help

[frogtosser]

I am at a loss. I went sledding last week and I have a Arctic cat zr500 and it ran fine, I started it today and it barely started and sounded horrible. I changed the plugs and it was a little better and I took it out for a spin and it would only do 30mph at 7000rpms. It also sounded pingy. What is up with it? the sled is new to me last May. I had the carbs cleaned at the beginning of the year.

[broken_line]

its not your engine if its puttin out 7000 rpms. as thats about what they top at... might be the belt worn down or ice in the track.

[frogtosser]

why did it die on me and not start up again? I had to get the trailer to go pick it up.

[broken_line]

is it an efi or carb?

[frogtosser]

carb I believe

[Eelpout08]

Sounds like a fuel issue to me. maybe ice in the carbs? check all the easy stuff first:

1.take the plugs out and check the spark, it should be bright blue, not yellow, just make sure you have the plugs grounded to the cyl. heads when you are pulling it over.Look in the plug holes with a flashlight and check for holes in the pistons and piston wash, there should be carbon on the top except for a little area by the intake (and exhaust?) ports

2. check the intake flanges that the carbs hook to. usually they start cracking and leaking air in then your motor gets burned up

3.Compression test, your not really worried about the psi, just so that both cylinders are close to each other-no more than 10% difference.

4.take the carbs off and look in the airbox for blockage, take the float bowls off and see if there is any dirt or water bubles in there, take the main jets and pilot jets out and look through to make sure there isnt any crud in em, give the carbs a good hosing with carb cleaner and blow out with compressed air.

5. as long as you have the carbs off take the intake flanges off the motor and the reeds will come out, look for any cracks or chipped edges

also to check for air leaks take some carb cleaner and spray it around the carb intake flanges and crankshaft seals when the engine is running, if it idles faster when you spray you have an air leak.

in my experience when an engine sounds "pingy" it is usually running lean.

that motor should be anywhere from 8200 to 8600 rpm at WOT, cant remember exactly

[frogtosser]

thanks, I will have to tinker with it after work tomorrow. It was warm out last week when we were sledding so maybe some moisture is in the fuel lines.

[Eelpout08]

let us know what you find and good luck

[leech~~]

I am at a loss. I went sledding last week and I have a Arctic cat zr500 and it ran fine, I started it today and it barely started and sounded horrible. I changed the plugs and it was a little better and I took it out for a spin and it would only do 30mph at 7000rpms. It also sounded pingy. What is up with it? the sled is new to me last May. I had the carbs cleaned at the beginning of the year.

As some one said check your belt, or worse could be the clutch going out and slipping?

[frogtosser]

I am having a buddy come over tomorrow to help me, he knows more about this then I do, hopefully its something simple. We have all this new snow and I want to ride.

[tweeder]

not sure what year you have. I have a 1999 ZL500. Had issues keeping it running and getting it up to speed. Turns out a lot of the ZL's and ZR's have a faulty kill switch. I disconnected that and it has run like a top ever since. There is a big arctic cat forum, I don't rememeber exact name but it discribes the issue on it. Give that a try first, its the cheapest and easiest fix. Cost nothing, just have to turn key to turn it off.

Good luck.

[frogtosser]

I stopped at a buddies place with my sled which is a 98 by the way, and did some testing. I have good compression, and it started fine today. When it warmed up it was bogging down so I am gonna run some heet through it to try to get the moisture out, other then that he said it may be and eletrical issue, maybe a stator. I am gonna take it out for a spin tomorrow and see what happens.

[leech~~]

I stopped at a buddies place with my sled which is a 98 by the way, and did some testing. I have good compression, and it started fine today. When it warmed up it was bogging down so I am gonna run some heet through it to try to get the moisture out, other then that he said it may be and eletrical issue, maybe a stator. I am gonna take it out for a spin tomorrow and see what happens.

Good luck, lets us know what you find out!

[Eelpout08]

not sure what year you have. I have a 1999 ZL500. Had issues keeping it running and getting it up to speed. Turns out a lot of the ZL's and ZR's have a faulty kill switch. I disconnected that and it has run like a top ever since. There is a big arctic cat forum, I don't rememeber exact name but it discribes the issue on it. Give that a try first, its the cheapest and easiest fix. Cost nothing, just have to turn key to turn it off.

Good luck.

I totally forgot about that! the TSS (throttle safety switch) is the first thing to check! they are notorious for failure which causes bogging and poor operation. if you have the owners manual it should tell you how to bypass the switches or search the net for it, there is a lot of info out there, pretty easy to do. if it isnt bypassed already you might as well do it now or it will leave you stranded someday

[frogtosser]

its not bypassed cause it still works, so I am gonna look up how to bypass it and try that.

[WhiskeyPete]

You can bypass the TSS by unplugging the 2-pin plug on the steering post under the handlebar pad. Have you looked over your clutches? If your engine runs to 7000rpm with no power to the track, you may have a broken drive clutch spider.

[frogtosser]

we looked at the clutches and they seemed ok, it ran better yesterday and I will see how it runs today.

[frogtosser]

what does the tts plug look like? I can only find one with black purple and brown wires that I dont know where it goes to on the handlebars, the rest are for the hand and thumb warmers and the throttle.

[frogtosser]

well that must have been it cause when I disconnected it the kill switch no longer works. I did a couple mile run before that after adding some iso heet and it ran just fine, I dont get it. I am going to leave the kill switch disconnected as it sounds lke it could create more issues and I dont use it anyway. Thanks for your help guys and I will find out more on saturday after I take it out for the day.

[tweeder]

hope thats the ticket, like i said i have been running with mine disconnected (kill switch) and not one issue. So glad I didn't end up tearing it down and replacing a bunch of parts. Its amazing how quick and easy of a fix it is. Enjoy!

[frogtosser]

I went out for a ride today and after 2 miles it started backfiring and then died. I put some iso heet in it and ran it for a little while, then it started sounding better. I believe the fuel I was putting in is causing the issues. I put 91 octane in and I dont think my sled likes it. Has anyone else ever had issues like this? After I added the heet it ran fine. I put on 90 miles yesterday.

[hydro]

From the post above it sounds like a fuel delivery issue. PLEASE do not bring the fuel octane or Non Oxy arguement in here as it will simply confuse things. Any fuel from the pump should work acceptably for this discussion.

Faced with your symptoms, I would check the fuel system from the tank (water??) the fuel pickup (clogged or degraded?), fuel lines (cracked or loose connections), the fuel pump, to the carbs, which I would just take off and clean to be sure, and while you are at it, check the air box boots for cracks or splits. Backfiring like you describe can be caused by lack of fuel causing an overly lean condition. If you can eliminate any and all concerns with the fuel system, then look at the ignition. Do one system at a time or you will just chase your tail and waste time.

[frogtosser]

I dont want to cause any problems with fuel debates, I just think its weird that it works fine with the lower octane then the premium. I had some fuel line replaced back in Oct that were leaking.