[Tonka]

I have a 95 Barracuda that has no low end. It's a 640 with a single carb and will climb onto plane only once or twice. Even when it does get on plane, it's VERY slow to do it. You can run it wide open all day long and it runs smooth and strong as long as you keep the revs up. If you idle down more than twice, it will no longer climb onto plane. The plugs seem pretty fouled and if you let the ski cool down, you can usually get it to climb on plane again and you can run a tank of gas through it as long as you keep moving. Is there only an idle mixture screw on this carb or is there a way to lean this mixture down. Do I just have to re-jet the stupid thing or am I completely missing something? I am still using the factory oil pump on it. Can these things start getting the ratio off and mixing in too much oil? By the way, it starts and idles perfect. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

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Tonka - boy your lucky that some poor sap (me!) also has a 95 Barracuda and went through many trouble shooting idea's before coming up with a solution.

1. first and foremost IT"S OLD! It will not come out of the hole like a new one and heck even when it was new it's only 640CC's!

2. The weight limit on this model is 185 lbs. Yep I said 185, so I'm just saying, maybe the cowboy is to big for the horse.

3. Change your plugs (always helps) and Check your exhaust for a leak in the engine compartment. Take off you seat and see if you see any smoke coming from under the seat area. THIS IS IMPORTANT! My 'Cuda did the same thing and the reason it doesn't get on plane is because the carb is being choked out from the exhaust. Check the clamps on the exhaust running up TO the front of the unit, I believe their is 2, and make sure both are in good condition and not broke or loose. The exhaust thing with a new clamp helped mine work everytime, however, for me it still take a while to get up on plane and I have to lean over the nose and take a couple of lazy rights and lefts to get it going.

4. Keep the trim UP! I leave it up all the time and every time, that's just how it is.

5. The carb does have two adjustments, the screw that is located toward the top of the carb is for the high end and the screw on the lower side is the low end. I recommend closing both and opening the high end out 2 full turns and the low end at 1 full turn.

I believe if you are thorough in going through these steps and diagnosing each item sucessfully that you will have a better running ski.

PS you can view diagrams and order parts when needed from Arctic Cat Parts, Snowmobiles, Atv, Generator Sales at Alpha Sports Center Arctic Cat Arctic Cat Four Wheelers Artic Cat ATV Arctic Cat Portable Generators home page This is the only source I have found and it is very helpful, but try my recommendations and I am sure you will find your solution.

 

[Tonka]

Wow, great reply Ron. That's exactly the sort of advice I was looking for. I think the exhaust is a distinct possibility since it seems to get back on plane when it cools down. I had a manifold gasket leak at one point, so it might be re-occurring.
I could have sworn that the carb only had one mixture screw, but I'm gonna take the stupid thing off and look more closely. What's the plastic screw (only turns about 1/2 turn) on the side of the carb towards the back of the ski?
I will try all of your advice and let you know how it turns out. Thanks a million for the help. Thanks also for the link, I'll use it.

 

[cshimp]

94 Barracuda Bogs Down In Corners

I have a 94 Barracuda that behaves similary to yours. It runs fine on land but when you put it in the water she has a hard time getting going and if you do anything that causes her to require more power she will bog down and they you may or may not get back up to plane. I fould out yesterday that a hard turn to the right effects this much more than a hard left, in fact a hard left turn my not cause the machine to bog down at all. This seems like a carb issue to me but I have adjusted and tried to fine tune the high and low jets with no sucess. It seems very difficult to adjust these carbs beacuse if you are on land where you have no pull on the drive unit the engine seems to run fine but once you get them in the water then it becomes hard to adjust. Does anyone have a good method of doing this? Any suggestions to what might be causing my problem would be helpful. I have checked for exhaust leak as I have had that problem before but air seems to be good, ski runs same with seat off as it does with it on.

Thanks
Chad

 

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Hey Chad,
Couple of ideas.

1) change plugs, sounds crazy but just so crazy it might work.

2) sounds like it's possible that you fuel intake line running in your tank could be more over on the left side than the right causing the line to come out of fuel. Does this happen with a full tank?

3) a previous owner had t bars installed for the adjustments, not the screw in type, which makes it a lot easier but I only adjust it when out of the water for fear of water getting in the carb area.

4) check your impeller for cracks, chips or fractures

Hope this helps!

 

[cshimp]

94 Barracuda Bogs Down In Corners

Thanks for the info. I like the idea of the t-bars. I should be able to solder some of those on the jets fairly easy. I have changed the plugs, and I just had the impeller out as I had to replace the rear bearing and everything on it looked good. I thought maybe this would solve my problems as there was no bearing left but after everything was put back together it still runs the same. I had a problem a couple years ago where my hose that is in the gas tank cracked, got to love ethanol, and Im wondering if that might be my problem again. It is a pain to check that peice but Im going to top off fuel tank and see if that helps. Do you have any advice on adjusting your carb on land?

Thanks
Chad

 

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Chad,

The carb does have two adjustments, the screw that is located toward the top of the carb is for the high end and the screw on the lower side is the low end. I recommend closing both and opening the high end out 2 full turns and the low end at 1 full turn.

You can adjust from there if needed but that should get you a solid idle and a full top end.

 

[cshimp]

94 Barracuda Bogs Down In Corners

I was out to the lake today and ski ran fine first time out with full tank of gas. Afeter quite some time or riding it started to bog down and continued to get worse and worse. It seemed like as my gas tank went down it would run worse. The last time I went out I had to really play the throttle to get it up to plain. Just wanted to die all of the time. Im thinking Im sucking air in the gas tank.

Chad

 

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I am thinking you have an old cracked line somewhere from the tank to the carb, try replacing this first since it is the cheapest. Also try and clean or replace any full tank filter. Look at the Arctic Cat Parts, Snowmobiles, Atv, Generator Sales at Alpha Sports Center Arctic Cat Arctic Cat Four Wheelers Artic Cat ATV Arctic Cat Portable Generators home page website concerning your model of ski and it will have a diagram of the tank and the lines. This will give you a birds eye view of the lines and where they lie/connect and there path.

Good Luck!

 

[cshimp]

94 Barracuda Bogs Down In Corners

I was out to the lake again on a half tank of gas. I pulled the fule line out of the tank and checked it out and it appeared to be in good shape. Still ran rough and wants to die in right had turns especially. I found that it is not the tilt to the right that causes it to cut out but the G-Force from the right turn that is causing it to die. I could stand on the right side and ride it straight with the right side way down in the water and it would run fine but soon as i would turn and get some G's going it would start to die down. A friend that was out at the lake said they had a problem on their boat where the fuel pump was sucking the hose together and thus cutting off the fuel. Ever heard of this. What type of hose is supposed to be in the fuel tank. I have a clear plastic/rubber hose that is pretty soft and flexible.

 

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Hose sounds right,

If it is a suction issue I would think that would be caused by a problem with flow. Check gas filter in tank and or replace.

If your drink straw in clogged or stopped with your finger it will flatten but if it's unobstructed it should be flow fine.

 

[cshimp]

94 Barracuda Stalls In Turns

The thing that is getting me is that it only happens in hard right turns. Im thinking maybe I have a weak spring in the carb and the G forces of the turn and causing the float to close off the gas supply.