ATV Florida Forum

Figured I'd ask here before I bring her to a shop

Ok....so I'm having a real hard time starting my quad up

I just got it tuned up in September before I left New York....changed the oil and all that

I haven't ridden it much since I've been here....3 or 4 times to a *real* place...and just maybe once a week thru my developement (so yes...I've been starting her up at least once a week)

It starts up when I have the gas dial on reserve....but when I put it to on, it won't start. Yes...there seems to be plenty of gas in the tank still...I can see it. 

I thought maybe I just needed to warm it up....so I rode it a bit on reserve....but then when I switched it to on, it stalled

Can it be the gas is old? I'd drain it but I can't find where to drain it from....and its just a lil bit heavy for me to hold upside down to drain it  lol

Any help ya'll can offer would be greatly appreciated

~Ditto~

grab a bottle of soda or something. turn the gas off take off the hose that goes to the carb then turn the gas to the on and check if your getting gas or not. the petcock is probably clogged.

yea, if it runs fine on reserve and not on "on" then definitely no fuel going through the valve. its easy to change just screw off and screw on.

Yep, it's the peacock that's messed up. Probably the main is clogged. I would drain all the gas then take it out and clean it. When you put it back on make sure you have a good sealer to put around the holes. Make sure it's repelant to gas.  -Mark

What they said.  ;)

Thank you!

I know this is off topic, but Im so happy you can say petcock now instead of petthingy!

Ok...I called up Rusty Palmers...where I bought my quad....they said as long as the bike starts up and runs on reserve its ok and nothings wrong....he said if the tank is half full it'll do that. Said I didn't need to drain the gas as long as it runs fine on reserve. Does that sound ok? Or ya think I should bring it to a local shop? I can't figure out how to drain it....and the hubby knows less than I do about quads  :-[

ok..... i didnt know the bike was designed only to run on reserve. although the bike will not be affected by this. what happens when your in the middle of nowhere and you run out of gas on reserve. oh its o.k......(start walking)
i would get it fixed. believe me i've ran out of gas many times and thank god i still had reserve.

don't know what kind of atv you have but my 3 yamahas run almost empty with the petcock in the run position ,none of them require the petcock to be in reserve at 1/2 tank.

Are we not saying "petcock" for a reason?

If you get caught up in your riding like I do, you probably want to have a reserve for when you run out of gas right in the middle of all your fun.

It sucks having to walk back to get the gas can!!!

Make full use of your bikes design, get the petcock cleaned/replaced.

ive been around atvs and bikes all my life and the guys are right the thingy valve is got to be bad and there cheap so if you change it ,should fix the problem,its not normal to run on reserve

Jees just say petkock

It's called a petcock valve. Jeez, your killin me. Sound like the rubber gasket insde the valve has come out of place. Usually to drain the gas you can pull the hose off the valve assembly at the bottom of the gas tank, be sure to remove all the gas by shaking the bike until you can't hear anymore. And remember, vapor is explosive have good venilation.
If you need another word for the valve call it a shutoffvalve. Talk about beating around the bush.

 the lever where you change from reserve/on/off is attached to it. its all one piece. from that piece which is directly behind the lever is a hose running down to the engine. that little valve which is part of the lever assembly should be attached to the bottom of the fuel tank via rivets or screws. unscrew it from the tank and remove the hose and get a new one.

If you fill the tank all the way up to the top and it still wont run on main the petthingy IS pluged, "devorce the accantant type hubby of yours, get a redneck, beer drinking wife beater type of guy that can fix you bike
[or take it to the shop, "just kidding"

Iffin I got me a redneck who likes to drink, ride and beat me...then who'd be home cooking,doing the dishes and watchin the kids while I'm out riding????

 :P

I would take the shutoff valve off, take it apart as much as you can and clean it all out.

Thanks for all your replies. I'ma try to get to it this week

Did you fix it? What was wrong?

Not to change topic, but I just went to dittobaby's website.  Amazing pictures.  If you haven't gone, you need to go.  You have some talent dittobaby.

Thanks saddle  ;)

One of these days I'll be featured in National Geographic lol

And no...my bikes not fixed yet  :'(