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2003 660 carb tuning?

50K views 19 replies 5 participants last post by  MNDirtRider  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I bought another 2003 660 with 1,500 miles $3K for my dad and sold his old one that was needing some work with 3800 miles. The good news is I was able to break even on the deal and the low mileage one rides much nicer and is "tighter" as it was never used to plow. All in all, a much nicer machine.

I have spent hours/days researching and reading carb-tuning threads from all over the internet for this machine. I spent all afternoon Saturday trying to get the fuel screw adjusted to smooth throttle operation and I just can't get it right. My Dad lives 3 1/2 hours away so I don't have immediate access to the machine.

Before swapping out the machines, I did a bunch of maintenance and cleaned the carb as the lower mileage 660 was leaking gas on my driveway out of the carb overflow. The previous owner ran the carb dry every time he put it in the garage so the o-rings were all dried out and crusty. I put a Moose carb kit in it (the same one I put in his previous Griz and it ran like crazy) and now I'm having a very hard time getting rid of a stumble in the low throttle range. Seems to be right where it is transitioning from the pilot jet circuit to the needle jet circuit. He is using it to plow and ride for fun. It stumbles at 4-6 mph in low and 7-10 mph in high range but runs like a raped ape as you continue to push the throttle! This issue makes it very difficult to plow with as this is the main operating range.

When I took out the fuel screw, it was set at 3 3/4 turns (which seemed to me like a very rich mix for 900 feet of elevation). If I remember correctly, tuning the fuel screw should start at 2 1/2 turns and adjust from there correct? It ran strong with no hesitation when I picked it up. He had the carb serviced a long time ago and it was done at a dealer so I assume that was how it was set from the dealer service.

Anyway, I cleaned the carb thoroughly and installed the new kit. As many of you know, adjusting the fuel screw on a 660 is a real PITA without taking the carb off or at least loosening and rotating it. I made a short screwdriver out of a nail and a short piece of dowel to make adjustments without tearing things apart. I have adjusted from 2 turns out all the way to 4 turns out in 1/4 turn increments and I cannot get rid of the stumble. At 2 1/2 turns out, it barely stays running as I apply the throttle until it hits the needle jet circuit. At that point, it runs and accelerates great. When I got to around 3 1/2 turns out, it was better but still not a clean transition to the needle jet throttle range. The diaphragm appeared to be in good shape as well as the intake boots between the air box and the engine so I don't think I have any issues there.

Does anyone have any tips I can use next time I get down to his house to work on it? I'm guessing I will need to re-clean and start from scratch. I also forgot to check to see if the reverse/override limiter (does it have one?) was bypassed or not. Could that have anything to do with it?

Thanks in advance for any tips or help on this! I need some ideas for my next trip down to work on it.
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Thanks for your suggestions @wgc. I wish I had the griz here so I could keep working on it to get this ironed out. The fuel screw on the 660 is SO hard to get at and make these adjustments while running because it's hard to tell if you have the screwdriver "in" the screw and then to turn it is even worse - especially while running and hot. I had watched the videos you shared through this whole process too. I'm sure I'll end up pulling it back off and going through the whole cleaning process again to start with. I appreciate your help.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
@wgc - if another cleaning doesn't do it, I will have to start playing with the needle I suppose. When I took the needle out of the slide, I dropped a washer and had to order a new needle stack just for that washer. I'm certain that the c clip was in the middle position when I took it apart. Maybe the pilot jet in the Moose kit is slightly undersized or something. I'm confident I'll get it figured out with the help of all of you fine folks!

I'm with you too @Grizzly_15. Let's get these things fixed before riding season really starts. Maybe you can update your issue on this thread too so there's quite a bit of troubleshooting info in one place. Good luck on yours as well.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
I really appreciate so many people chiming in and trying to help on this thread. I haven't had an opportunity to get back down to my Dad's to work on it so I don't have any progress to report. With all the good info and links being shared here, I hope to be able to get it solved with the help of all of these resources.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
Finally getting back to this thread...

