Hey guys I need a hand. I have a 2002 LT 80 I purchased for my son in 02. It has less than 50hrs on it. He started to heavy in year around baseball and the bike has not since 2005 or 06. We are not using so my neighbor wants to buy it for his young boys. After fixing all the other problems and finally getting it to start it will only run at an idle. I disassembled the point where the cable goes into the top of the carb. The cable end is not attached to anything but moves freely through the nylon cover. I pulled out the piston and needle valve and they move freely and there is a spring that holds down the piston. Looking at the end of the cable and the upper-side of the needle valve I can't tell if they are supposed to be attached. I looked at several parts diagrams and non have the connection points combined so I can tell how they are to work together. Is the cable supposed to pull up the piston or compress the spring? If so how is it attached and do I need a new cable to make it work?
Thanks for any help
Duane

 

If I remember correctly, the cable goes through the spring, now the fun part, you have to compress the spring to give you enough cable to hook back up to the slide (piston in the carb). Is there still a little ball on the end of the cable? if not, you need a new throttle cable, there should be a little plate or notch on the top of the slide that has a hole near one end, the ball on the cable goes throught that into the slot, which holds the ball and allows the cable to pull the slide up. most slide carbs have a small plate that is held down by a screw to keep the ball from coming back out the feed hole, some just have a notch it fits in and relies on the tension of the spring to hold it in place. First thing, check the end of the cable that goes past the carb cap, if the little end ball is gone, you need to buy a new throttle cable before you go any further. Hope this helps, I'm sure Jack (LT80) will see this post and fill in any blanks I left.

 

That is the problem there is no ball on the end of the cable and the carb piston does have a slot in the side to slide on. Do you think I have to pull the carb and get out the missing ball from the old cable? I will try a magnet when I disassemble it for the new cable.
Thanks
Duane

 

My guess is that little ball has been sucked into the engine, and is probably either just sitting in the bottom of the crankcase, too small to hurt anything, or it got blown out the exhaust. There is a slim chance it is still in the carb, but I seriously doubt it. Now you will need to get a new throttle cable and get everything reattached so it will give you throttle control again.

 

Very good 95Wolv.
The cable goes thru the spring and up thru the slot in the barrel. The spring holds down a washer type thing. That thing holds the needle in place.

 

I knew there were a few small parts I was missing, been years since I had an LT80 carb apart, most slide carbs I do now are on snowmobiles............lol

 

I have the cable on order and thanks again for the insight. What a pain; I want to remind everyone don't let your bikes/quads sit or they will freeze up and rot from the inside out.
Duane