hard to start

[afroman]

my 96 ext 580 (Carbed) is very hard to start the first time.im talking 2-3 pulls with full choke 5-10 pulls with half choke then 20-40 pulls (and a lot of swearing)on no choke then it will fart,5-10 more pulls and it will start. seems when it was -30 it would start alot better and once iy's been running it will start with one slow pull.

i cleaned the carbs this season and replaced the spark plugs. the plugs are very wet like i'm flooding the thing but i have tried with half choke first and no choke first it didnt work any better.

i'm i doing something wrong or is there a problem? also would anyone know what my track size is i can measure the width but i need the length?

thanks

[Leader]

the track length is 121 for a standard track.

as to the carb, the warmer the weather gets the less gas a internal combustion engine needs to run, a sled is produced to be run safely at temps down to -20 to -30 degrees.

so lets say you have your sled jetted(mainjet)to run perfect(piston wash and sparkplug readings) at +20 degrees, then temps drop to -5 in the evening you go out and ring it out it will blow up!! because the fuel demand of the motor increases in colder temps. the fuel cools the piston and will have a insufficant amount of gas to cool the piston and pistons are made of cast aluminum which it's melting point is 1,250 degrees.

manufactures jet sled down to -20to-30 to avoid meltdowns and warranty claims.(info for all)

there is a wealth of info on the carb problem thread.

with that said did u clean your pilot jets when u cleaned your carbs?

[hanson]

afroman-

How much did you ride your sled this winter?

Does this happen every single time you go to ride or did you just give up after awhile?

When it finally starts and runs, does it run fine?

[Leader]

after rereading, are you stating it takes approx 50-60 pulls to get it runnin? if so when did you have it going last?

not only an i going blind, Alzhheimer's is setting in..

for some odd reason i feel asthough i graduated yesterday, i think, maybe.........oooh no! Got sudden urge to drink heavily. sorry bad mornin, i guess...

[Surface Tension]

Its possible your inlet valve isn't seating all the way either from debris or your float level is off. When at rest the gas will run into the crank and flood the engine out. Try this before you shut off the engine, close the fuel valve and run the engine for a sort time to burn some fuel out of the carb and gas line (some not all).

Next time you cold start it, turn the fuel back on and immediately try and start it. If it starts right up you know what the problem is.

Also if you trailer your sled, shut the fuel off. The bouncing around will leak gas and flood the engine. The bouncing will hammer on the float and inlet valve too.

One tip for starting a flooded engine is to open the throttle all the way and turn the engine over. It'll clear itself out much sooner.

[Knotwood]

Check your compression, too. Should be within 10/15% of each other, preferably above 120 #s. You may need to pull the carbs off and try to see if the gas flows out the main jet inside the carb bore as you try pulling the engine over- what you're looking for here is if your float levels are too high or the pump pressure overrides the inlet needle's ability to seat- have someone pull the engine over (like they are trying to start it) as you hold the carbs level, see if any weeping occurs. If it comes out, could be seat problems, stuck floats, lever for float too high. If you hold it off the engine, there's no vacuum/pressure to pull air thru, so it should stay dry.

[emtbucket]

These sled have a safety device that kills spark if throttle was to stick open. You can feel the slop in the throttle by gently pushing it. Have somebody push throttle just enough to deactivate and then try starting. If it starts, they need to be adjusted. If that is not it your fuel pump might need to be taken apart and cleaned. These are both easy fixes. I have 95 ext 580 and been thru it all. Let me know if this works.

[afroman]

if i take my fuel pump apart do i need to replace anything like gaskets to put it back together?

[emtbucket]

Not if you don't rip or break gaskets. Mine came a part no promblem. Check diaphragm to see if it is in good shape. could have dried out and cracked.