Rhino 250 trouble starting

[pillihp]

So I finished riding today and hosed down the bike. After I hoard all the mud off of it I tried starting it and it struggled to start. Once I got it started the throttle wouldn’t respond at first. After a minute or two of running it was running normally and I was able to drive it into the shed. Any idea what would cause the engine to start, sputter, be nine responsive to throttle, then die?

[Mudflap]

First thing I would suspect is water in the air filter.

[Rob G]

Originally Posted by Mudflap

First thing I would suspect is water in the air filter.

I second what Mudflap said. Second the carburetor has a vent on it, if water gets in there it will add water to the fuel in the float bowl. Also, electrical things don't particularly like water either, such as water puddled around the spark plug or seeping into the joint between the spark plug wire and the coil, or under the spark plug boot, the stator, or.... this could be a long list. When washing it down, I would avoid (as much as possible) things like the carb, air filter, and electrical components. Things that do get wet, blow them with an air blower from a compressor if you can.

[pillihp]

It’s definitely electrical. Hosed it down tonight and it did the same thing. After I got it going I parked it, left it in reverse with the high beams on and the reverse indicator and the headlights were dimly glowing with the key off.

I’m going to start it up tomorrow and wet it down a little at a time until I find the culprit.

[Rob G]

Round about '96 I worked on a pickup in the shop that had suffered an engine fire before. The owner put a new harness in it and everytime it rained he had all sorts of gremlins. Looking at the schematic we traced all the components that acted up. Then we took a water hose on a trickle and started to soak everything in each one of those circuits until we duplicated the problem. Turned out to be a connector, when it got wet it would short internally. Since ATVs are so small, perhaps a similar process can be used but with a squirt bottle.

[pillihp]

Originally Posted by Rob G

Round about '96 I worked on a pickup in the shop that had suffered an engine fire before. The owner put a new harness in it and everytime it rained he had all sorts of gremlins. Looking at the schematic we traced all the components that acted up. Then we took a water hose on a trickle and started to soak everything in each one of those circuits until we duplicated the problem. Turned out to be a connector, when it got wet it would short internally. Since ATVs are so small, perhaps a similar process can be used but with a squirt bottle.

That’s my plan. The weather hasn’t cooperated though

[Rob G]

Always seems to be the way of it. Curious to hear what you find.

[pillihp]

Got around to troubleshooting this. It’s the coil. When it gets soaked it stalls and won’t run until it dries out

[Rob G]

Originally Posted by pillihp

Got around to troubleshooting this. It’s the coil. When it gets soaked it stalls and won’t run until it dries out

That's some good work. Thanks for the update, now I know what to keep and eye out for and, should something act up in wet conditions, where to start.