600 sportsman trouble starting

[CrappieAttitude]

This fall I purchased a 2003 Polaris Sportsman 600 Twin from my mother in law with very few hours and miles on it. I rode it during deer season and it ran great. As of late I am having a hard time getting it started. It will eventually start after a lot of cranking. However I am wondering if it may be a carb issue or just a plug issue. Once it is running it seems to run fine after it warms up. It does occasionally backfire which makes me think carb issue. It appears that the plugs are kind of a pain to get to. Any suggestions of where to begin would be greatly appreciated.

CA

[eyehunter]

is it carbed? or EFI??

[CrappieAttitude]

Carbed!

[rundrave]

did the fuel have stabilizer in it? With low miles and hours fuel could have gummed up from sitting too much?

It may not be a bad idea to check the spark plugs or swap them out just because. The color of them will tell you if its running rich or lean and you can make carb adjustments from there if needed.

Would hurt to run some seafoam in the gas and see if it clears up. otherwise you may have to take apart the carb and inspect the jets etc.

[CrappieAttitude]

It didn't have stabil in it for a while. When I bought it I drained all the gas and added new fuel with sea foam. I also chainged the oil. I put on about 50 miles deer hunting this fall and it seemed to run fine. Every time I add new fuel to it, I put sea foam in as well. I bought new plugs for it, but it seems like it is quite the job getting them out. I really don't think it is a spark issue, because when I am cranking it over for a while, it doesn't smell like it is flooding. It almost appears like it is not getting enough fuel. Has anyone ever had an issue with a fuel line getting moisture in it and then freezing not allowing the fuel to flow? It may be just the carbs gummed up

from not being used a lot over the years. I may just have to dive in.

Thanks for the suggestions. Any thing else to check over before tearing into it?

[NAMASafetyDirector]

I would say you looking at a full carb job at least to clean in. With the way gas is now it doesn't take long for things to deteriorate. I would go through, clean everything in the carb, put new lines on, new filter, flush the tank to eliminate any debris. Also check the vent line for the tank and make sure it's not plugged or kinked etc. Good idea when you have the tank pulled to change the plugs. Should be good to go after that! If not, you may want to consider a new fuel pump (they are innexpensive) sometimes the diaphram will deteriorate after sitting in old gas for a long time.( for that matter just replace it when you do the other stuff)then you will have a whole new system.

[mnfin]

I am is the exact situation except mine will no longer start. Do some searching and you will find all kinds of posts across the web about the ignition system being a problem.

Spark plugs are not that bad if you use the tool kit provided with the wheeler. Big one is to determine if you are getting a good spark. If not then you may be looking at a ignition kit upgrade with is stator, coils, wires, CID and a nice hefty price.

I have not had a lot of time to dig into mine but I can say I get one spark and that is it.

[mnfin]

Doing research on mine I stumbled upon this link. http://gh-ftp.com/ORV%20Manuals/

It has a ton of Polaris manuals. The shop manual for the 2003 600 twin is there. Good thing to have.

Good luck.

[CrappieAttitude]

Thanks mnfin! I will take a look at it. I am hoping to get the thing figured out soon. Thanks for all the replies everyone!

CA