be getting through so I was wondering if it might be the fuel type. Typical 87 octane. I did add a half quart of "energy conserving" oil which I saw it was a big no-no in the owners manual. I don't see how that could be the issue since it was doing the same thing before I added the oil.

I replaced the battery thinking it might be the battery acting funky and it starts on its own now. Oil was replaced prior to storage with 10w-40 SAE NON-conserving energy label... I was short about half a quart when I replaced it thus me adding more oil in my story.

Maintenance schedule... its been about 1 year since I took it to the dealer, only has like 40 hrs on it.

Any ideas? I appreciate the inputs if any...

 

[mud99]

Im not sure about the UT quads but if its a carb and not fuel injected you may need to remove the carb and give it a good cleaning, removing all the jets and ect. Clean the jets with carb cleaner and or a torch tip cleaner or a peace of wire from a wire brush. Welcome to the forums.

 

[Helmut]

He said it had a choke, so it has to have a carb. And I agree with mudd, carb needs took off and cleaned good.

 

[mud99]

He said it had a choke, so it has to have a carb. And I agree with mudd, carb needs took off and cleaned good.

I didnt know if the FI had a chock or not.

 

[Helmut]

No, FI don't have chokes.

 

[Yoicey]

Thanks for the fast responses fellas. I haven't cleaned the the carb since I bought so I know it'll be pretty filthy. What about spark plug or coil? Not sure what I'm looking for with a faulty plug on a ATV though. I figured it might be more fuel oriented which carb is but... I'll clean it up tomorrow and see. Keep ya updated and thanks for idea.

 

[Helmut]

Your coil is, more than likely, OK. I would go ahead and buy a new spark plug, since they don't cost much and need to be changed occasionally, anyway. I'm pretty sure the carb is your problem from the way that you described it. A good cleaning and you should be OK.

 

[Yoicey]

So, I took off the carb and cleaned it out with some B12 Chemo carb cleaner solution, took the jets out and soaked them in the solution, let it sit for 30 min, brushed it off with toothbrush, and put it back together.

The battery died prior to me working on it so I just left it dead while I worked on it; saves me from taking the terminals off. I hooked the batteries up and let them charge, it cranks now but it won't go. I don't want to kill the starter either. I did have the fuel set to off while I worked on it, forgot to turn it back on prior to my first crank.

I don't wanna give it crack either. (starting fluid)

 

[Helmut]

Is it firing? It was running before you cleaned the carb, wasn't it?

 

[Yoicey]

How would I know if its firing? You talking about exhaust backfire? It's not... I might take the filter out and put my hand in there to see if fuel is coming out. It was running with choke PRIOR to me taking it apart but once I pushed choke in, it shut off. Then I just started to take it apart. I didn't notice too much dirt or crud when I was cleaning the carb either. Just little dirt here and there on the exterior but nothing too bad in the inside. I know I pretty much went in reverse order when installing the carb back on. I might mess with the throttle to see if I threw it out of adjustment.

 

[Helmut]

When I say firing, I mean, are you getting a spark at the spark plug. If it was running before you took the carb off, then you are getting spark. It has to be something to do with the carb, since it was running until you took the carb off to clean it. It don't take much dirt in the carb to make it not run right. Did you take your float out and remove the needle valve and check for debris down in the hole where the needle valve goes? I always blow the hole out with an air hose, because this is the entrance where the gas comes into the carb. You may have missed some debris in the carb somewhere. It's easy to do. Take your time and make sure you clean the jets good and unclog any passageways. When you get it back together and on the engine, you may have to adjust the fuel mixture screw.

 

[Yoicey]

Alright, I got it fired up and running.. it was the battery needing some time to charge. I'm assuming its the outside temperature constantly draining these batteries... It's probably in the teens as far as temperature right now. I'm gonna leave it charging overnight and fire it up first thing in the morning. I bought some seafoam as well and poured it in the tank. I don't care what fixes it at this point, just want to utilize the plow and get my investments worth.

And in reference to the cleaning, I did use a canned air and blew out the inside of it, took the float part off as well and inspected the jets, etc. I cleaned M4's/M16's for a living not to long ago

The ATV was rarely used since I was away on deployments for most of the time