No problem man. I'd rather be there helping with it than at work today! Lol. Seriously though it sounds like you are covering your based. You'll have it running soon I'm sure!

Eric

 

Yea!!! It runs! Got to remember basics....fuel, air, spark at the right time, and compression. Cylinder was washed down by all the fuel so had compression, but not enough to fire the mixture. Good old WD40 sprayed down the throat caused her to kick so kept spraying WD40 till she started running on her own! Now I can address the carb again...running very rich at idle and very lean on accel. Reinstalled the airbox and filter and doing good enough for a 1/4 mile test run. Has 4x4, low gear, high gear, and reverse.
So a CDI box would not have helped, nor would a coil so glad I didn't spend the money needlessly. Thanks Cummins Driver, you steered me in the right direction there!

So I have an 04 500 FIS for a total of $670 and everything works!

Trade up was worthwhile!

Greg

 

New pics added to garage and the old Bearcat pics removed. Went through carb again and did find a blocked jet. Starts ok now, but still smokes. Hopefully just burning out all the old residue in the muffler. I noticed a fuel odor when I first picked it up...smelled like 2-cycle mix. I may decide to drain the tank and replace all the gas with fresh.

Greg

 

Glad you are getting it lined out! At least it is running now and you have a good baseline to work from on carb adjustments, etc... It probably would be a good idea to put fresh gas in it. Thats one of the first things I did when i bought my Big Bear. It ran on it, but I didnt know how old or dirty it was and wanted to rid myself of any issues that could be caused by bad fuel so I just put new in it.

That thing looks great cleaned up! Love the ground clearance, and the tires look to be in very nice shape as well. I have to say im a little envious! haha Keep us updated!

 

Thanks Eric, I will keep updating till all issues are ironed out. I wish the LCD panel worked, then I could see just how many miles and hours are on it. Thought about replacing it with the Trail Tech Vector unit for about $109 as the factory one is near $400. They don't seem to make a kit specifically for the Arctic Cat 500, but maybe I can adapt one. That's down the road from here anyway.

Tomorrow I do the basics...oil change, fuel drain and refill, and try to piece the tie-wired plastics back into the original positions. I have mud in the left front headlight, and a rear caliper with only one line going to it (foot brake).

It's late so catch up later.

Greg

 

Today went ok, tore into the front plastics and grille area. It had hit something in it's past and the new winch the previous owner had installed, was digging into the radiator. Wound up having to remove, cut, straighten, and reweld the front rack. Cleaned out the mud filled headlight, got rid of all those tie wires holding the front plastics together, and straightened the front bumper. Then clanged the oil...nasty stuff! The oil drain plug..this is the second Arctic Cat with a Suzuki motor I've had, that had gobs of silicone trying to keep the drain plug from leaking. Replaced the crush type washer with a nylon drain plug gasket and no leaks. Drained and refilled the fuel tank. Also, pulled the fuel level gauge out and replaced the float with one that came from the Bearcat's broken gas cap....works now.

Still running rich at idle (black smoke) and hesitates under accel. Got to be something in that carb i'm missing...tomorrow. Didn't get to the rear caliper today, maybe tomorrow.

So endith the lesson for today...

Greg

 

Found the problem with the carburetor! This model uses and electric solenoid (choke) to enrichen the mixture. Upon removing the solenoid to test it, found the problem. The seat that the solenoid blocks off when energized for awhile was trashed as if someone had tried to remove it and gave up, and the solenoid was stuck in the open position. The starter enrichment jet is half the size of the main jet so yes, it would allow fuel to dump into the throat all the time. I blocked off that port (removed the jet and installed a set screw), and she is clean and lean. May be a little hard to start when cold, so I will figure out how to fix this issue later. For now the trade works and runs great. The rear caliper for the foot brake was gone and the knuckle that it bolted to is broken so it will need a caliper and knuckle. All down to regular maintenance now.

Greg

 

First real trail ride today...I'm impressed! I thought the Bearcat had power, but the 500 is awesome! The ride and handling is so much improved over the Bearcat most likely due to the independent suspension. Downhill engine braking is good to have too!

Found a wobbly loose outer tierod end, has a slight coolant leak at the waterpump, and the fan is intermittant so much that I bypassed it to keep it on with key. Right rear outer CV joint is clicking sometimes...noticed earlier that it had a screw-type clamp on the small end so someone replaced the boot at one time so may be low on grease or worn out. I'll check it when I get to doing the right rear knuckle and foot brake caliper. Doesn't the outer cv joint boot get put on by going through the inner joint?

Greg

 

I think the outer joint comes apart very similar to the inner one so that you can service it or replace the boot, but im not positive of that. I replaced the inner boots on my suzuki and it wasnt very hard at all, just a little time consuming and greasy. lol Sounds like the boot must have let some dirt in. I have heard that when they start clunking they are usually about done, but it'd be worth taking apart and inspecting. Id say for the small amount of money you will have in it fixing these few issues, its going to be a great deal!

 

Actually had to buy a couple things this week! I got a replacement LCD display from ebay for $75, and a fan temp switch for $12. With hurricane Sandy this weekend, I will most likely not ride this weekend so maybe I'll get into the CV joints and see what's happenings there.

Greg