mga

OMG....that makes perfect sense!!! stupid me, the "lock/unlock" threw me off.. thanks for the clarification,

ok, this is what i'm looking at. don't mind the paint, i'm in the process of painting the fenders. Maybe i'm wrong about what it is, but when i turn on the power, the wires are live with 12 volts.

While i'm waiting for all my parts to show up, i have another question...lol....on the front fender, there;s a "LOCK/UNLOCK" hole with no switch. I saw only two disconnected wires under the fender so i'm assuming they would have connected to the terminals on this missing switch. I figured out it's for the differential to lock or unlock it. I've looked on line but every switch i saw was mounted on the handle bars. I haven't found anything that looked like it would fit. Being that there's only two wires to this, why can't i just wire a simple "push on/pull off" switch?

Good advice. i did look up the OEM number and searched with that. The one i found was the exact part i need. The same part number does fit certain years but i made sure this was the part to be used. Some ATV place in ohio was selling it on ebay...a little expensive for a used part, but, that part is hard to find because it's no longer in production. i'm not doing any hard core riding with it. I just wanted to use it around the yard. New ones are like buying a car or truck now and i just bought a new truck. lol

ha...price out a quart of oil...i used to buy a 5 quart jug for the price of one quart today. i was going to try to bang it out, but like i said before, there;s a crack in the weld of the cross member and i don't have a welder and it's hard to find a good one around here. everyone like to use those damn sticks. i spent a couple of hours looking for one. "no longer available from the manufaacture", so the only used one was on ebay. he wanted 145, but i got it for 125. free ship. that's going to be my last big investment in this thing. if there's aany thing else that's big bucks i'll sell it and get my money back (hopefully) with all the extra parts i'm buying i'm up to almost 1200 in it.

it's bad, cross member has a slight crack in it. I bought the one from ebay so i won't have to mess around. I'm waaiting for new ball joints to arrive, so i'll do everything at once when i get that arm. wife is getting ready to kill me....lol see picture.....

When it rains, it pours....i just noticed today that my lower A arm is BENT!! ARGH! i was trying to figure ouit why one wheel didn't look like the other when sitting there and i saw why. Apparently someone drove into a rock or tree and bent the thing. Unfortunately for me, they no longer make this part, (5FU-F357A-00-00) so i looked around ebay and found one for $145 used. I'll check out the pictures and maybe i'll buy it. This thing is nickle and diming me.......

the reason the cover was missing is because the return spring on the throttle lever box(?) on the handle bar was broke. So, someone rigged up a spring into the carb and wire tied the end to the frame to make it act as a return spring. i emailed the guy and he's supposed to send me the cover via mail. I ordered a new return spring to replace the broken one that's in the throttle box on the handle bar (if that's what it's called) just a lot of neglect and laziness on this atv. next will be all new oils. again, i really appreciate everyone's help here. i downloaded some service manuals i found on line, and they kinda help.

ok...back in business! I replaced the left front wheel bearings. What a pain that was. The drive shaft was rusted to them and i had to use a torch and plenty of penetraating oil to get it out. I ordered new ball joints too. I ordered that choke/starter cable from amazon (after market) and it was the wrong size. Sent it back and just ordered the OEM part from Yamaha. Plus that throttle spring. I guess someone was too lazy to remove the broken one and just put that mickey mouse set up i posted above. makes you wonder about people's mechanical abilities. So, that will be here in a day or two. Hopefully with the new "choke" cable it'll start better. And i removed all the old gas. The carburetor look to be brand new, but i'm not sure if it's an after market or an OEM. in my spare time i'm checking wiring thru out to make sure every this is OK. The cooling fan works but it's noisy...a lot. But, to get it off looks like a big project, so that'll be for another time. When i get the new ball joints, i'll do the right side bearings as well. If i change the oil filter, will all the oil drain out from there, or should i just open the drain plug? And the hardwood floors are done and i also laid hardwood on the staair cases as well. She's happy...happy wife, happy life....or, so they say.

unfortunately, my wife wants me to finish putting down the hardwood flooring before i play around with this. i appreciate the feedback and when i get into it, i'll let you guys know what i find. thanks again!!

yep, i drove it, shifted the gears, etc and i ran nice. However, i never lifted the seat until today and noticed there was no air filter. so, i did order one. I'm not going to try messing with the carb until i put the air filter on. Someone micky moused a throttle spring (You can see it in the picture) and i'm not sure why unless there's an original return spring missing someplace. I'm going to get a service manual and go thru this. As for the cover, i'll see is some one has one. thanks.

ha...never thought of that. thanks here i was ready to buy a new carb!

I noticed today theres a cover misssing on the throttle side of the carb. And, it appears the carb is new. Of all dumb things to be missing...ARGH!! I think i put a picture up of the missing cover

thanks! i'll check it out in the morning. it has gass in the tank, but i'll drain it and add fresh fuel.

I just brought home a used 2005 Yamaha Big Bear 400 4x4. It needs front wheel bearings, and a new choke cable. I think i can handle those two items. However, when i went to look at it, it ran good, shifted good, brakes all workds great, but at home when i started it, it would idle nice, but when i gave it gas it seemed like it was flooding out and would die. If i just gave it a little throttle it built up RPMs but any more throttle it began dying out again. any suggestions why it's doing that? I'm looking for a service manual, but forum rules say i have to make 10 posts..lol oops...i just realized i posted in the wrong section of the forum!!