idle too low or not?

[pafree]

2002 trail boss 325, the problem is/was that when starting (cold outside) that you have to keep the choke on for awhile before flipping it off. i took the air filter off which was dirty and tried starting it with out and it did work better. i thought the filter was the problem but my test dummy took it for a ride without the filter (not worried about dust because there is now after several hundred inches of rain in the past few weeks). it ran great but when he let off the throttle in a harder run, the engine would cut out but could be restarted.

solution or bandaid fix? the idle seemed really low. i put the old air filter back on after blowing it out with the air compressor and i turned the screw on the bottom of the carb in a 1/8 to 1/4 turn or until the rpms raised a little. test dummy took it out again without any stalling problems. the carb screw could be turned by hand, it that normal? could the screw have loosened or is there junk in the jet causing the leaning out?

[bearcat329]

Idle should be around 1500-1600 RPM's with the engine at normal operating temp's, needing to use the choke for longer then usual in cold weather is normal, what does your spark plug look like? black= too rich, either a jetting issue, or a dirty air filter, white or very light tan=too lean (not good re-jet!)
sounds like a dirty air filter causing a too rich condition, a simple solution if you have a consistent too rich condition is to go 1 heat range hotter on the spark plug.
hth
Rick, Ore

[pafree]

Originally Posted by bearcat329

Idle should be around 1500-1600 RPM's with the engine at normal operating temp's

i will check the plug but i have a stupid question. if the atv doesnt have a tach then how can you tell the RPMs. been looking at the mini tach's for my little outboard motors, do you think that would work? i work/play on old vws and can tell from listening but this is new technology to me. when i turned it up (which wasnt much), i checked to see if it would still shift into gear easily and did not cause the atv to shake/vibrate.

[4getful2]

on the fuel mixture adjustment, specs. is 2 turns out
1300-1500 rpm

you might need to take it apart and clean the jets and carb.
my timing light has a tachometer built into it,since you work on outboards where timing is important,maybe you should check into that.

[pafree]

Originally Posted by bearcat329

what does your spark plug look like?

you are a ATV god, the atv ran great after adjusting the carb but this evening, the test dummy went out to start it and it fired once but would not start. i ran some quicky test and found that the spark plug was not firing. juice was getting to the plug (ouch) but the plug must have finally gave up the ghost. the plug was soaked with gas but i think from trying to start it but no black fluff like a rich mix or oil soaked like a bad ring. we ran to the store and got a replacement plug til i can get a NGK and it fired up like new.
the real test will be in the mornig after everything cools down.

4getful2, thanks for the tool ideal. is there a better brand to get as far as timing light with built in tach? it would be great working on the vws, boat motor and atvs.

[4getful2]

Don't laugh but i got mine from sears. most timing lights have basically the same features ,with the tach. built in you can check rpm's (2 or 4 stroke),the amount of advance,sure beats the heck out of the old days when you had to hook up to the coil. it counts the pulses thru the plug wire,so you can use it on about anything.