444 hard to start

[wallis1924]

hi i was woundering if any one could help me i tryed to start my 444 and it will not run i flooded it yesterday after a short ride i replaced the neadle valve with the forked type and gaskets and ran ok today i had it runing spited all the fule out ran but smoked a lot after it ran a while i shut it off now cant get it going agine i also have a inline filther and a bulb primer in the fule line has any one else have this problem may be i should get rid of the primer and filther all together i just dont know

[Barrie2777]

A lot of smoke usually indicates too much fuel. You should turn your needles in. 3/4 out and 1-1/4 out is just a guide line but the carb may need less. After it runs a while and you are able to drive it, the best indicator is the color of the plug. My guess now is that your plug is black. Please check this first. If the plug is white then the mix is too lean. You are looking for a brown "burn" on the electrode.

[wallis1924]

well iam still banging my head against the wall last night i whent threw the carb replaced needel and seat from another carb blew out all the jets found the high speed was pluged started it up seamed ok whould not idel that great but ran good when going high speeds lol then it started to back fire and loose power had to flick the gas lever to keep going thought maybe wasent geting gas so i filled it up and whent for a ride ran for awile then quit then i run a stright line from the carb to the tank whith out primer and filther pulled pulled nothing cheaked plugg wet so i dryed it off pulled it againe started for a second the dyed i dont no what to do now

[Barrie2777]

I still think you have too much gas in the cylinder and crankcase. Going for a ride is always tempting but running right before the ride is more important. First remove the belt , turn in your high speed needle 1/2 turn and clean the plug. Then try to start it by holding the throttle wide open. This will decrease the gas /air mixture for starting. If it starts, keep it going at high revs until it doesn't want to run at those revs indicating it needs more gas. Gradually let it slow down to an idle. A fast idle to start . adjust this with the idle speed adjusting screw. When the idle is normal, give it a shot of gas with the throttle. It will probably want to die. Return to idle and open up the high speed 1/8 turn. Continue this until it revs properly at high rpm without wnating to die.

[wallis1924]

ok i will try that but i just have a low speed jet no hi speed one it is a tilltson hl 186a with a fixed jet
i cleaned that jet yesterday i found that it was pluged but still not finding the problem are you runing a filther on your hus skis or a primer i thought maybe that was the problem on mine but still no better i hope to fix soon runing out of ideas i hope that its just flooded

[wallis1924]

also how do you adjust the high speed with this type of carbarator

[Barrie2777]

That is the same carb I have on my 400...no high speed adjustment. I don't have a primer bulb and my filter screws on to the top of the carb.

[wallis1924]

what kind of carb are you running on your 444 do you think i should change carbs to a different modle have you ever had this problem on your 400

[Barrie2777]

The 444 I am riding has the same carb and runs beautifully however when I started to get this one going, I used to start it many times a day but never let it run for long. Eventually it would not start. I determined that the short run times had introduced gas into the engine and not all the gas was burnt off thus accumulating and causing a "snuffing" of the spark. It did a lot of smoking but eventually the gas was burnt off and now it works great. My 400 once had a back fire problem and I concidered all the "tear down" options but it cleared up and works great again. If your machine was running well, then there is probably only one thing keeping it from running well agian and that is most likely the fuel supply.

[wallis1924]

thanks ill try following the gas line to the tank maybe thats it may be rust in the tank i let you know what i find