# 2008 sportsman 500 ho EFI



## Thewiseguy31 (Jan 24, 2013)

I'm a total newbie when it comes to atv's. this is my first one and after months of deliberation on buying new vs buying from private owner, i decided to buy from an out of state dealer who sells used bikes. I did this bc he had a large inventory, and had a very positive ebay prescence. My thought process was that he would be an honest guy bc he runs a business and doesn't want negative feedback. 

I test drove my atv on 2 separate occasions for about 10 minutes. After I paid for it, we went to start t up and it wouldn't start. He changed the plug to no avail. I had to leave it so he could fix it. When i picked it up, he told me it was bad gas. 

since ive had it home, im used it about 4 times. The third time i used it, i accidentally put mixed gas in it. It sputtered and stalled. I sucked the gas out and put normal gas in and it started right up. the last time i used it, i plowed my driveway for about 20 minutes. As i left the bike idle, i realized it stalled out and would not start back up. 

Air box is good, spark plug is new and throttle is fine. I smell gas so im assuming the pressure is ok. Sounds like it wants to turn over but it just won't. 

so i spoke to the dealer i bought it from, bc he told me he would stand by the machine and to let him know if i had any ssues. he said this is the prob He had before i picked it up. he procedes to tell me water got into the gas line and the fuel pump sensor shuts off once it detects water. so the fuel pump has to be pulled out and reset. i asked him how does water get inside so easily and his answer was "bad gas." that nowadays he sees a lot of gas with water in it. 

A few people i have talked to said this sounds fishy....something's not right. 

Any ideas on what could be wrong?

A few things to note:
1- the gas i put in, has been sitting for a few months
2- the machine has a strobe light installed and bc of the position ( directly under hande bars) while i was turning, the box cracked (possible wiring issue?)
3- even when the machine ran, it made a bit of a high pitch sound while idling and it sounded like it was fighting just a little bit hard to idle. 

I don't really have the know how to fix this but I have a friend who knows his stuff and is willing to help if its not electrical related..

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.


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