1999 Polaris Xplorer Won't Start!!

[xplorer400]

Alright I'm new to the site and pretty baffled about my Polaris. I bought it this summer, rebuilt the top end, everything was going good until I ran it out of gas. Added fresh gas some weeks later and it wont start. I've been thru the carb, cleaned every nook and cranny in it, new spark plug, and still nothing. The plug is wet after trying to start the quad so its getting fuel, I have good spark and it doesnt even try to start. I looked at the reeds today and everything looked fine none that are broke or warped. I havent tested compression with a tester but I know i cant hold my finger over the spark plug hole it will blow it off. Before I cleaned the carb it would backfire now it doesnt so I'm at a witts end. Any Ideas??? Thanks in advance.

Dont know if this matters but the elec start doesnt work so I'm trying to pull start the quad.

Also wont start with starting fluid either.

[lawny]

How long did it sit? Did you check the air box, maybe a critter moved in and built a nest in there, blocking off your intake of air. Since you said you have fuel and spark, proper air/fuel mixture could be the culpret. A couple summers ago we went camping/quading for a week. When it was time to leave, the truck wouldn't start. Found a squirrel had built a nest on top of the motor and chewed off some wires to the distributor! And it only sat for a week!

[xplorer400]

Thanks!! I have the air box off of it right now, but i did notice when i had the reeds out earlier that there was some fuel in the bottom of the cylinder. I now suspect that the carb let gas down into the crankcase and it is full. Makes sense because the spark plug is wet within a full pulls, gonna try removing the plug from the bottom of the engine tommorow and see what i find out. I will update.

[DirtDemon]

If your float needle is not blocking off the fuel properly, or your float is stuck, you can fill up the crankcase if you don't shut the fuel off. It could also be filling up because the machine isn't starting and gas keeps going into the crankcase without being burned. The flooded crankcase could be what is fouling your plug, but you will need to figure out why the crankcase if full of fuel. Good luck. Another thing you might check is the flywheel key, if it is sheared off, you will get spark, just not at the right time. Poor crank seals can also cause hard starting.

[xplorer400]

Thanks again!! I shut the gas off today and cranked the hell out of the motor, stopping to pull the plug and clean it( it was always wet). Couldn't find the drain plug on the motor, does anybody know where it might be? I agree with you Dirt Demon that the needle or float could be or was the cause of the crankase getting full of fuel. Does anybody know a quick way to empty the crankcase? I didnt know about the flywheel key i will check to see if thats the problem, i guess i could also look at the counterbalance oil to see if it is mixed with gas, that might tell me if the seal is good or bad. Again thanks guys I appreciate the tips!!!

Where might this flywheel key be located?? I cant seem to find the part online?

Edited February 1, 2011 by xplorer400

[xplorer400]

Here's another thought. if the crankcase was indeed full of fuel, it should try to fire with this fuel wouldn't it? If the key on the flywheel was broken like Dirt Demon suggested this would hinder it trying to ignite the gas. When i crank on the motor it just turns over and over and over with nothing happening, no backfires, no pops nothing. Could the key on the flywheel be the whole problem?

Thanks again!!

Matt

[DirtDemon]

Definately could be the problem, the flywheel on that machine is not only the rotating part of the stator assembly, but it is the starter ringear as well. If you take the cover the right hand side of the motor, you should be able to see the starter ringgear/flywheel. If you take the bolt off the end of the crankshaft at the center of the flywheel, you should be able to see the woodruff key that keeps the flywheel alligned properly with the crank shaft. This woodruff key is also necessary for the electric starter motor to properly turn the motor over. There is not likely a drain on the bottom of the motor, if you want to get the fuel out of the crankcase, it would be easiest to get the machine started and let it burn the fuel off, but you don't want it to sit in there too long, so if you can't get the motor to start soon, remove the plug, turn the fuel off and keep cranking the motor. Eventually the fuel should get pushed out of the exhaust ports and spark plug hole.

[mcurcio1989]

I purchased this vehicle on the 4th of this month from xplorer400. Nice to see that he pretty much told me exactly what he knew about that was going on. You never know when you buy something used and not running. Lol I sort of stumbled across this post. I have gone through sort of similar things that he went through and then some.

A couple things he did not know about that may thicken the plot.

First thing i noticed when I got it home was that the fluid in there was not just gas. He had a fairly minor head gasket leak that was pulling coolant in and sending it out the exhaust. I dont know how long that was going on for but the cylinder had the tell tale steam cleaned look and you could also feel pressure in the radiator. He had also closed the pilot valve to a fully closed position. I am not sure if that was an effort to restrict the fuel that seamed to be flooding.

There is a drain on the motor for future reference it is right above the opposite drive end of the starter motor.

I rebuilt the starter which was seized but its brushes were worn to almost nothing so i just replaced it since it wasnt going to last. I have also replaced the head gasket. I have an exhaust gasket in the mail as the second one past the cylinder is missing.

