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Not sure if this belongs here, figured I'd post it anyways.
A little backstory: I work on a farm, where this ATV was once a trusty workhorse. But at some point, problems led to it getting a new piston, but for whatever reason, it's knocking and hitting valves, and it was deemed not worth trying to fix again. This led to it being scooped up and abandoned in the junkyard here. After a few years sitting on its side, with no spark plug, events led to me deciding to buy it for $50, because, "why not" expectations, along with price, low.
It was over by that blue tub, flipped on its side. I had to drag some stuff away to even get to it.
Rough, but intact.
Overall the frame and equipment is in good shape, one of the footboard pegs was bent, nothing a hammer couldn't fix. Suspension feels decent. Headlights work.
Last edited by Junktownbill99; Mar 21, 2026 at 05:32 PM.
The engine did spin, and with a new plug, does have strong spark. Hell, I'm pretty sure I got it to sputter, but obviously it didn't run.
The crankcase was full of water, so I drained it, and flushed some oil and mineral spirits through it. Note, the engine did have good compression, but would sometimes feel REALLY stiff, like throw your back out pulling it over stiff. The starter could barely turn it, even with 40 amps, unless I blocked the intake. A teardown was in the cards from the start.
The carburetor was really nasty, looked like curry inside. I didn't bother cleaning the jets, and just got a cheap rebuild kit. Fuel tank was clean though.
Now for the notoriously tough to remove clutch, yeah, that was about as easy as you can imagine. I figured I'd be needing a new one anyways (foreshadowing?)
I tried the, "hydraulic trick" with grease and the clutches reverse threaded bolt... Stripped some threads clean off the bolt in the crankshaft, yippie. This also meant I couldn't buy a clutch puller and do it right, due to the threads being blocked.
I tried everything I could think of, from chaining a sledgehammer to it and aiming for the moon, to attaching my winch and sending it with my truck. Nothing.
I ended up shattering the outer part with a hammer, then the spider, that I used a hammer to unscrew, THEN I was able to jam something under the inner part and smack it until it flew off.
Minor damage to the crankshaft seal seat, but considering what I had to do, I can live with that.
Secondary came off easy, I'll be reusing that.
Last edited by Junktownbill99; Mar 21, 2026 at 05:34 PM.
With delicate persuasion from hammers and prybars, I was able to get the engine disassembled, mostly so I could clean the junk out of it.
Looks better than I expected, but still not good Most of that came off easy.
Unfortunately, all the banging around broke the piston skirt, so I'll be ordering a new one of those, I think I'll go ahead and get an .030 and send the cylinder to get properly bored and honed, vs hammering one in and hoping it runs. Do it nice or do it twice.
There was some aluminum pieces in the oil slurry, they match the piston machine marks, but must have been in there for a long time, as they were not from the piston I broke. Some of the bearings were crunchy and stuck, so I thought I'd need to replace those. Seasoned mechanic here told me to just clean them with some diesel and put a little oil in there. I was skeptical. All bearings are smooth and spin freely now. You learn something new every day.
Well, here is the current state of my engine, most of the parts are in surprisingly good shape, but need cleaned.
Last edited by Junktownbill99; Mar 20, 2026 at 02:40 PM.
If anyone has a motor for a Warn A2000, I'd be interested in buying that off you, this Prairie has one, but the motor is junk. Gears look fine, could use some fresh grease though.
I got it stuck back together using that Hondabond stuff, and I'm fairly confident it won't leak. Cylinder has been bored .030, and the new piston is installed. Before After, very clean.
As I was sticking things together, I noticed the scoring on the D shaped end of the counterweight (which drives the oil pump) and I'm glad I did, probably explains why it stopped running good. Something had gotten stuck in the pump in the past and shattered it. I replaced the broken oil pickup screen while things were apart May not be able to see it, but this is split as well. Got a good used set to replace it, should be good to go. May have dropped a screw in the crankcase (twice) nothing some surgical precision with a magnet didn't fix.
Crankshaft was replaced as well, due to the thread damage I do not have the tools or skills to fix. If anyone wants it, I'll sell it cheap.
I'm still waiting for some springs I managed to destroy as well as that little steel bracket next to the chain. I'll definitely be a little more cautious on any future machines.
Last edited by Junktownbill99; Apr 16, 2026 at 11:03 PM.
When you hear it sputter, that is me hitting the throttle, otherwise it doesn't skip a beat. The video does not do justice to how insanely loud it was.
When I reassembled the starter, I must have messed something up and reversed it's direction somehow, since it just free spins, oh well. I had thought I put the one way clutch in facing the wrong way, but I doubt that's the case. (Spinning the engine the correct direction by hand does not spin the starter, but spinning it backwards does, so I know the whole assembly is in there)
I'll need to tune it and set the idle, but this is a HUGE victory, being the first time this thing has ran in years, let alone ran strong.
