'05 R is killing me... please read

[RedRipinRocket]

Hi again... well if you havent heard my story thats because it is so hard to tell but once again the quad is running horribly and I really need help.

The shop said the jetting is spot on what curtis sparks said and the cam is properly in place. They also checked the rev limiter and said that is fine. They also said that they unplugged the TPS from the carb and it didnt seem to make a difference(which I can assume may be a problem)

I sent it to the shop about a month ago and when I got it back it still ran horribly... maybe even worse then when i gave it to them. My dad believed that it might have been the wiring harness because when I did my rebuild i had cut wires that I didnt need anymore(headlight, taillight, ect.). So before I even rode it when I got it home I took the wiring harness apart and checked for any possible problems. None found. I tapped it back up and put the bike back together. I kicked it over and it sounded and ran horrible. The shop had taken the stock air filter cage and installed it inside the Curtis Sparks airfilter which didnt require it. I took out the cage and IT RAN GREAT! I ran it for 2 hours that night and had no problems the jetting and everything seemed spot on(no sputtering or loss of power anywhere in the powerband)

The next day I got it out and ran it for 5 minutes and it sputtered on the bottom end a good bit. My dad said we just needed to adjust the air/ fuel screw so we did and it didnt help. Needless to say I was done riding for the day. The next day after we looked all over the bike again I tried running it and it ran alright for about 20 min. Then it started to sputter again so again we adjusted the a/f screw.

I returned the bike to the stock pipe(from the curtis sparks) and the jetting to stock. Then i put the airbox lid back on but I still have the CS airfilter in it. So now from a stock standpoint the quad still sputtered on the bottom and when I stab the throttle it bogs down and then takes off.

So what should I do now? Im thinking go back to stock airfilter w/ cage and seeing how that goes.

Also, If anyone in the woodbine area would like to help out by possibly lending me your '05 carb i think that would knock out alot of possibilities for problems.

thx for reading i know its a long and confusing post but you are know where near as confused as me, my dad, and all the mechanics at my dealer.

[400exrider707]

Definitely sounds like serious jetting issues. What are you running for jetting?

[MD450r]

Its allways tough to troubleshoot a problem when it is so inconsistent, but Il give you my best ideas.

There may be an air leak between the carb and the head or some part of the carb may not be sealed properly, like the top cover over the throttle slide or the seals around the idle mix screw. Spray carb cleaner around the carb and the carb boots to see if the rpm of the engine changes while running at low idle. If it does that may be the whole problem

Some of the things you say make me think that there is water or dirt in the carb, but it would act up all of the time and not just some times. The main jet cap on the bowl of the carb can be removed to check and see if water is in the carb but the carb will have to be pulled to see if any of the jets are a problem inside.

The inconsistency of the problem makes me think that it may be an electrical problem. Maybe some kind of a short in the harness or the coil or some part of the electrical system gets up to temperature then it fails. Im not sure of an easy way to check for a problem here without replacing some of the parts.

You say the engine will sputter accelerating off of idle a lot of the time. There could be a problem with the accelerator pump and its diaphram.

Let us know of any other symptoms that it has that may lead us to the problem.

Aaron

[Pappy]

just a thought as i have had this probelm on a few R's


double and triple check that there is NO dirt in the float bowl! a small speck will exhibit the exact symptoms your talking about!


also check for a leak around the airboot, check the headpipe for any cracks and to be sure it is tight


in that area you should be running around a 170 main jet with the airbox lid off. if the lid is on, and your running much more then stock jetting your engine will stumble

[tooanxiousii]

Sounds like you have dirt in the carb ... Take it off and clean it well!!! and then try it again

[gbcap]

i am not in the woodbine area...but if you want to borrow a carb jetted for an aftermarket exhaust and a free flowing air filter your more then welcome. i am in westminster wich is about 25 min above baltimore. depending on when you could come up we could just slap mine in there and ride around my feilds a bit to see if that solved your problem.

to me it sounds like bad fuel, dirty carb/jets or a loose connection between the filter and box, box and intake, intake and carb or carb and motor. mine ran like crap like that once and the carb wasn't in the intake boot all the way.

let me know.

Greg

[ThumPIN_450R]

Have you had the carb apart on it? I have had my deal lose the needle jet out of it before and it ran horribly rich and barely stayed running. It could be something worth checking out.

[buck naked-r]

Originally posted by RedRipinRocket
Hi again... well if you havent heard my story thats because it is so hard to tell but once again the quad is running horribly and I really need help.