Oddly enough it still wont start. My next approach was the woodruff key which seams to be verified by this thread. Doing that tonight and I will give updates if it works.

If this doesnt work i will be thoroughly confused.

Edited February 12, 2011 by mcurcio1989

[mcurcio1989]

Okay it was the flywheel key. My conclusion is that the head gasket blew which caused it to act like it was out of gas and it prly also caused a hydrolocked condition which sheared the key. I am pretty pumped. Only problem right now is that the throttle really doesnt like returning to idle so I have to address that before it can be put in gear. Other than that she purs like a kitten and goes into all the gears just fine. The only other thing that needs fixed is one of the headlights. lol so a $10 head gasket and a $.55 woodruff key was the fix on this. Not to bad! Shes gonna be on the ice tomorrow no doubt!

[Emman]

i have an electrical issue on my 1999 Polaris explorer. I heard a clicking side on my solenoid but it wont start. and I dunno if the solenoid is the problem. or do i need to change my starter? In other forum they said it probably an ignition wire problem.

___________________________

1995-2002 POLARIS XPLORER ATV STARTERS - ARROWHEAD ELECTRICAL

Edited February 15, 2011 by Emman

[mcurcio1989]

The ignition wire problem is totally false. The way a solenoid works is when you send it twelve volts, via your starter button, it closes a circuit which gives continuity to the two posts (one is connected to the positive side of the battery and the other is connected to the cable that runs to the starter. The clicking is the sound it makes when it closes. This means that your problem is one of two or three things.

Either your starter is bad so that the solenoid is sending 12v but it is not doing anything or your solenoid is bad so it is clicking shut but isnt actually closing the circuit so n o power is going to the starter motor. The other problem could be that your battery is dead.

This is a very easy diagnosis. All you need to do is hook up jumper cables to a car battery or your atv battery. I prefer to use a different battery so that i can rule out a dead battery as an issue. So first hook up the jumper cables to a battery that you know as good such as one in your car. Now connect the positive side of the jumper cable to the post that is on the starter where the cable is bolted to. now touch the negative side of the jumper cable to the case of the starter a couple times in a couple different places. If the motor turns you have ruled out the starter. If it doesnt turn buy a new starter. If it did turn know hook the jumper cables up to the battery on your atv and do the same thing you just did. If it doesnt turn know your battery is dead and either needs charged or replaced. If it does turn than you know your solenoid is probably bad. But before replacing it go through and disconnect both of the battery terminals as well as the two big cables on the solenoid and the one at the starter. Disconnect them one at a time and sand the cable and where it screws on. If it still doesnt work it is the solenoid. Another thing you can do is touch one positive side of the jumper cables to the battery side of the solenoid and the other positive side to the starter post of the solenoid. If it turns that is verification that your solenoid is bad.

Starting systems require a lot of amperage which is why they like to fail. It is about one of the easiest circuits to diagnose on a vehicle just take your time and go though trying to find where the amperage is making it to. Simply using a multimeter to test voltage doesnt tell you much since more often than not you will be getting 12v it is just not nearly enough amps so the motor wont turn. you can use a mulitmeter and check things first but all it will do is tell you if some is bad it wont tell you if it is good. Ie if you have 10v at the battery than the battery is bad but if you have 12v it may not necessarily be good. Same thing with the solenoid. If it doesnt have 12v on either post when it clicks shut than it is definately bad but if it does that doesnt necessarily mean it is good.

Edited February 12, 2011 by mcurcio1989

[DirtDemon]

I agree, if the ignition wire were the problem, you wouln't get the click from the solenoid. I would try all the things that MCURCIO suggested. Also check the fluid levels in the battery, if needed, top off with distilled water and charge the battery before testing stuff. One other thing that could be bad is the battery cables themselves, if they go bad, they will actually act more like a resistor than a conductor. You can still jump start a machine with bad cables, but the battery won't charge since the bad cables suck all the charging current, therefore the battery won't charge. Google "voltage drop test" to find info on how to test for bad cables. Keep in mind, you must know that the starter and battery are in good order before you can get reliable results from this test. It is more likely that the problem lies with one of those two things anyhow. Good luck.

[DirtDemon]

Okay it was the flywheel key. My conclusion is that the head gasket blew which caused it to act like it was out of gas and it prly also caused a hydrolocked condition which sheared the key. I am pretty pumped. Only problem right now is that the throttle really doesnt like returning to idle so I have to address that before it can be put in gear. Other than that she purs like a kitten and goes into all the gears just fine. The only other thing that needs fixed is one of the headlights. lol so a $10 head gasket and a $.55 woodruff key was the fix on this. Not to bad! Shes gonna be on the ice tomorrow no doubt!

I had a feeling that the flywheel key was gone. Glad to hear you got it fixed for so cheap, sounds like you made out pretty good on that deal.