2005 all stock 200 Phoenix running rough

[bebeamer]

Daughter and I were riding (20-30 minutes), she rode hers up to mine and it just stalled out. I tried to restart it without the choke, no luck. I decided to try it again with about 50% choke and it started right up. As soon as I turned the choke off it idle very low and finally stalled out. A couple days went by and decided I’ll look into it again. From this cold start with the choke fully engaged it started pretty regular. I let it run a few minutes at 50% choke. Once at operating temperature I turned the choke off and took it around the yard. I would get it up about 50-60% throttle then left off and it would backfire. After a few minutes of riding, it just stalls out and I must use the choke to get started again. It will run if I leave the choke out about 25%. Here is what I have done so far.
Replaced plug, Drained and replaced gas, New inline filter, Verified carburetor float system, New air filter , Inspected air filter box and lines at least 3-4 separate times.
Removed carburetor, completely disassembled, cleaned and re-assembled.
Put machine all back to gather and it runs the same. Backfires at idle and when letting off throttle, runs rough, stalls, but no black smoke from exhausted. It seems to have plenty of power and appears to run normal between 30%-90% throttle.

Next day

Removed carburetor again, completely disassembled, cleaned and re-assembled.
Adjusted the Idle mixture air screw – notice a change in both directions but no large improvements.
Changed positions of E-clip on Jet needle – no improvements.
Noticed when it backfires there is a small flame that comes out of a small 1/2” breather tube. This tube is located on the small intake between carb and cylinder. There are two. One has end plug the other is open. I plugged the open one and noticed no improvements.
I checked the CDI unit according to the service manual with my meter. It seems ok. I do have some experience in electronics and this type of unit usually functions correctly or it is faulty, no in-betweens.

One thing worth mentioning, from day one (bought new from dealer) I did noticed it would backfire SOMETIMES when I would run it full throttle for 10-30 seconds then completely remove my thumb from the throttle. But performed normal in all other conditions. This Quad has less than 10 hours of riding time.

I am starting to suspect a factory problem, maybe the valves. Any additional help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian

[pony]

on our 05 we upgraded to a newer [06] throttle control [ the etc switches were faulty in the 05 s . [ a lot of popping , backfiring n dieing ] also there was a factory upgrade/change to the spark plug [ i will come back and post the new plug #].

spark plug# ngk cr6hsa

[phoneix 05]

hey bebeamer,i just bought my 05 used and it seams there is a ongoing problem with this model dieing out

[dixietuff]

Originally Posted by pony

on our 05 we upgraded to a newer [06] throttle control [ the etc switches were faulty in the 05 s . [ a lot of popping , backfiring n dieing ] also there was a factory upgrade/change to the spark plug [ i will come back and post the new plug #].

spark plug# ngk cr6hsa

Hey Pony

I am still battleing this Phoenix. Sucks because this is my youngest daughters first quad! Am I beating a dead horse. Been a Polaris fan for ever! Really disappointed in the Phoenix though. It's manufactuer date is 06/08/2005, I know this because I have the carb off for the third time this week right now. Checked the valve clearence twice, new plug, fuel filter, new K & N in it now, replaced the gas. Trying not to light a match to it.

What is the stock setting for the air/ fuel mixture screw? Unsure of what I counted when I was taking it apart . . .

Somebody HELP!!!

[pony]

1 turn out from lightly seated .

[Vince]

Hi, did you all ever get your Phoenix running right? I've got two '05's and both have always been a bit of a pain. I've also got a Predator 500(which I am completely happy with) and a Honda 300 (which runs great once it warms up). The Predator and the Honda are great, but I've always had problems with the Phoenix bikes.

The biggest problem has been the backfiring and irregular idle. I bypassed those cheap throttle switches some time ago because I got tired of fighting with them. At the time, I still got the occasional backfire but it was much better than when the switches were connected. The idle hasn't been stable on either bike for a long time. Just when I think I have it dialed in, the idle speed changes on me or sometimes it just dies.

Based on all the posts and the fact that I've got problems with both bikes, these must be pretty common issues. Are there any common solutions? If you guys have tips, I'd really appreciate it!

[pony]

i did as i posted above n mine straightened out

[Vince]

Thanks Pony,

I got one of mine going last weekend. Tore the carb completely down, and there was some crud in the slow jet. So that was likely the main issue with that bike. No more backfireing at idle now. Still have wide variance in idle speed, which is annoying, but doesn't prevent the bike from being ridable.

Going to do the same to the other bike this weekend. Needs a battery (man, these bikes seem to eat them) and a good carb cleaning I'm sure.

[MizzouGuy]

I have the same issues, I guess all of them do.

Idle speed at startup changes dramatically after it is run for a while. If I adjust either the throttle screw or the carb screw when it's hot, then it will die when I try to start it up the next day and won't stay started until I adjust them again. Of course then when it gets warmed up it will idle to high and try to take off when you are stopped and you can't swith it to Neutral because the idle is high.

The backfiring doesn't really bother me, but it does it all the time.

Questions:

1. Some of you have mentioned removing the throttle idle....how do you do this and does it help? Does it help with the backfiring or the idle speed?

2. What about the spark plug, just replace it with the one mentioned above?

3. Is it worth taking it to a dealer to try to get the idle speed fixed or am I just wasting my time because it sounds like this model just has the problem?

thanks!

[Vince]

I just got mine back from the dealer. He took care of a few recalls for me, so I'm hoping that will take care of some of the issues.

The regulator was one of the things that changed. They also changed the plug and some spring that had something to do with the shifter.

Since getting them back, I haven't run them long enough to see if that idle speed thing is still a problem. My guess is that the regulator probably will take care of the battery issues.

I'm not sure about the plug. I recall Polaris sending me plugs after initially purchasing the bikes, so I don't know if this is the same plug recall.

Re: "removing the throttle idle..." This is probably referring to the throttle idle safety switch. Not sure of the real name for that switch, but I can look it up if you need. Anyway, it's a little switch inside the throttle box (on the handlebars). When the throttle is released, the switch is pressed. It's a safety feature. So when the switch is pressed, they limit RPMs. I believe they just kill ignition to do this. Well the problem is that the switch is crap. So if the switch isn't working correctly, you could get this limiting while your throttle isn't actually in the idle position.

Also, if your idle speed is too high you can get the limiting while your sitting there in idle. I don't know what the RPM limit is set to, but in theory you'd never have your idle set that high anyway so it shouldn't be a problem. But if your idle changes (like the idle speed issue we both seem to be having) you could see this when the idle speed increases.

I disabled my switch a long time ago just to rule it out. I was having issues with it on at least one of the bikes, so I disabled it on both.