2004 Sportsman runs on one cylinder when cold

[dirtking]

Any Ideas? My 2004 Polaris Sportsman 700 only runs on one cylinder when it is REALLY cold. I had it up to LOTW last weekend and when I went to start it, it runs rough and doesn’t have much power. Well after driving it for 5 - 10 minutes it warmed up? enough and started firing on both and I had full power and it worked fine.

Has this happened to anyone else?

[boatfixer]

You would first have to isolate the problem as to whether it's electrical or fuel. If it is possible, check for spark at the plug when it is acting up. If you have spark, then you more than likely have a jet in one of the carbs that may have a little crud in it. When an engine is cold, it requires a little more fuel until it warms up, after your warms up, it is pulling just enough fuel to run better. Maybe the atv guys could give you a little more to go on, but I'm just basing this on simple mechanics.

[lawdog]

Does that unit have two carbs? If it does I would guess you had some condensation freeze up in the one carb and when it warmed up it started flowing again. A little ISO-Propyl would cure it if there is moisture in there. When we ride sleds out west we always make sure to fill the tank at night so there is no room for condensation as the sled cools over night, this makes it harder for water to get in the fuel supply. If you don't have seperate carbs, I don't know why you'd have this problem if it isn't electrical...

[dirtking]

Quote:

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If it is possible, check for spark at the plug when it is acting up.

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Only problem is whem it acts up it is below 0 and more likely way below 0 - makes it tough to wrench on things - plus the spark plugs are buried under everthing - I don't know how you mechanics do it!