Another Scrambler 50 W/ A Problem

[nene10]

Guys,
I'm new to the forum, but I'm hoping someone has some advice. I just bought a 2002 Scrambler 50 for my oldest son, and it turns over well, gets good spark, seems to be getting plenty of gas, but it won't even try to start. This machine hasn't run for some time now, so I flushed the old gas out and replaced it with new gas, pulled the carb and disassembled it, cleaned it (although I may pull it again and go through it a little more thoroughly). Nevertheless, it doesn't even try to start...not a hiccup or anything. HELP! His birthday is on Friday, and this is supposed to be his present.

[rpyfz450]

If I'm understanding the symptoms correctly, you can crank over the motor to start it, but there no signs of life, not even a backfire, correct?

If so, hold open the throttle and spray some starting fluid in there or tilt the ATV so you can pour about a teaspoon worth of gasoline past the carburetor and down into the intake. Try to start it immediately. You should see some signs of life at this point or it may even run for a couple of seconds.

If it shows signs of starting, you have a fuel system problem.

If there's still no signs of life, the spark you observed may be weak, or the engine's compression may be too low.

A strong spark will appear white, a weak one will appear blue. If it's weak spark, you might try closing the spark plug gap a little to see if that helps get you through Friday, but it will eventually require a more permanent solution.

Low compression is a whole other story.