well spring is here but you wouldnt know it by the snow on the ground. we have a ride coming up next weekend and i decided its time to get the old girl running again.
last time i rode it, it died and i had to be pulled home. its been one thing after another around here (a winter i would rather forget) so i never got back to it. well now i am pressed for time and it wont start still. i did the battery, new plug, checked spark (its good), poured gas into the cylinder (it started and ran great till it ran out) ect...
im down to checking the fuel pump. bad part is i borrowed my pressure gauge out a few years ago and i know its not coming back so im stuck till tomorrow.
the history...
i was out checking my game cameras in about 20 degree temps so i had the heater running the whole time. that thing is awesome. after about an hour i was in the bottom of the coolie and it backfired and died. didnt think much of it. i thought it was my tilt sensor so i pushed it down the hill and jumped into it. it fired back up. well on the way home it was backfiring alot. i went around a turn and it died, never to run again until i put the gas down the cylinder. i guess the tilt sensor could be the issue but you would think it wouldnt run at all even with gas down the cylinder.
and so begins my spring. if you have any ideas, please throw them out there. my brain is in winter brain fog mode so i may have overlooked something.

I believe the tilt sensor if triggered will kill spark and power to the fuel pump.

I think you have a fuel delivery problem.

Hey there CC...... the tilt sensor only disrupts the fuel pump and does not effect spark. Fuel down a cylinder would still fire till that fuel is exhausted. Could be the tilt sensor, but from what I understand from reading in the service manual, the tilt mechanism totally resets itself after a second or so of being in the correct orientation. Could be that it is defective......there are some simple multi-meter tests to verify whether it is working correctly or not in the manual.

On another note:'a winter I would rather forget'.......I TOTALLY am tired of winter!!!! I Understand!!

well that was a fun one to try get out. im sure getting it back in will be worse. it would have been easier to take off if i took the storage box off infront of the drivers rear wheel. its located on the back side of the battery box.
anyway i got the tests back. it is out of spec but i believe it isnt the reason for not starting. in the straight up and down position it should read between .8 and 3 volts. it read 1.04 volts. next i tipped it over 60 degrees and took a reading. it should read between 4 and 8 volts. it read 3.14. so from what i am reading it is not able to shut it down if it tips over but it should run just fine on level ground. if im wrong please correct me.
well onto my fuel pressure tomorrow.

That sounds correct to me. I doubt that is the reason for not starting. For the cost ($56 at country cat and as low as $15 on eBay) to have one that is in spec, I would probably change it out while I have it out. Yup next I would check fuel pressure.

Sure sounds like a fuel delivery issue. Does the pump cycle when the key is turned on?

yes it does. it runs for about 3 seconds. the pump has always had a wierd sound to it that worried me but it ran like a champ so i brushed it off. it didnt sound like any other prowler pump, almost like it had sand in the motor. 7k + miles on it so i guess i cant complain. im picking up a new psi gauge today to verify that issue. hopefully i can get the pump in time from country cat. i might be paying the hefty shipping to make that happen

Even as much racket as a Prowler makes, the owner can always pick up on something that is different! keep us posted, and hope you get it cured! Thinking 7K on the Prowler and all of the pump cycles related to that! These things are pretty well engineered!

Totally agree with that!!!!

I say that, 'that I totally agree', and I am still a new Prowler owner. However, I've been wrenching tonnes of different machines, ranging from dirt bikes to big street bikes to quads to airplanes to cheap cars to high performance cars to heavy diesel trucks and tractors to yard care equipment for my whole life. It all started with a 1969 honda 70 motorcycle when I but a very young lad, and now I have had call to do some previous owner carelessness caused repairs to this prowler. I have become more and more impressed with the thought and engineering that has gone into this machine. They are very well engineered and even though I like to cuss at engineers for their placement of things, and the unserviceability they have designed, and yes, maybe some of the parts are not as easily accessible as I may wish on this prowler, but I am very impressed with how little effort it actually takes to make those things accessible. I love that I have service manual that is truly readable, and that AC's specialty tools, for the most part, I can build myself in a pinch. Try that on a VW, or Mustang or even my recent Toyota!!!! I am impressed with how over-built this 70hp 1000cc engine seems to have been made. Sure, not all things are perfect, and that's why we have these groups, eh?, to help us work through those things that can be made a little simpler. But 7000 miles on a machine that is a slow moving, rock climbing, sand blasting, water swimming, snow pushing machine........ well ........that is amazingly well engineered.