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Post by DEKE on Oct 29, 2020 17:44:04 GMT
Fred, Thelma, Shaggy? We have a mystery on our hands. I have a 2004 Suzuki ATV that came with the farm. It hasn't been a necessity by any means, but it has come in as handy on a lot of occasions. Two years ago it started running poorly. It would cold start fine, idle fine, run slowly fine, run fast fine. But if you were running fast, came off the accelerator and the gave it gas again, it would putter out. Try to restart it when it was hot and it was a no go. Let it sit for 30 minutes and it would fire right back up.
Over the last 2 years, 4 mechanics ranging from the backyard variety to pros have looked at the fuel, fuel injection, engine, exhaust, and no one could identify the problem. Yesterday a friend came over and in 10 minutes with no tools but a screw driver, got it fixed.
Care to guess the problem? It is one of those things that after you hear the problem, you smack yourself in the forehead and say, "of course."
Anyone who guesses that the solution involved an angry old man dressing up like a ghost, ruh-roh, will have to stand in the corner.
Yours truly, Scooby
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Post by paisley on Oct 29, 2020 18:05:36 GMT
No clue but interested as I have such a rig that would be great to use with faith!
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Post by farmrbrown on Oct 30, 2020 5:19:00 GMT
Given the scant info given, I'll take a guess, more than 1 actually, based on a 10 minute fix with only a screwdriver.
Assuming it WASN'T a loose electrical wire, which is possible when it got warmed up and then ok after it cooled down, the more likely "simple fix" would be:
*Loose connection in throttle cable
*Loose connection in fuel shut off valve
*Loose connection in ON/OFF kill switch
*Loose connection on vacuum line going to fuel tank
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Post by DEKE on Oct 30, 2020 13:29:17 GMT
Given the scant info given, I'll take a guess, more than 1 actually, based on a 10 minute fix with only a screwdriver. Assuming it WASN'T a loose electrical wire, which is possible when it got warmed up and then ok after it cooled down, the more likely "simple fix" would be: *Loose connection in throttle cable *Loose connection in fuel shut off valve *Loose connection in ON/OFF kill switch *Loose connection on vacuum line going to fuel tank I'm going to declare you the winner because in that fiddling, yu put your hand on the problem on your fourth try. You were close enough to the issue you would have probably found the problem. It was a dirt dauber that had built its nest in the vent to the fuel tank. It wasn't being hot that caused the problem, it was a partial vacuum in the fuel tank. Go slow and enough fuel would flow to keep it running. Go fast and as soon as you came off the throttle, the vacuum would stop the fuel flow enough to choke it out. Let it sit awhile and the air pressure would equalize enough to let it start again.
A screw driver removed the vent line, dug out the dried mud/nest, reattach vent, and it runs just fine now.
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Post by farmrbrown on Oct 30, 2020 23:54:14 GMT
Given the scant info given, I'll take a guess, more than 1 actually, based on a 10 minute fix with only a screwdriver. Assuming it WASN'T a loose electrical wire, which is possible when it got warmed up and then ok after it cooled down, the more likely "simple fix" would be: *Loose connection in throttle cable *Loose connection in fuel shut off valve *Loose connection in ON/OFF kill switch *Loose connection on vacuum line going to fuel tank I'm going to declare you the winner because in that fiddling, yu put your hand on the problem on your fourth try. You were close enough to the issue you would have probably found the problem. It was a dirt dauber that had built its nest in the vent to the fuel tank. It wasn't being hot that caused the problem, it was a partial vacuum in the fuel tank. Go slow and enough fuel would flow to keep it running. Go fast and as soon as you came off the throttle, the vacuum would stop the fuel flow enough to choke it out. Let it sit awhile and the air pressure would equalize enough to let it start again.
A screw driver removed the vent line, dug out the dried mud/nest, reattach vent, and it runs just fine now.
That's cool and good to know. I knew about the other stuff (kill switch, fuel line cut off, etc.) but I'll confess to learning about the fuel tank venting issue after googling that model ATV, because most of the old motors I know about are carbureted - not fuel injected. That was the FIRST thing I thought of (loose screw/bad gasket) on the carb.......until you mentioned it was FI. At that point I had to find out more about the species of beast you had before I could make a guess. Simple things like that are annoying as hell and it may take talking to several mechanics before you run across one who by chance saw the same problem once before and can tell you what it was. Even THEN it's often just lucky if you do find out the easy way, lol. I had a flashback of the scene in Slingblade when I read the question in this thread though......... |
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Post by farmrbrown on Oct 30, 2020 23:56:20 GMT
I "fixed" my neighbor's riding mower that way last month.............Mmmmm....mmmmm
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Post by joebill on Oct 31, 2020 2:11:31 GMT
Gas tank vents have caused a lot of problems in my lifetime, beginning with the time that Grandad switched the caps between the mower and the gas can. Same size cap, but the one on the can had no vent....took him days to figure it out. Then, they used to get switched between the old tractor and the new Ford, and the tractor one was not vented. Had the vent elsewhere. When a Ford came in with the gas gage not working, always had to look under it and see if the tank was collapsed on the gage float. Non vented cap would let the pump suck the sides of the tank in so far it would stop the float arm and freeze the gage. You could usually puff the sides of the tank back out with an air hose without causing leaks. Freshly painted old cars tend to somehow also get the tank vent plugged if the vent is not in the gas cap. AND, of COURSE, wasp nests.....  .....Joe |
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.....Joe