USRaider

Same boat, I've got a slightly off manual that just doesn't seem right for the machine.

She runs now, and does so fairly reliably. I still have a few bugs to work out, but haven't had the time to fix them yet. Starting cold takes a significant amount of time, and there is no consistent solution with the choke. Sometimes it likes full choke, usually it doesn't. The cooling fan runs almost all the time, which seems strange to me on those super cold days. This may be normal, I'm not sure. The exhaust backfires occasionally, I'm not sure if this is due to excessive ignition attempts, or if something else is going on. This thing will stall and die quickly if the choke is taken off. I've got to keep an ear out while warming it up, and adjust the choke down as it begins to race. This is a slow process, as the engine will die almost immediately if choke isn't reduced in small increments several minutes apart. The fuel gauge is non functional. I haven't decided if I'm buying an amazon/ebay replacement, or fixing the original. Overall, once I remembered to turn the gas off manually it has been reliable enough to take short loops across the property. I'd like to make it just a little bit more reliable before I trust it for work around the property.

An update: We have liftoff! Turns out the coolant wasnt leaking into the crank case, it was gasoline. I bought an oem mikuni carb rebuild kit, and worked with the best carbeurator mechanic I know (paternal unit 01) to clean and refit it. We cleaned the gas tank out using a compressor, oxygen tube, and some old air line to make a vacuum hose that wouldn't ignite fumes. There was more debris in there than I could get without it! I installed a new yamaha petcock that has an off position to avoid the leak that we think caused all the issues. After installing the new spark plug we ran it, in neutral on blocks, three times with an oil and filter change each time. Disgusting, milky, dirty oil the first time. Cleaner slightly cloudy oil the 2nd. And now perfectly clean oil the 3rd. I am installing a new filter and filling it up with new Mobil 1 15w-50 oil to give the wheels their first spin later today. (I chose the most available mobil 1 oil that fit the chart in the owners manual. The original spec weight was not readily available.) We had a loose connector arm (tie rod?) at the front left, but I added a washer to and tightened up the bolt on each end. The ball may be almost entirely worn (unless those bolts stretched with previous wear) but it's tight enough to test. The coolant was suppsoed to get flushed, with dostilled water after I previously dumped it. But an error led to it being filled directly with more coolant. I'll flush that out and add more coolant after. I'm hoping to avoid a negative interaction between the new stuff and whatever was in there. New stuff should be compatible with the oem stuff, but we have no clue if that's what was actually there. I am still having a bit of a backfire issue, and may be running lean at idle, so I'll need to figure out why that is, and how to fix it. Some sources say it's an open vacuum line, so we replaced the bolt-in-line on the vacuum port with a bigger bolt and more clips. (The line used to go to the oem petcock, but we no longer need that.) I haven't yet needed to tear the top end down, so that is a small victory! Fingers crossed. QuadrunnerShare.mp4

I think you're right!

Carb not yet touched, but the coolant reservoir looked off. Two different colored fluids. Oil got in there. Couldn't drain it without removal, so I figure I ought to replace the tubes while I'm at it. Thinking new seals everywhere are in order. This will take some time.

Finally got the thing home to start picking away at. Yikes! Petcock dead, all my oil was gasoline, and I'm guess the carb is all chunked up. Lots of fun ahead!

Hey all, I'm seeing a lot of various names and descriptions of suzuki quads, and am worried about getting the wrong repair manual, not seeing my mistake, and making something worse. Is the Quadrunner 500 (NOT Master) the LT-F500F? Thanks for your help!

Thanks Paradise, me too. It'll be a learning opportunity for sure. I've been part of small engine repair for a long time, but have never been more than the family gopher. Slow and steady, lots of reading manuals and documentation, and lots of learning ahead.

Very considerate family, I can take no credit for finding it!

Score indeed! Well, assuming it will chooch.

A properly mounted scope from a reputable company should be durable enough in a padded case to remain true. If you tend to use cheap import optics that are "good enough" you may see some issues. Whenever possible I recommend a one-piece mount appropriate for your rifle, and a quality optic. Take as many variables out of the equation as possible.

Not to be that guy but my knee jerk reaction to this topic was "The most reliable ATV is the U.S. Army truck, 1⁄4‑ton, 4×4, command reconnaissance." I'm betting there are quads with better capability in a much smaller package these days. Nostalgia may not be the best source for data on this one...

Hello all! I was given a 2000 Suzuki Quadrunner 500 (Quad 500 Runner?) and its current state is a bit of a mystery! Kept indoors but hasn't been run in 5 years. We're not trying the engine until the gas is replaced, and the tires are reinflated. But the previous owner said their only issue was stalling when shifting to reverse without giving some throttle. I'm optimistic! See y'all around!