[thill]

I just bought a Bayou 220 "for parts or repair." It's in rough condition, but everything seems to be there. The guy said the brakes are frozen, battery dead, tires are bad, and it probably needs a carb. Has been sitting for many years. When pulling the cord, the compression felt strong, and it rolled easily after some air in the tires. For $200, that seemed good enough. I paid him and put it on the trailer.

Back home, I noticed that the key switch was broken, the coil was hanging against the exhaust and melted, and the spark plug wire was all taped up, so I bought a key switch, coil and wire, all for $25. Knockoff parts for this machine are certainly cheap enough.

I have virtually NO experience with ATV engines, but I know the basics.

1. I pulled the cord while holding the spark plug boot away from the plug. ZAP! Got me! She definitely has spark.

2. The headlights came on while I pulled, so the charging system seems to be working.

3. I plugged in a compression gauge, pulled the cord and got her up to 125 PSI. (Is that okay?)

This all seems pretty good to me. I think it's worth replacing the battery, but where should I go from here?

What would you do next?

Thanks.

 

[Lewie369]

I would hook it to some jumper cables or a jump box and put fuel in it and give it a try. If a 220 is like the 300’s you must leave the jumper cables attached for it to run. It will not run without a battery attached.

 

[thill]

Good to know. I'll probably just pull the battery from my other machine for testing purposes. Thanks.

I checked the oil window, and it's at the right level, and isn't dark, so someone changed the oil not too long ago.
I checked the fuel, and it's terrible, stinky stuff. That tank will need to be cleaned out before anything else happens. Probably will be the same with the carb.

 

[Lewie369]

Perfect just swap it to test then. Yeah definitely need to get that old fuel cleaned out.

 

[thill]

Turns out, the petcock valve is corroded shut. Not a drop getting through. I tried blowing it out, but no good.

I tried spraying starting fluid into the carb, but it wouldn't kick at all. Not encouraging.

It's storming right now, but I'm planning to bypass the fuel tank and go directly from a portable tank. One thing I notice is the little panel with the lights that tell you if in reverse or neutral is missing. Did older Bayous have those lights? This is probably a 90's or maybe even an 80's machine

 

[thill]

Went out today and replaced the carb. I plan to clean old one and swap out, if I can get this one running. Sprayed in some starter fluid and pulled the cord a lot, but still not even a cough.

I cannot get the starter to kick. Jumped directly to the starter, and it turned over fine. Might be the push button or the neutral safety switch. Will have to test.

Getting a little concerned that this may have engine problems, but ran out of time. At least I got some work done today. Waiting on the replacement petcock so I can put gas in the tank and see if real fuel works better. A little cough would make me feel better, but I probably just need to be patient. Get the fuel delivery right and get the starter engaging and go from there.

I guess I'm just rambling and grumbling at this point, but this is where I am.