So I got the 660 back from my Dad over the weekend. He can be without it now for a bit since he doesn't need it to plow and he bought a SXS late last Fall to ride too. Yesterday I stripped it down and took the carb off but didn't have time to tear the carb apart to investigate. Tonight, I took the float bowl off and measured the float height. Spec is 13 mm and when I removed the bowl and checked it again, it was at 12 mm. I adjusted the float to spec and put the carb back on. Now I have to wait until morning to see if that's my issue. In my mind, I believe it is since I had the fuel screw turned out as far as 4 turns and still couldn't get rid of the stumble. I'll post back in the morning when I have a chance to run it. I sure hope this is the issue so I don't have to take it all apart again.

EDIT: It's 2:30 AM here and I don't think my neighbors would appreciate my enthusiasm to get this thing running right. HA!
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
Well, after the float adjustment, it still doesn't run right. I have it all torn down again and have been spraying carb cleaner through it periodically for the past two days. Also, the pilot jet was a little loose when I tore down the carb. Not sure if that was it but since I had it torn apart and there was a little bit of stuff in the sediment bowl, I started over with the cleaning process.

Does anyone have a better diagram of the carb than the one in the service manual? I googled but didn't really find anything. I really want to make sure that I haven't gotten something in the wrong place.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
UPDATE: Went through the carb again. Soaked it with Deep Creep and then followed with Sierra Carbon Free and repeated for several days. I don't really think there was any dirt or varnish in there after the first cleaning. Upon reassembly of the carb, I thought I should check the fuel level again and I found that the fuel level was below the bowl gasket. Spec says the float should be set at 13mm (as described in the service manual) and that's what I had it set to. Turns out that the needle was closing and compressing the rubber needle tip by using the method in the manual. I could blow through the carb until the float height was about 18mm. It was starving for gas.

After doing all of this, I remembered that I thought the float height looked way off when I disassembled the carb for the first time. It was only about 8-9mm compared to where I thought it should have been. I attributed that to how bad of shape the needle and seat were as it was leaking gas out the carb overflow. I wish I had taken a few pics of the disassembly for reference.

To make the float adjustment easier, I set the tank up on wood blocks on my bench and connected the carb. Then I measured the level and adjusted the float until I got it to about 4.5mm above the gasket mating surface. This was SO much easier than doing it on the quad! I reinstalled everything and took it for a short spin around the neighborhood and it ran well. I still thought it was borderline lean between pilot jet and needle jet as I could detect a slight hesitation and just about get it to cough when run at 1/8 throttle or so. Then I removed the tank and took out the slide and moved the thick washer from above the slide and moved it to the bottom, placing the thin washer above the slide - I believe this gives you about half of a needle adjustment compared to moving one notch with the c-clip.

Now it runs great - no hesitation, smooth all the way through the throttle range. It also starts with no choke at 60 degrees F (never had a 660 that would do that before). I guess we'll see if it's good or if that's too rich and starts causing fouled plugs. Anyway, if that does come true, I know where to go to make the change and I don't have to take off the carb to do it.

I hope this can help someone who is going through this somewhere down the line. By the way, I live at about 950 ft of elevation for reference.

Here are some pics of the float measurement, where the float was actually closing the needle, and what the fuel level actually was when I measured the way the manual describes.

EDIT: These photos below are showing the issue - NOT THE CORRECT SETTINGS! DO NOT SET YOUR CARB UP LIKE THE IMAGES.
 

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Discussion starter · #20 ·
How fast is your machine working? After fixing mine and correcting the carburetor flaws i cannot go faster then 45 mph maybe 46. I do know from other people here that it should be easy to get to 60 . I'm not sure if there is still something lagging with the carburetor or the issue is somewhere else.
I don't know about top speed. I live in the suburbs and it's not legal to drive it on the street. I test drove down the block at about 25 mph but I try to keep a low profile as I like my neighbors. :smile2: