Yahama Rhino Won't Start

John Norman

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Nov 28, 2005, 7:10:21 PM11/28/05

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I have a Rhino 660 that is less than a year old. All of the sudden it
won't start. I try cranking it with the choke on and it floods pretty
quickly. I took the spark plug out and it's getting gas, did a spark
test and it's getting spark. I put a new spark plug in just to be
sure, since the old one had some fouling. Does anyone have any ideas
as to what the problem could be?

Thanks in advance
John

joedoe

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Nov 28, 2005, 9:00:14 PM11/28/05

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Check the intake valve clearance

"John Norman" <Re...@ThruNewsgrp.com> wrote in message
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cwill...@cinci.rr.com

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Nov 28, 2005, 9:21:55 PM11/28/05

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You might try asking your question here:

http://utilityoffroad.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=10

If anyone can help you outside of a Yamaha shop, these guys probably can.

zerowick

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Nov 28, 2005, 9:25:44 PM11/28/05

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sounds silly, but perhaps it is something as simple as a safety switch
somewhere, Nathan? check for a lose connection somewhere like the wires at
the trans or trans linkage.

Message has been deleted

zerowick

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Nov 29, 2005, 12:46:49 PM11/29/05

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how did it run last time, has it been running fine and just won't start now
or has it been getting worse? gradual problem or all of a sudden?

John Norman

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Nov 29, 2005, 7:45:10 PM11/29/05

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Thanks for all the input! The problem happened suddenly. I don't
believe it's a safety switch somewhere because it is getting spark. A
safety switch would probably disable the ignition. The plug was fouled
with a black color, but not too badly - I replaced it with a new one
anyway. I checked all the fuses, and when doing so, I discovered that
there is a carb heater. The fuse for that is good so I'm assuming that
it's working. I have tried starting many different ways: with choke,
without choke, partial choke, and everything in between. I haven't
checked the intake valve clearence yet because I don't know the specs,
and I'll have to buy a manual. I don't know what else to try. Maybe
it's a timing issue? It doesn't even give a hint of firing. If you
have any more ideas, I'll certainly try them.

Thanks again for all your help!

John

Nathan W. Collier

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Nov 30, 2005, 2:05:20 PM11/30/05

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"John Norman" <Re...@ThruNewsgrp.com> wrote in message
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> Does anyone have any ideas
> as to what the problem could be?

hi john,
if you have air, fuel, and spark you get fire. is the spark adequte? is
your air filter clean? is your fuel clean (not contaminated with water)?

without looking at the machine i suspect either a very dirty air filter, or
you have a stator issue. your particular issue sounds like a stator issue,
but without being able to see your spark for myself its impossible to
diagnose from here.

--
Nathan W. Collier
http://UtilityOffRoad.com
http://7SlotGrille.com
http://InlineDiesel.com
http://BighornRefrigeration.com

John Norman

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Nov 30, 2005, 8:46:08 PM11/30/05

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Thanks for the reply Nathan. The spark seems adaquate. I stuck a
screwdriver in the wire boot, and layed in on the chassis while I
crakned it. The spark jumped about 1/4 inch. I'm more familiar with
car engines than atv/motorcycle engines - what is the stator and what
does it do? I talked to a guy at the yamaha dealer and he said that
the model I have has too small of a gas filter and they tend to
collapse, not allowing enough flow. He said that they have several in
the shop with this problem. They replace it with a larger filter that
solves the problem. I ordered the larger filter and after I install
it, I will post the results.

Thanks
John

Nathan W. Collier

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Dec 1, 2005, 1:12:35 AM12/1/05

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your stator charges your system. many rhino owners have reported similar
symptoms that were fixed with a new stator. if yours is flooding as you
stated then its getting fuel so i doubt it would be a uel filter. are you
running any heavy electrical components like big aftermarket lights or an
electric heater?

--
Nathan W. Collier
http://UtilityOffRoad.com
http://7SlotGrille.com
http://InlineDiesel.com
http://BighornRefrigeration.com

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zerowick

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Dec 1, 2005, 12:18:38 PM12/1/05

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Nathan, how's your new one running, still in one piece?

John Norman

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Dec 2, 2005, 2:11:00 PM12/2/05

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Can the stator be tested with a volt meter? If so, where is it located
on the Rhino?

