Phazer cold idle

[Bakemono]

Ive got a '90 Phazer II. Its got 3500 miles on it and for its age is a very sweet-running sled.
I bought it last winter for $1200 and am very pleased with it.
Ive noticed that when the engine is cold, it wont idle.
It always starts on the 2nd pull, and will idle at 2500 rpm for about 15 seconds, then the rpms will slowly drop to the point where the engine will die.
If you just barely open the throttle it will stay running and once it warms up it idles just fine at about 1,500 rpm.
Last weekend I set the idle just like the service manual says (seat the pilots and turn them out 1 1/4 turns and then use the white plastic adjusting screw to set the idle). After doing this the sled still wont idle on its own when the engine is cold.
Now, I know that Polaris sleds from the early 90's were very cold-blooded like this Phazer is. I had a '90 Polaris Indy 400 that if you went out and started it, and then came back in the house and put your jacket and bibs on, more often the not it wouldnt be running when you went back outside.
Were the Phazers just cold-blooded like that?
I also suspected that perhaps one of my jets may be partially clogged, but the jets really dont control idle.
Also, last winter this sled ran like a champ, in fact its the fastest fan-cooled sled Ive ever ridden. You cant complain about a sled that gets 20 mpg and still will do 65 mph accross the lake (I know 65 isnt a new land-speed record but we are talking about a fan-cooled sled here).

 

[bleueje17]

Well captain--it seems you know enough to at least make you dangerous..
Yes, I would make sure the carbs are clean, and adjusted to spec. (play later if you like, but lets get her going now) Check every last adjustment. This sled should pull more than 65,--probably 80 ish on the speedo.

I had 2 and really enjoyed them. They are cold blooded, and my starting procedure went like this:
choke, and start
after running for for a short time shut off the choke if it starts to die, turn the choke back on---repeat until ready to roll.
DO NOT USE THE throttle until it is time to roll--you will kill plugs quick.
In short yous choke like throttle until warm.

When you reinstalled carbs be sure the boots from airbox fit well--no leaks

Good luck

 

[Bakemono]

Well, I do know some. Ive been around snowmobiles all my life (Im now 23), however owning a Yamaha is had been a bit of an adventure.
Yamaha and Polaris have very different designs and its been interesting to study the engineering of the Yamaha vs. the Polaris' Ive owned.
Just to give you a little background, heres the sleds Ive owned:
'90 Polaris Indy 400, '95 Polaris Indy 600 XCR, '98 Polaris Indy 600 XC, '99 Polaris Indy 700 XC SP.
Id bet you are thinking, "why did he go from a 700 XC to a Phazer?" Well, the answer is money. I really wanted to find a nice 500 SX, but I came accross this Phazer and it was in really good shape so I bought it. I really cant justify spending $7000 on something I only use a few months out of the year. Before I spend that on a sled I will go out and buy a Yamaha Kodiak 4x4 ATV or a Yamaha V-Star motorcycle.
I sometimes think that would be a wise decision, but I dont think I could ever not have a sled. I know that if I ever didnt have a sled, we would get snow and I would see other people out riding and kick myself for selling my sled.
As far as knowing enough to be dangerous, Im sure theres some truth to that. Im actually kind of anal when it comes to maintenance. This summer I completely took apart the rear suspension, greased the cross shafts, replaced the spring keepers (the little square plastic thingys) and drilled and tapped the shafts for grease fittings. I also replaced the drive belt, hyfax and carbides. All those things were kinda questionable so I just replaced them. Like I said, I rode it last winter and everything was fine, but I just wanted to be sure. I also washed and waxed the sled. When I traded in my 700 XC the dealer asked me if it really had 1500 miles on it. I told him that it did and asked why he asked me that. He then told me that it appeared that the sled had just come off the showroom floor and that he wished all his customers had trade-ins that looked as good as that. I just smiled and said, "Well, theres an old saying: You take care of it and it will take care of you."
Call me silly, but I just like to be sure that everything is OK so that when we get snow I can go out and ride and not have to worry about mechanical failure. Ive never had a sled die on me out on the trail, and if nothing else it gives me peace of mind knowing that I performed all the maintenance.

 

[BlueIronRanger]

Every Phazer we have owned including my current 90' does that cold, I need to keep fliping the choke on and off to keep it running when its cold. The Phazer is a pretty fast fan cooled sled, and mine bone stock has no trouble with any other fan cooled sled (Best challange was a polaris Super sport 550, he actually had a sled on me off the line) I've had it up to 83mph on radar stock which showed 91mph on the speedo there a little slow above 20*f but on a nice crisp coold morning they really haul.

Should perform better than your old indy 400 liquid, my best friend has a 90' indy 400 and it would run side by side up to 50mph and then the phazer II would walk away.