ATV won’t stay running

I know, this isn’t the ATV forum, but I’m hoping maybe one of the mechanical brains of IDO will see this in the general discussion forum faster and have some ideas.

I have a 2005 Polaris Sportsman 500 H.O. and tonight while plowing snow, it died on me. I can get it to start but it will only run at idle. If I try to give it any gas, it sputters and dies. Sometimes I can get it to rev up but after a few seconds, it will start to die out. It almost seems like its either flooding out or not getting gas. It is not fuel injected so I don’t think it is anything electrical. I thought maybe the choke was stuck, but if I pull out on the choke at all when its idling, it dies right away so I think the choke is still working fine.

I thought maybe bad gas, but I have seafoam in it so I don’t think its water. It ran fine for two plus hours last night plowing on the same gas that’s in the tank now, so I don’t think that’s it either.

I am not very good with motors, nor have I stayed at a holiday inn express lately. Anyone have any ideas that would be easy to check before I have to haul it somewhere?

I moved it to my heated garage and turned the heat way up to see if it maybe just has snow somewhere it shouldn’t. I’m open to any ideas someone is willing to throw out there.

I would check the air cleaner maybe dirty or snow in the air box,check the gas cap,maybe vapor locked or maybe the breather for the tank plugged? just some simple idea’s. My honda did a similar thing it was just a dirty filter that i thought looked clean .

X2

Carb/gas problem… I would remove the air filter, just in case and try running it. Dry out the airbox if it has moisture in it too… Good luck

big G

thanks guys. Gives me some things to check.

Maybe the safety cut out in the throttle mechanism. Throttle cable may need adjustment. On the handlebar just below the throttle is the cable adjustment. Have to move the little rubber boot out of the way. Then can be adjusted with your fingers. If you adjust too far one way and it dont run at all you know then to go the other way. My ’09 acts up like this too.

I had it happen on a yamaha were the parking break cable on the back disc iced up and due to the loose cable it activated a throttle limiter and would die when I touched the gas.

my 02 Sportsman did that to me this winter as well and I put it in my gargage and put my buddy heater by it to thaw it out and cleaned the air box and such and been running good ever since.

Don’t forget to check the in-line gas filter.

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Don’t forget to check the in-line gas filter.

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If I can find it.

also check fuel line for kinks and change spark plug.

I experienced the same issue with a ’07 Polaris 700 efi a few weeks ago. Plowed snow for a couple hours and it puttered out, died and then ran on one cylinder (twin cylinder). Parked it in a garage for awhile, and when we tried again it ran great. I’m hoping this is the case with your’s. We couldn’t find anything wrong with it, but our only conclusion is some snow must have messed something up.

It’s not my machine, so I have little knowledge of Polaris ATVs. This 700 is like new with hardly any hours.

What I’ve determined is: Thawing it out has not helped. I have also determined it isn’t the throttle cable adjustment, the air filter, spark plug, or the fuel filter from what I can tell. That leaves something unknown. Gummed up carb or bad choke maybe. Beyond my brain capacity. Off to the power sports guy tomorrow.

I know I’m jumping in on this one a little late from when you first posted…but I had the same symptoms on my 06 Honda Rincon. Had been running it around in the snow, and figured that screwed something up. Ended up going through everything I knew how to (air filter, bad gas, etc.). Ended up taking it into the shop, and the mechanic about laughed at me and had it fixed in under 10 minutes….it was a simple carb adjustment. I know very little about Polaris ATV’s, but based on my experience, the carb would be my guess.

John, did they get it fixed yet?

His mechanic found a carb issue and fixed it for him. Broken needle or something.

If I understood the mechanic correctly, the needle on the high speed jet had the top (or bottom depending on how you look at it) snap off so the clip wouldn’t hold it in place anymore. It basically just fell out, so as soon as it switched from the low speed to the high speed, it went to instant wide open throttle and flooded out. Not something I would have wanted to fix myself. I don’t like messing with carbs as I tend to just make them worse than what they were before I touch them.

Glad it’s fixed, but that shot my theory all to heck.

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I have a 2005 Polaris Sportsman 500 H.O. and tonight while plowing snow, it died on me. I can get it to start but it will only run at idle. If I try to give it any gas, it sputters and dies. Sometimes I can get it to rev up but after a few seconds, it will start to die out. It almost seems like its either flooding out or not getting gas. It is not fuel injected so I don’t think it is anything electrical. I thought maybe the choke was stuck, but if I pull out on the choke at all when its idling, it dies right away so I think the choke is still working fine.

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Thank You John…

As of last Wednesday I could have wrote this word for word including I was plowing snow when it quit. I almost bought a fuel pump ($56) for it because it seemed to be getting very lean when trying to increase the engine speed from idle. But I did not buy the pump… That just did not seem to me to be the problem because it happened so suddenly. I read on down and you posted your fix (E-Ring on high speed needle). I pulled the carb off and looked on the inside of the intake side and there it was the needle was all the way down and you could see the groves where the “E Ring” should be. I don’t know it the needle or the e-ring is worn so I am going to try a “E-ring” tomorrow (I work at Napa). I could have fixed this with out taking the carb off but thats OK… I am happy finding it with your help

I just want to thank you for posting the problem and the fix. I think I would have spent a lot of $$$$’s before I found it or took it to the dealer.

MTHank in Montana

Glad my misery will shorten yours. That’s what makes this site so good.

Hello all I have a different problem here. I have a 2012 sportsman500 HO bought in march 2012. In Aug 2012 me and the boys spent a week In Maine with 600 awesome miles put on the machine,On the last day it wouldn’t start so when we got back I put a jet kit in her “my 3rd one Ive installed on different machines with no problems” since then when I start it cold it is a bear , but when she starts I have to keep the throttle pressed.If I turn up the idle so she Idle’s about 20 seconds later the Idle Is at about 2000 rpm , another 20 seconds she’s at 3000 rpm I turn idle down several times after it warms up back down to 1250 rpm , but when she cools down I start all over again. Carb has been removed 2 times and cleaned completely tuned up fuel filter plug ETC.I have an 1/8 inch play at the throttle.I will say that after the last carb clean 2 days ago she runs stronger than ever but is still hard to start unless I turn throttle way up till she warms up and then down to 1250 or so.
Any Ideas would be greatly appreaciated. Thanks Scott

Are you sure you got the correct just sizes for your altitude?

If it is carbureted you may have a stuck needle valve under the float. Using a screwdriver handle, start the engine and tap gently on the float bowl a dozen times, then try putting it in gear and running it. If it solves the problem run a couple fills of fuel using seafoam in it. And if you aren’t using it, use non-oxy fuel.

I would check valve lash. The thermal expansion an less fuel needed when warm may be masking valve ever so slightly hanging open and causing a lean condition when cold. Check valve clearances and do a compression test.

Thanks guys, I did try to tap the bowl several times and when I took the carb apart the second time it was clean as a wistle. I also noticed that when I got it running last night when I turn the headlight on low the rpm dropped,when I turned them off and high beam rpm increased kind of weird. I will check valve clearance and do a compression test and will get back to you guys
Thanks again

OK Here was the outcome of my debacle, the valve adjustment I did the last time I did wrong LOL. It took my son to read the manual and set me straight. once it was done correctly it starts and runs better than the day I bought it. On the flywheel there was a section with 3 lines , 2 short and 1 long in between the short ones and that’s how I did the adjustment the 1st time,I did not have the 2 dots on the top of the top timing chain gear parralell with the head, once I had that aligned, there was a single line on the flywheel looking through the site hole, anyway thanks for all the input and help

Glad to hear, Happy atving.