max iv help

[BSBLHATER]

Hi everyone my name is jim and iam new as of today. I just traded a grizzly 660 for a max iv. I have had it a couple of days and am liking it more and more every time I use it. It's a 90,s model with a 20 hp magnum Kohler on it and I am at the point where iam looking for things to do on it to get more power from it. Last night I had it a few places were it just didn't have the power to climb certain hills. I have downloaded motor manual and am going to go through numbers to identify the machine correctly. Questions at this moment are what can I do to the clutching and with the oil sentry system on that motor will it make it cut out on a steep incline. When I tried to climb the hill in my story it sounds like iam losing one cylinder or the motor is loading up. Plugs look good and brown. My gas cap could be another issue it was broke and leaking so I put one on from a Skidoo snowmobile and iam not sure it's venting. And this tank was replaced with a plastic one which iam not sure if it's oem but looks to be. I definitely need to get more power from it even if I need to upgrade motor. Thanks can't wait for some input

[amphibious drew]

Couple of basic things to check:
1. Make sure you are pushing in the sticks and not relying on the springs to engage the transmission.
2. Check your throttle cable and make sure it is getting full throw to wide open throttle.
3. Check your band adjustment and ensure you have the correct amount of stick travel on each side.


A 20hp kohler is plenty of motor for a Max IV. There should be no need to replace it unless there is an issue with the motor itself.

[BSBLHATER]

thanks drew. i will have to check into the band adjustment i know nothing about it. i just no with 4 people in it i cannot even spin it around without the motor acting like its getting overworked. i also have downloaded a service manual that i will be printing off and hopefully this will cover the topic you mentioned. i will also check into the throttle. it is not comfortable to lose and i have been looking at new cables for it. it works way more difficult then it should. i have owned every toy know to man except this max and i know the throttle is not right. iam just a rookie on this so i want to dig in and make it prime. the motor sounds great and i will do a comp test on it soon as i get my tester back from my son.
thanks jim

[ARGOJIM]

Sounds as if a repaired throttle and proper rpm's may cure it.

[boyerbl]

I tried to hack something together for a throttle cable. I purchased a universal gocart cable. I didn't work very well. I then ordered a factory cable from a dealer and now it works like new. Don't waste your time, buy the correct part.

[BSBLHATER]

so I opened up the machine tonight and found the governor spring unhooked the throttle pulling maybe a whisker more then half open and the spring on the throttle was so stiff thats why my hand kept cramping up using it. so iam going to put a lighter spring on that. unhooked it all the throttle cable takes little or no effort to pull. also found the small tube coming from crankcase valve cover ripped and cobbed up with silicone. so I believe this will be a great start. also put new plugs in it that the motor manual said to gap at 35k the ones in it were way under that and the new ones were on the money did not have to touch them. so I adjusted the throttle cable travel and will heat shrink the breather tube tomorrow at work. the air filter and prefilter looked very clean. also this motor has the walbro carb on it. cant wait to try this out tomorrow night. taken her right back to that steep incline for another shot. as far as the band adjustment I looked that up and found out how to do it but am not going there quite yet.

[BSBLHATER]

also got my body plugs from ebay today. they are the right ones but one of the holes is a little oversized so I need to think of something there.

seeya everone please keep making comment and all to help me. can anyone tell me if the newer units have changed a lot from this 90,s version in the way of seating and comfort at all.

[BSBLHATER]

well I don't know whats going on here I have posted twice today and cant find it or anything telling me I goofed up. but here I go again I have a 90,s max 4 with 20hp kohler magnum. I have only had the machine a week but it keeps running out of power when I climb hills or even try to cut a donut in the grass. the motor will flutter and act like its maxed out and going to quit. pull sticks to neutral and the motor will clear up and seems to be back to normal. I have put new plugs in it after gapping them. the machine starts easy and idles excellent. however the throttle works very hard and it uncomfortable so I took the air cleaner of to snoop around and found one of the governor springs unhooked and the remaining one so stiff that it hurts your hands after a few minutes of operating it. I took the springs off and the throttle cable is very free and easy to operate. I downloaded the service manual and both springs are extinct but iam still trying to cross them to another number . I have not done a compression test yet because I lent out my tester. I question is can I remove or bypass the governor as I feel it is limiting the out put of the motor. the plugs are burning nice and brown and the motor seems very smooth. any help with this situation will be awesome.

[JoeMeg]

Helo Jim,pg. 12 of sec. 6A of the service manual shows the governor set up. there is only one spring.

I'm most certain this is the spring.

Kohler Magnu item259d203e84 | eBay

The throttle cable connects to the "Speed Control Lever".

[Rusty-Gunn]

Another mod that can be done is to install a Red Spring in the secondary clutch, if it doesn't have one. The red spring keeps the secondary (driven) clutch closed a bit longer, allowing the engine to rev higher, thus more power to the axles. Lowers top speed though. Check with the factory for the spring