Starting trouble with Artic Cat 650ATV

[Weps]

I bought a very lightly used 2005 650 Artic Cat last fall, it runs great and all in all I am very happy with it, except its a bit of a pig to cold start. ussually if the battery is fully charged it isnt to bad but even then sometimes it doesnt fire up right away. sometime I can hear it fire but it wont stay running with out a little throttle. The starter cranks well so its not that. Any Ideas?

 

[Captjacksparrow]

Your chokes could be stuck. I've had a few at the shop here where the plunger was sticky in the carb and not coming on all the way.

 

[Powertool29]

Its got to do with the Carb /Carbs
I have a 03 Yamaha Raptor fully modified and as Captain Jack say's it could be the choke being stuck.
OR depending where the quad was ran before (or set up for)
it could be right on the verge of needing to have different jetting
either leaner or richer depending on where you are riding it ?
you can check this out fairly easily by looking at the spark plug
if its wet its took rich and if its a light grey its too lean.
a nice light brown color is best.
My problem with my quad it was just on the verge with the jetting it had and ran great at home and if you took it up 1000 feet it ran like Sh$t and was hard starting because it was too rich.
leaned it out just a bit and it has never ran better.

Check the plug first, if its okay
its time to pull apart the carb/carbs and do some cleaning !
I hope this helps out.

 

[Weps]

thanks for the tips I will check out the spark plug tomorrow night after work and well see what it looks like.

 

[ttpowersports]

so is it a v 2 650 (kawi enginge) or a 650 h1 (cat engine) and you know about the primer lever on the carb right? could be the needle and seating your ride thats a bit stick, drop 1/2 cap of ATF OR Power steering fluid in a full tank and go for a good ride, both the auto trans fluid and power steering fluid have a high detergent in them and will (cheat) clean your carb. could try that,

NEVER USE TOO MUCH AS IT WILL EAT AWAY AT THE SEALS AND O-RINGS. THIS IS A ONE TIME PER SEASON, CLEANING THAT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR QUITE A WHILE...

T.:d

 

[Powertool29]

Your chokes could be stuck. I've had a few at the shop here where the plunger was sticky in the carb and not coming on all the way.

I was thinking again about your problem starting.
If the plug is black and wet after initial start-up as I stated earlier it does not necessarily mean that the jetting is off. The choke being stuck would also cause the bike to run rich by supplying more fuel than required. There are a few things that you need to keep in mind when determining your issue.

Carb problems..
Rich Jetting and the choke sticking open can both cause a plug to look black and wet

if it seems to idle high and rev up easily (which does not sound to be your problem) the jetting is to lean.

The higher the altitude from sea level the leaner you need to be (less air the higher you go up) its all about the correct air/fuel mixture.

also as mentioned above it could be Sh$tty fuel..
Be patient and eliminate the possibilities and it should correct the problem..

 

[Powertool29]

so is it a v 2 650 (kawi enginge) or a 650 h1 (cat engine) and you know about the primer lever on the carb right? could be the needle and seating your ride thats a bit stick, drop 1/2 cap of ATF OR Power steering fluid in a full tank and go for a good ride, both the auto trans fluid and power steering fluid have a high detergent in them and will (cheat) clean your carb. could try that,

NEVER USE TOO MUCH AS IT WILL EAT AWAY AT THE SEALS AND O-RINGS. THIS IS A ONE TIME PER SEASON, CLEANING THAT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR QUITE A WHILE...

T.:d

That's a great tip for cleaning a sticky carb.
I never thought about it, but you are right they have a high detergent content and would work great as a carb cleaner..