03 Mountain Cat 900 questions....

[Jugernot]

I just bought a 2nd hand 900 and have some questions that I'm hoping someone can answer (I bought it 3rd hand and cannot ask previous owner any questions.) This machine has not been ridin in 3years, so no doubt has some stale gas, etc. but otherwise seems to be in good shape.

First, there is a string tied to what appears to be a fuel intake and the tube is held up above the fuel. See pictures below... the gas cap appears to be a standard self venting model, so no tube should be needed. If it is the fuel intake, why would the previous owner suspend it above the gas for storage?

Second, anyone know a good tutorial on cleaning the Mikuni carbs on these machines? I've cleaned a few over the years carbs, but never for a 2 cylinder engine with linked carbs, mostly mowers, Arctic cat 400 single cylinder ATV, etc.

Third, is electric start available for these models? I'd assume Arctic cat had a kit at one time.... would I need to replace the primary clutch or is it a bolt on mod adding teeth to primary? I know I'll need to add a solenoid, battery/tray, starter, etc. Are their cheap aftermarket options?

 

[Idcatman3]

I just bought a 2nd hand 900 and have some questions that I'm hoping someone can answer (I bought it 3rd hand and cannot ask previous owner any questions.) This machine has not been ridin in 3years, so no doubt has some stale gas, etc. but otherwise seems to be in good shape.

First, there is a string tied to what appears to be a fuel intake and the tube is held up above the fuel. See pictures below... the gas cap appears to be a standard self venting model, so no tube should be needed. If it is the fuel intake, why would the previous owner suspend it above the gas for storage?

Second, anyone know a good tutorial on cleaning the Mikuni carbs on these machines? I've cleaned a few over the years carbs, but never for a 2 cylinder engine with linked carbs, mostly mowers, Arctic cat 400 single cylinder ATV, etc.

Third, is electric start available for these models? I'd assume Arctic cat had a kit at one time.... would I need to replace the secondary clutch or is it a bolt on mod adding teeth to secondary? I know I'll need to add a solenoid, battery/tray, starter, etc. Are their cheap aftermarket options?

Tube looks like a water absorber stuck in their during storage. Take it out during the season.
Cat did make an electric start kit, you should be able to find one on eBay or here. No aftermarket options that I know of. The kit should come with the ring gear to bolt to the primary clutch.
There are service manuals available at countrycat.com, I'll get you a link when I'm at a real computer.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[Jugernot]

Tube looks like a water absorber stuck in their during storage. Take it out during the season.
Cat did make an electric start kit, you should be able to find one on eBay or here. No aftermarket options that I know of. The kit should come with the ring gear to bolt to the primary clutch.
There are service manuals available at countrycat.com, I'll get you a link when I'm at a real computer.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

I'll see if the tube is just free floating around... it sure seems like it's attached to the front of the tank and is a gas pickup. Dunno... I have a camera snake, I'll drop it in the tank later today and see what I can find out.


Yah, primary clutch, don't know why my fingers wrote secondary. I'll look out for a used kit...


Thanks!

 

[89sandman]

Looks like they pulled the smart valves and replaced it with a screen? I'd replace the drive shaft bearings. They need to be done about every 1000 miles.

 

[Idcatman3]

Looks like they pulled the smart valves and replaced it with a screen? I'd replace the drive shaft bearings. They need to be done about every 1000 miles.

Carbed sleds didn't have smart valves, but I think you're on to something, it does look like a screen on the fuel pickup. I guess he just tied the pickup up for storage? In that case, just let it drop back to the bottom of the tank.

Driveshaft bearings are probably a good idea.

Here's a link to a service manual you can download.
https://support.countrycat.com/posts/1424387-2003-snow-service-manual

 

[Jugernot]

As suspected, the tube in the tank was the fuel pickup. As soon as I dropped it down and started cranking, fuel start dribbling out of the bottom of the carbs.

Pulled both mikuni carbs off (leaving all cables/hoses connected minus the wired connector) and noticed one of the float bowls has a plastic bulb (that I can't find in the service manual) that was dry rotted and completely cracked and this carb was completely dry. It is directly on the bottom of the float bowl, near the carb overflow tube. Gasket is fairly toasted/brittle and two of the 3 jets (pilot and main) were completely clogged on this carb. Going to clean the jets, but does anyone know if Arctic Cat sells a gaskets kit for these carbs? I'd like get a replacement fuel bulb (name?) and gasket set for each carb.

Amazingly the carbs look totally clean with no varnish at all. Still gonna spray em out, but this looks promising.

See below for a picture of the rotten bulb and the other one that seemingly still ok, but should also be replaced.

Thanks for the help guys!