kawisaki praire 700 cold weather

[teamlund]

hey fellas, Never has any real issues with my kawi before but this week has been a bear. Every time that its cold, say, below 10 degrees my praire is a beast to start... The engine turns over real slow, so slow that I actually pull start it (good battery) and the only way to keep it running is to basically keep the throttle down. I will have to do this for about 5 mins straight, the exhaust at the head will be glowing red hot and than it will stay runnning on its own but still seems sluggish and sounds alittle "bouggy"...the rest of the day it will run and start just fine, sound normal ect but that first start in the morning is brutal and its NEVER been this way even in much colder weather...input?

[eiderz]

I have a 650, which never gets run in the summer. The first season I had it I had the same problem, figured it was a fuel thing. Work the choke while cranking, then don't spare the throttle to warm it up. Ethanol fuel picks up a little moisture which freezes in the carb. Once I get it going, I let it warm up a tad, then shut it off for five minutes. No problem after that, my guess is that the ice melts and from then on no problem. Also began adding Seafoam, if you've never used it you will be surprised how effective it is in cleaning out gunk. It is not a fuel stabilizer, just cleans but I see a noticable difference in all of my engines.

[teamlund]

the gas I used os from my garage. I have 16 gallons of E free 91 octane gas that is 4 months old and treated with both stabil and seafoam.... Should have mentioned that in my OP...

[eiderz]

The kawasaki dealer claims there is a cold weather carb kit, maybe check on that?

[teamlund]

i have heard that before BUT in 6 going on 7 years of use I have never had an issue with my machine in much colder weather than what we have seen in the last 2 weeks...... So i think there is something else that has come up. Bad gas or something...

[Team Lightning]

Two 650 Prairies here and Both are buggers to start in cold weather.  Would love to have the REAL answer.

[WYIfish]

hey fellas, Never has any real issues with my kawi before but this week has been a bear. Every time that its cold, say, below 10 degrees my praire is a beast to start... The engine turns over real slow, so slow that I actually pull start it (good battery) and the only way to keep it running is to basically keep the throttle down. I will have to do this for about 5 mins straight, the exhaust at the head will be glowing red hot and than it will stay runnning on its own but still seems sluggish and sounds alittle "bouggy"...the rest of the day it will run and start just fine, sound normal ect but that first start in the morning is brutal and its NEVER been this way even in much colder weather...input?

Team, my arctic cat 650 cranks slow when it's colder than 10 degrees so I have started plugging in a small 800 watt halogen shop light below the crankcase.
It makes a real difference even with the trailer temp warmed up to 32 degrees. Next year I get a bigger cold cranking amp battery.

[teamlund]

Two 650 Prairies here and Both are buggers to start in cold weather.  Would love to have the REAL answer.

other than when I had this problem(bad gas) when I originally posted this thread my kawasaki has been an awesome starter! Might have to leave the choke on for a minute but never any longer and most time its onfor just a few seconds. mine is an 05 but my bro in law has an 04 and hes says its  beast to start, not sure what being a beast means but i dont think that leaving the choke on for a minute is being a beast especially when its 0 degrees out...

[ultraguy]

I have a Prairie as well and in the cold weather it's a little rough on the start and thought it was E gas as well. Once it starts I have to run it for awhile at a higher idle to keep it running. If I charge the battery to 100% and start it in the cold it idles and runs fine. The battery in there is about a year old and I leave my quad in the garage year round. So I will stick and Odyssey battery in there and my problems will be gone. The Prairie needs a strong battery to run it's best in cold temps IMO.

Poorboy