The shop said the jetting is spot on what curtis sparks said and the cam is properly in place. They also checked the rev limiter and said that is fine. They also said that they unplugged the TPS from the carb and it didnt seem to make a difference(which I can assume may be a problem)

I sent it to the shop about a month ago and when I got it back it still ran horribly... maybe even worse then when i gave it to them. My dad believed that it might have been the wiring harness because when I did my rebuild i had cut wires that I didnt need anymore(headlight, taillight, ect.). So before I even rode it when I got it home I took the wiring harness apart and checked for any possible problems. None found. I tapped it back up and put the bike back together. I kicked it over and it sounded and ran horrible. The shop had taken the stock air filter cage and installed it inside the Curtis Sparks airfilter which didnt require it. I took out the cage and IT RAN GREAT! I ran it for 2 hours that night and had no problems the jetting and everything seemed spot on(no sputtering or loss of power anywhere in the powerband)

The next day I got it out and ran it for 5 minutes and it sputtered on the bottom end a good bit. My dad said we just needed to adjust the air/ fuel screw so we did and it didnt help. Needless to say I was done riding for the day. The next day after we looked all over the bike again I tried running it and it ran alright for about 20 min. Then it started to sputter again so again we adjusted the a/f screw.

I returned the bike to the stock pipe(from the curtis sparks) and the jetting to stock. Then i put the airbox lid back on but I still have the CS airfilter in it. So now from a stock standpoint the quad still sputtered on the bottom and when I stab the throttle it bogs down and then takes off.

So what should I do now? Im thinking go back to stock airfilter w/ cage and seeing how that goes.

Also, If anyone in the woodbine area would like to help out by possibly lending me your '05 carb i think that would knock out alot of possibilities for problems.

thx for reading i know its a long and confusing post but you are know where near as confused as me, my dad, and all the mechanics at my dealer.

sound like you got water in the fuel...........jetting doesn't let it run good for alittle whilethen start to sputter...but water does......take the tank off and shake out ALL THE FUEL threw the gas cap hole.......then drain carb and see what happens.....

[md1985250r]

It could be as simple as the gas tank vent tube is clogged. worth a shot.

[RedRipinRocket]

Ok I will check the vent tube and I will also empty out the gastank and carb and run new gas through it.

I'll keep you posted. Thx for the help so far.

[450R_lover]

i have heard of situations where a small piece of plastic was in the bowl of the carb and it would sometimes clog the main jet while riding. this sounds kinda like whats going on to yours. just a suggestion.

[MAD450r]

My fuel petcock got messed up on my 04 and it did that. I had to run on reserve till I got a new petcock.

its was random like you saying yours is doing. I hope you figure it all soon. I know it just seemed to make me more and more confused till I finally bought a used petcock off ebay and my R has been fine since.

[RedRipinRocket]

today i took the carb completely off and apart and cleaned it and found dirt in the bottom of the container i used to clean it. I then returned it to the Curtis sparks pipe, 190 main, and no airbox lid. I cleaned out the gas tank and then added new gas. The petcock seemed fine. I started it and just at idle i could tell it wasnt running good. After fooling with the a/f screw i noticed it wasnt making a difference how far out or in i wen on it. I changed the screw back to the stock one and I could notice a difference every twist i made with it. It still sputtered but not as bad so a step in the right direction. I will see how it goes when i ride/ work on it more tomorrow. The vent hose didnt appear to be clogged but i will look at again...

[Limboavionic]

Hey guys new to this site. Thought I'd throw my two cents in. My girlfriend had a similar problem with her 06 250. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. It turns out that when her brother went to stand the quad up for storage, he tied the vent tube in a knot. I didn't even notice the huge flippin' knot staring me right in the face on top of her gas cap. I untied it, clipped it short of the kink, plugged it back in and "TADA!!" It has never run better.

[the Z Man]

I raced a stock filter for 2 years now, got me 2 Championships!!
Afriend was having the same prob with aftermarket filter, now he runs stock as well....:D

[RedRipinRocket]

so after greg came over this weekend and we swapped carbs... my bike still ran horibly. so then we followed greg upto mhis house and grabbed a wireharness and headed back to my house. My dad thought maybe it was the coil since we hadnt really gone over that. So when we started to swap them, we noticed how loose the connection the wire from the coil was. There was a groove cut into the metal from it rubbing against it and possibly from it arching. We switched the coils... started it up... and it RAN FLAWLESS. NO SPUTTERING, NO BACKFIREING, NO NOTHING, ABSOULTELY PERFECT. So we tightened the clip on the end of the wire on my coil and put that back on... mine ran fine too. So all in all after many months many teardowns and near tears of agony... my bike runs fine and I can ride and not worry whether or not im gonna case this double because my power wont be there. If you have been reading I had gone completely over my stock wire harness and then it ran fine that day... bad the next. We figured we must have made the connection better when we moved the wires around and as a result it ran fine and the the wire came undone the nextday. Its on there tight now.

Thanks you Greg so much and we will be returning your harness and coil asap. Also thanks to everyone else who has helped and my only advice is if it hasnt happened to you check it out... could be something simple as that.

Im not even mad that it was something that easy because we thought we had done everything... but most important its over with now.

[ricks450]

Dude that sucks. Will always keep this in mind. Glad you figure it out.

[TarheelRedRider]

I had the same problem on my 300ex. Built the motor new cab and all and racked my brain for months until it quit running completly till I found the bad coil wire. Sorry I just seen this thread or I could had suggested this. Glad you got it fixed though. It sux having to troubleshoot some times when all you want to do is just ride. Trust me this is why I just bought me a new quad.