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View Full Version : ATC 200 woes! Need help!



DigitalDwarf
01-15-2014, 10:02 PM
All,

First and foremost, thanks for sticking with this short novella. I own a 83 ATC 200, which I honestly believe is cursed. It has broken down every time I road it and this time is way over
my head.

2 years ago, I took my trike up into the dunes for 15 minutes. When I shifted into second gear 15 minutes later the trike bogged down and shut off. I looked at the engine and it was smoking (like it was going to start a fire-the smoke seemed to be coming for the head of the engine). Took it back down and loaded it up. The three wheeler at this point was almost impossible to start and would only start on choke while holding the throttle or feathering it.

I tore the carb down thinking that was the problem and cleaned it. I put it back together and tried to start the trike but the carb started leaking gas out of the float bowl and I got pissed and parked the trike under the lean-to and left it.

Two years later....today my friend and I put new gaskets in the carb and cleaned it out really well...we took out the exhaust and blew air through the two pieces (thinking a mouse may have built a nest)...each part of the exhaust had good air flow. We put the machine back together and fired it up. It would only fire and start with my friend feathering the throttle and the carb on full choke. Eventually, after like 5-10 minutes of feathering the throttle, we were able to get it to idle with the choke off.

However at this point it was shooting out thick white smoke from the exhaust. I was pissed so I took it for a ride. It would run and drive and would stall out if I would come to a stop. At this point, it would only start if I put it on full choke again and feathered the throttle. While running there was a tick that grew louder when the trike was accelerated. I attributed this to a possible valve problem (?)

Now I know you are probably going to say the carb is possibly dirty, but I don't think that is the issue. I cleaned the crap out of it and added new/fresh fuel to the tank and ran new line and inline filter. Is is possible the air/fuel screw is not adjusted correctly causing me to have to feather the throttle and choke it to start it.

Also, what is the white smoke from? I have read that it might be possibly water in the system, which would make sense because the trike was stored under a lean-to for two years, but again, I cleaned the carb and the tank and added fresh gas, so I wouldn't think this to be the case. Is it possible the valves or seals are bad which is why I am hearing a tick and the white smoke? In your opinion what would it be?

Also, the timing seems to be on, the cdi marks line up when the fire mark is lined up on the flywheel.

Thank you for sticking around and reading through. I hope you can help.

Thanks,

Caleb

tri again
01-15-2014, 10:42 PM
Search key is loaded with this question.

White smoke?
does it dissipate like steam from a shower?
If it hangs, it's prb. oil.
Muffler can harbor all kinds of memories from oil soak to mouse&^% and rainwater.

Knee jerk rxn to needing choke is pilot jet.
Can bare see through them and for years, I thought they were .008" until I got a b sttring at .0010" to go thru.
Just because jets are clean doesn't mean internal passages are clear.
Just be glad it's not an sx carb (full day job)

Someone who actually knows should chime in here pretty soon.

Sounds like your on the way to a fun trike.

ps - any chance the oil is diluted with gas? say from a leaking petcock?

spepple
01-15-2014, 10:42 PM
just curious, did you change the oil after the dunes?

trike savior
01-15-2014, 10:49 PM
sounds like a fuel restriction. the bike is definitely running lean. Im not terribly familiar with that model but I believe they all had the petcock on the tank. Take that off and make sure all the filters and sediment bowls are clean and blow it out with air. that is just where I would start if you are sure carb was reassembled properly.

As far as the ticking sound. check the CDI pulse generator on the cylinder head. Its behind the little oval cover. the magnet that spins on the cam can be hitting the inductive coil part. Should be a measurement in manual. use a feeler gauge and make sure it is correct.

try that and let us know what you find.

DigitalDwarf
01-15-2014, 11:44 PM
All,

thanks for the replies thus far. The carb was cleaned well, so I cannot believe it is a clogged jet.

The air/gas screw on the bottom was tightened completely and then backed out a full turn. I wonder if this is not adjusted correctly. The slapping sound is almost positively coming from the exhaust side valve.

I will probably change the oil tomorrow and try adjusting the air/gas adjustment screw on the carb and see where that gets me.

DigitalDwarf
01-16-2014, 12:50 AM
Also, would increasing a jet size in the pilot/idle jet help potentially? My carb rebuild kit came with a #38 jet and my current jet is a #35....not sure why I didn't change the jet when I was rebuilding...

tri again
01-16-2014, 12:51 AM
All,

thanks for the replies thus far. The carb was cleaned well, so I cannot believe it is a clogged jet.

The air/gas screw on the bottom was tightened completely and then backed out a full turn. I wonder if this is not adjusted correctly. The slapping sound is almost positively coming from the exhaust side valve.

I will probably change the oil tomorrow and try adjusting the air/gas adjustment screw on the carb and see where that gets me.

Slapping is just annoying to me.
I just watched a chain adjust video a couple posts up.
Listed under 83 185s acceleration problem.
Always good to make sure valves are adjusted properly or carb fluctuations
will mean very little.