[KeBl]

Hi everyone,

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this! We have a 2003 Arctic Cat 400 and had been having some problems starting it, cleaned the carb, drained, replaced gas, changed spark plugs, tested battery still nothing, let it sit for a few days and then it just started up. Ran great for about 3 hours and then just quite mid ride and wouldn't start again. Engine wasn't turning over, even with coil, almost seemed seized. Finally after removing coil and using a crank, got the engine to turn over and it started up right away. When checking the oil pan a bunch of small plastic pieces were found in it. We are now hesitant to drive it with the fear the engine will sieze. Does anyone have any ideas where these plastic pieces would be from in the engine? Just trying to save some time before taking it apart and replacing all of the gaskets etc. Our best theory is that this plastic piece dislodged at some point and got stuck somewhere in the engine and then broke free and went through. Or the engine overheated, melted it and it went through..... Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[KeBl]

are you the original owner of this atv?
almost looks like old clear fuel line that dry rotted, but no clue how or why it would be in the oil like you found it!
if it was me, I think this calls for a complete tear down, to have peace of mind , that is if the atv is worth the hassle and costs to you to do so!
that or you can try flushing the motor several times with diesel fuel, Kerosene or the likes and see if anything else comes out, as never know, things get hung up inside motors , which is why JUST flushing a sunk motor doesn;t always work!
only true way to know its safe and clean inside a motor is a full tear down and actually cleaning and inspecting!
anything else is a gamble!

Thank you so much for the reply. We are not the original owners, we bought it about 2 years ago, I did know the previous owner and they took good care of the bike! We were also thinking maybe a piece of something fell in during an oil change......like you said though, big gamble if it isn't foreign and actually a gasket or something of the likes......we think it's worth putting the money into fixing but were hoping that someone here may have an idea to steer us in the right direction to save some time and money!!

 

[KeBl]

this looks like someone tried checking the oil with the engine running and the dippstick got chewed up .
or its the right color for the plastic ball seporator in some bearings. or a spacer?????????

Thank you very much for the reply. the dipstick is metal and we too were thinking bearing separator so doing a gasket kit seems like the safest bet here!!

 

[KeBl]

I’m pretty sure it’s part of a broken cam chain guide.

Thank you!! We are doing a complete tear down and rebuild to ensure we don't seize the motor!!

 

[KeBl]

the safest is a complete tear down top and bottom and making sure all debris is removed from inside the motor

agree and that is the plan!! Thanks so much

 

[KeBl]

The problem was found!! It was the Stator and magnet assembly. see pics attached. Looks like it melted and there are the exact plastic pieces that were in the oil pan. Very glad we made the call to tear it apart.

 

[KeBl]

best of luck to you, and please let us know what all you find when you tear it down
always nice to learn the end of a story or issue~!

Just posted some pics of what we found! Really glad we made the call to tear the engine down!

 

[KeBl]

Nice , now you don’t have to go any further. Now the question is ,,,,,,why did it melt

exactly......hard to know....

 

[KeBl]

glad you found what was bad, and lie said, now to just figure out what caused it to melt?

exactly.....hopefully we can figure that out!!