I got into some of the craziest conditions I've ever been in yesterday. I was making the run out to my truck and it rained all day, at times so hard you could hardly see. The first half of the trail I was going slow setting traps, then once I hit the border I was just cruising breaking trail through about 4 inches of wet heavy snow. Machine ran fine all day, then about 5-miles from the truck it kind of bogged down like it was running out of fuel. I stopped checked the fuel, ( it was good) then restarted and took off. Machine started right up, and ran fine for another mile then bogged down again but this time it quit running. I looked it over quick, took the hood off and tried to restart. It did start, but I had to choke it.Once I got it running it ran fine the rest of the way to the truck which was about 2 miles. I keep the hood off. My first thoughts are that it was overheating, but kind of question why it ran fine almost all day before it started giving me trouble. Total run that day was just over 55 miles. Any ideas??

What machine?

My Yamaha VK fourstroke wide track did that one warm wet day, go stop cut trail go stop cut trail, letting it idle while I was stopped cutting trail. It didn't like that, bogged and died. I fooled around, it cooled off, drove fine back to the truck, drove fine since. So under those conditions I'm going to let it sit longer not running while I cut trail further. If I didn't have my coat on the dash I might have seen a warning light, but...it was warm, my coat was on the dash.

Sounds like carburator vapor locking to me ? If it does it agin on a warm day, put some snow on the carb to cool it down and see if it helps, also you can choke it for short periods, pulling some colder gas into it, thus cooling it down. Sounds like taking the hood off cooled it down ?

Temple, sorry should have mentioned the machine. Its my Bearcat, 2-stroke 570 fan cooled engine. Yea Squash, taking the hood off did seem to help, but I didnt run it very far after that. Heading back out soon and would like to have it figured out before then.

Temple, a few years back I had a client bring up his own machine. He had the 4-stroke like yours and had the same issue of it overheating if he left it running while we set and checked traps. Even on hard packed bush trails it would overheat on warmer days.

Had a 900 Arctic cat do that same thing for about a 100 miles then lost a crank berg .

Dont like the sounds of that...what caused it to bog down and die before the bearing went?

I am sure you already checked fuel pump?

Yeah the fuel pump seems to be fine. Found some idler wheels missing once I got it all cleaned out yesterday, so going to need some parts.

Almost sounds like a plugged vent on fuel cap . When you checked the fuel, did you remove the cap ??

Yes Ken I did, my fuel gauge is a dry stick!

When running in warm weather two things to always check when your machine starts acting up is the spark plugs and the fuel system. 90 % of the time it is the spark plugs, I go through them like candy here

Good point I will replace them. Machine starts right up and seems to run fine now, but I havent gone very far, just around the yard.

Please let us know what you find Dave.

Will do. I probably wont know until I go back out on the 2nd. I did talk to the dealer this morning and he said to check for ice in the carbs. Also there is a cut-off switch on the throttle that can cause the problem. To fix it you just tighten the throttle cable. The gap between the throttle lever, and throttle lever housing should be between 0.30-0.60 so will check that too. Another thing he told was that the carbs have an electronic safety device very similar to the old Bravos. I guess you can just unhook them which is what I will do. Im still thinking overheating but wont know until I go on another long run. I hate these kinds of problems, they can end with long walks.

Do you use Heet, especially with the rain you were running in?

No, Im not sure whats in Heet, but it isn't sold here.I do use Stabil, for ethanol and I have been running premium gas this season trying to get away from ethanol fuel. I filter every drop of fuel through a Mr funnel but the fuel filter was still dirty. Took both carbs off and cleaned them good and changed the plugs. Machine seems to start and run good so I guess I will find out on my run back in next week. Thanks for everyones help.

Red Heet removes water in the fuel and has injector cleaner in it. Yellow Heet is a water remover. I put 1/2 bottle of Red Heet in every other fill up. Even though my equipment needs water to cool the blades I add Heet to remove the water when it rains. I got water in a fill up Dawson Creek one winter and it took 3 bottles of Heet to clear the ice!

I use it religiously in both truck and snowmachine. Boat also....in the fall especially

Im going to have to get some. I've seen it in gas stations up in AK but just thought it was like our gas line antifreeze which I hate.

Stick with the red bottle