Why is My Polaris ATV Sputtering?

If you have a Polaris ATV that won’t stop sputtering, you might have an air-fuel mixture problem on your hands due to a dirty air filter and possibly a fouled spark plug. 

Partzilla’s Polaris ATV expert John Talley livestreams Q&A sessions on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern. In this session, John was asked what could be causing a 2013 Polaris Scrambler 850 to keep sputtering. 

Polaris Scrambler ATV Sputtering Q&A

I recently bought myself a 2013 Polaris Scrambler 850 and riding along, it suddenly felt like it governed out, and the engine light came on. It started to sputter as I continued to give it throttle and sputtered again. I had to idle home. The fluids are good, but the filter was dirty. What could be the problem?

John Talley: Alright, you didn’t tell me which filter was dirty but if it’s the air filter, there’s a chance that you may have fouled out the spark plug. Because if it can’t get enough air and it’s thinking it’s supposed to send X amount of air or X amount of fuel to mix with that air and it doesn’t have enough, well that’s going to richen up your circuit and then of course, foul up your spark plug.  So I’d say clean the filter, pop another spark plug in it and then see what you’ve got. Anything beyond that, I would really wonder if the throttle position sensor is out of whack. Could be, but I’d start with the simple stuff first and then work my way to the other stuff later, as the situation would dictate. 

Watch the video below to see how to change the air filter in a Polaris ATV.

Watch the video below to learn about the importance of cleaning ATV air filters.

Watch the video below to see how to change the oil in a Polaris Scrambler ATV.

Want to see more live repair questions answered? See more motorcycle and ATV repair questions answered here.