Searching for some help with my 2006 Outlander Max 400 (Carb). Sorry ahead of time for the lengthy read but needed to explain my situation.
This past weekend I started the day with a 1 hr trip, then stopped for 30 mins, then off to the next stop, no problems starting, but had a sputter on deceleration. 2nd stop was for lunch, so about 1.5 hrs of rest. Went out to start, it popped off once then nothing. This machine has always had a hard time starting so I have been in this situation before. I took air filter off, choke wide open, throttle wide open, then after 5-7 mins of cranking she started to come back to life. I say this because she didn’t run normal. I had the throttle wide open and she struggled to hold on. It felt like the motor was doing a couple RPM’s maybe, barely running. After about a minute of feathering the throttle I got her to come alive. After she started running normal, hit the trails again with no issues running (but still had the sputter on deceleration). 3rd stop was after 30 minutes of riding, 30 minutes of rest and I barely got it started without performing the above mentioned tasks. From there we didn’t stop again and rode without issues for the rest of the day. Sunday morning went to load her up, started fine, idled fine, then drove over the trailer and she started to struggled to run again. The engine struggled as it did at the 2nd stop. Had to keep slight throttle to keep her going.
I have preformed all of the work on my machine since I’ve owned it. Cleaned carb at beginning of season (April), clean air filter (Uni Foam) before each ride because of dust. Only non-ethanol fuel (usually 91 octane), run the machine year-round. This is my 3rd trip of the season, so gas should be good. Mind you, it did rain a lot between trips and she was sitting outside.
I have read multiple threads suggesting possible crank position, fuel lines, fuel strainer (in tank), bad gas, bad fuel/vacuum pump. I am planning on tearing her down this week, was looking for a good place to start.
