Hesitation, backfire??

[ewirz]

I have an 04 Sportsman 700. Now that its getting cold (this is my first winter with it), it has been hesitating when accelerating. The throttle is pretty touchy, have to take it slow or it kills. Once the RPM's get up a little, it will hesitate and sometimes kill. It will backfire once in a while as well. Was thinking its running too lean but can't find the screw on the carb. Any thoughts?

Thanks

ERW

[rundrave]

try adjusting your throttle cable, there is a ETC (electronic throttle control) in the throttle assembly. Take the cap off of that and make sure the cable is adjusted properly so the metal contacts will not touch and kill the machine.

[Macgyver55]

It sounds to me like a carburetor that needs a cleaning. I'm guessing this might be a machine that sometimes sits for extended periods without being run. Yes/no? If not, it could have simply gotten a piece of crud in one of the jets while you were cruising down a bumpy trail. You could try running it with the choke partially on and if it improves thats likely the problem.

Also check the carburetor mounting to be sure its tight.

These are classic symptoms of a lean condition that will become more noticeable in colder weather because of the need for a richer mixture. There are only 2 screws to adjust, one is the idle mixture and it will likely have little effect on curing your problem. The other is the idle speed screw and will only affect idle speed.

[Uncle Bill]

Are you allowing the machine to warm up ?

My machine will run like that until warmed up. This may take 5 minutes, or more, depending on the temperature.

[ewirz]

Problem solved:) I run it fairly regular. The problem showed up the last couple of days when its been in the single digits. Last night I adjusted the throttle cable (was idling pretty low) and let it warm up a good 15-20mins. Ran like a top. Thanks for all the help!!

ERW

[killerloop1]

can you spell polais??????????????????/ lol get used to the noise

[ewirz]

Spelling has never been my strongest subject. I do however pride myself on courtesy and respecting others, at least until I'm given a reason to do otherwise. You forgot the R.

ERW

[Dave]

ewirz,

I believe that was killerloop1's attempt at humor...saying it's a Polaris, get use to it... You never typed Polaris in your post so, you never did misspell it

Glad to hear your machine is running well now.

[ewirz]

Dave/Killer-

If I mis-read the post, I apologize. Just don't have any patients for brand bashing or belittling anyone's decision to sletect a brand. We see a lot of people coming here for advice, and a lot of great advice is given. We don't use the site, nor should anyone have to put up with, harsh criticism on brand preference. Again, if I offended, I apologize.

ERW

[Dave]

No problem. When ya been around here as long as I have, you'll pick up on stuff that should go through one eye and out the other (since we can't hear these posts)