Thanks
John

Nathan W. Collier

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Dec 2, 2005, 4:26:49 PM12/2/05

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"John Norman" <Re...@ThruNewsgrp.com> wrote in message

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> Can the stator be tested with a volt meter? If so, where is it located
> on the Rhino?

no. last i heard, even some dealers didnt know how to diagnose it. ill try
and get a picture of its location a little later.

Message has been deleted

John Norman

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Dec 4, 2005, 8:04:04 PM12/4/05

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OK, here's the latest. Even though it seems to flood when I crank it
with the choke on, it seemed to me that it may not be getting enough
gas. I pulled the fuel line going from the pump to the carbabd
cranked-it. No gas. There is a vacum-driven pump. I then checked all
of the hoses to be sure nothing is clogged. I can blow air through all
of them. I then put some gas into a big surynge, and stuck that into
the feed line to the carb, choked it and cranked. It fired right up,
and ran fine. So it seems to be a fuel pump problem, or that the fuel
pump is not getting enough vacum to draw gas. It won't even pull
enough gas to fill the fuel filter bowl. I then took off the fuel pump
and took it apart. It looks clean, and there are no ruptures in the
membrane. I also checked all other vacum hoses to be sure there are no
vacum leaks. I coulden't see anything wrong there.

Has anyone else had a fuel pump go out?
Also, any idea what kind of reading I should get if I put a vacum
meter on it.

Thanks Again
John

Nathan W. Collier

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Dec 4, 2005, 11:38:11 PM12/4/05

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"John Norman" <Re...@ThruNewsgrp.com> wrote in message

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> Has anyone else had a fuel pump go out?

a lot of people on my forum have replaced their vacuum pumps with electric
fuel pumps. i myself experienced what i believe to be a brief fuel cut-out,
but it was a one time thing and it only lasted a few minutes. the responses
to my post will be helpful if that is indeed the case with yours.
http://utilityoffroad.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5629

John Norman

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Dec 5, 2005, 8:29:37 AM12/5/05

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Thanks Nathan,
It seems that the electric pump would be much more reliable. I'm
going to look into that mod. Is the Purolator Pro 42SV available at an
auto parts store?

John

Nathan W. Collier

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Dec 5, 2005, 10:32:26 AM12/5/05

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"John Norman" <Re...@ThruNewsgrp.com> wrote in message

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> Thanks Nathan,
> It seems that the electric pump would be much more reliable. I'm
> going to look into that mod. Is the Purolator Pro 42SV available at an
> auto parts store?

they should be. if not readily available at your local auto parts store im
betting they should be able to order it for you.

John Norman

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Dec 18, 2005, 9:15:18 AM12/18/05

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Well, the problem turned out to be that the fuel pump lost it's prime.
The strengh of that pump is really marginal for that engine. I found
that an easy way to fix the problem is to prime the pump for the carb
side with a syringe. It runs great now, and I haven't hade this happen
again. I think I'll carry the syringe with me out on the trail, just
in case!

Thanks for all your help

John

Nathan W. Collier

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Dec 18, 2005, 9:55:55 AM12/18/05

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hi john,
glad to hear your problem is solved. this is one of those things that you
really have to see to dagnose. im curious though, if it was the fuel pump,
what made you believe that it was flooding?

--
Nathan W. Collier
http://UtilityOffRoad.com
http://7SlotGrille.com
http://InlineDiesel.com

http://HKUSP.info
http://BighornRefrigeration.com

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John Norman

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Dec 19, 2005, 7:35:04 AM12/19/05

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Nathan,
When I would crank it alot, I would start to smell gas. There is a
vent hose that goes from the fuel pump, up into a high part of the
roll cage. I believe that the pump was drawing vapor, but not liquid.
That's why I assumed it was flooding, because of the gas smell.

Have a great Christmas!

John

Nathan W. Collier

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Dec 19, 2005, 12:58:24 PM12/19/05

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"John Norman" <Re...@ThruNewsgrp.com> wrote in message

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> That's why I assumed it was flooding, because of the gas smell.

cool, glad to hear you got it squared away. i was going to look into an
electric fuel pump, but the problem was isolated to a one time incident for
me and it cranked and ran fine after a little cranking so im not going to
bother. if it ever happens again though, thats the first thing im doing.

--
Nathan W. Collier
http://UtilityOffRoad.com
http://7SlotGrille.com
http://InlineDiesel.com

http://BighornRefrigeration.com
http://HKUSP.info