Cold start quad tips please.

So I stored my Honda 500 foreman (2007 if it matters) in my garage over winter. Plugged it into the battery tender the last three days (it was primarily hooked up to my motorcycle this winter). Tried to start it...but nada.

Here are the particulars:
1) It hasn't been started in ~4 months
2) I'm 90% sure I poured in some fuel stabilizer
3) When I turn the key lights go on and the starter turns
4) Just no ignition
5) Choke was out when I tried starting it

Last year, it would go weeks without being run and start up like a champ. It's been a cold winter and sitting idle for longer than normal.

Suggestions or advice?

 

Squirt some WD-40 into the intake if she is a 2 stroke, or carb cleaner if she is a 4 stroke and see if she fires.
If she does, its carb/fuel/filter area issues

 

It's a 4 stroke. Sorry, I'm really not mechanically incline. Where would I be squirting in carb cleaner? The fuel intake?

 

The intake, yes.

Is it turning over strong (fast) or slow? Little batteries sometimes don't have the CCA required in the real cold. If it spins slow, jump it with a car or tractor or whatever.

 

Thanks...it's spinning slow. Sort of like the one in this video (around 50 second mark).

 

Check spark? Pull out spark plug, leave plugged in to wire, lay the threads on the side of the cylinder head (to get a ground), crank and make sure you have good spark. If so, reinstall the plug and give it a shot of ether (starting fluid). If it doesn't come to life, you have a bad fuel issue which may require removing and cleaning the carb.

Edit: Is the fuel valve turned on??

 

Fuel valve is on...you mean the black knob thing at the side of the vehicle (where left knee would be)?

I'll check the spark plug this evening when I get home. Where do you put the ether?

What about the jump start method?

 

Take seat off, remove airbox lid (usually held by 3-4 clips, may be screws), remove filter, spray into intake tube. It will not take much, 2 or three quick presses on the nozzle (1/2 second or less continuous).

I would use ether to "wake up" my Yamaha Grizzly after it sat for long periods rather than lots of cranking.

I would not advise adding fresh fuel until you determine whether it will run on what's in the tank or not. Just that much more to have to drain and dispose of if the fuel in it has soured.

 

Thanks for the advice and help everyone. proof once again this site is the best.

 

Good luck. Be sure to report back!

 

My Honda 400 has a primer under the tank. Sort or hard to reach but works great if it’s been sitting several weeks. I had no clue it was there till Dad told me years later

 

Take the spark plug out, see if it is wet or dry. If it is dry then you are not getting fuel and likely the carb will need to be cleaned out. If the plug is wet, shake it off and then hit it with a small torch or cig lighter for a minute to dry it out. Carefully wire brush it clean by hand if the electrodes look too dirty. Check spark while its out.
Then, if you can find the carb bowl drain, open it for a minute. It will be a screw head that is recessed into the very bottom of the carb bowl...I can't recall if it is on the left or right on those...you'll find it. It will pee a little fuel out on the floor right at the back of the engine (if the drain hose is still on it) Once the bowl is empty, (1/3 of a cup of gas) close the screw and turn the fuel valve back on, give it a minute to refill, then try to start again. Many times the fuel in the carb goes stale quickly due to the small volume and the"fresh" fuel from the tank is enough better to let it to fire up.
If it is cranking slow, try hooking up jumper cables to a non running car or truck, many ATVs have battery powered ignition systems and low voltage makes them not fire. The car battery will have plenty of power to crank the quad without having the engine running, no need to risk "overcharging" the ATVs battery/electrical system.

 

Good point...almost nobody is aware of those...and I think the 500 Foreman has one too. I believe it will be on the right lower side of the carb, near that drain screw I referred to earlier. A black plastic button about 5/8" in diameter...push it in a couple times...
<<< The black knob right there with the lil rubber bellows on it...this is a view of the back of the carb...as you would sit on the machine. If you notice the lil horizontal brass tube on the right side of the bottom of the carb throat, that is the primer nozzle, it squirts fuel straight into the carb throat/intake.

 

On the 400 I have to reach from the left side towards the right side to reach it. Reference left and right as you are sitting on the four wheeler.

 

If I ever buy a newer side by side or four wheeler it’s going to have efi and power steering. The Honda never fails to start but takes awhile to warm up and run smooth.

 

Where is it?

 

Update...left the charger hooked up last night.

Came home from work called a neighbour over who knows engines. And I turned the key, fired it up and it started.

Left it running for 20 mins. Will fore it up again tomorrow morning.

Thoughts?

 

Usually a battery tender won't fully charge a dead battery, have you tried a trickle charger.

During some of the coldest weather we've had, I put the trickle charger on our rhino battery, the battery is the original from 2007 and still going strong.

 

Battery was low...see my earlier post...battery ignition

 

I've had very good luck with the Battery Tender brand...at charging a dead battery that is...can take a day or two (I have the Jr)
but it even does a good job on car/truck batterys. Normally if it takes more time than that the battery is about shot...it might work, but not well.