2020 Alpha One not starting, flooding

[edewit]

Hello, new the group but looking to see if anyone has had a similar problem with a CTEC2 not starting. Little background, the sled was brought up to Montana by a family member from Iowa. It started and ran fine there, at lower elevation, but had a cold trip out (-20F) here. It wouldn't start on arrival, even after warming it up in the shop. Pulled and pulled, til we noticed gas in the air intake... flooded to hell and gone. Pulled the plugs and let it sit, and I ran my old sled. Few weeks later we went back up to the shop, which is at 6k elevation, and still didn't start. Finally cleared the flood by riping on it with the plugs out. It ran for one day, with only one incident of not wanting to start but after 20 pulls she started. Got it home, and now nothing. The sled stays at higher elevation, 6k, and I brought it to town to have a mechanic look it over. It started second pull every time it was here, at lower elevation, 2-3k. Mechanic says it needed to be re-flashed. Brough it to the dealer to re-flash it and they wouldn't as there "wasn't an update available". They say it's the injectors, and quoted me $2500 to get that done.

Is the first mechanic on to something? Should I look into aftermarket ECU upgrades? Or bite the bullet for the injectors? The problem seems elevation dependent.

PS, I have replaced the TPS and do have spark. I replaced the plug anyway. Temperature doesn't seem to matter, and its in a heated shop, and I have tried to start it this spring. Unless the extremely cold 14 hour ride from IA to MT did something.

 

[Old & slow]

Do you check your throttle cable adjustment, it sounds like the throttle safety switch may be the issue. It is somethin to check and eliminate. 2500 seems like a lot to change injectors parts are under 400. The ECM can get an aftermarket flash but it wont help with starting if you have any other issues. A couple things you can do is let the idle normalize before shutting it down 1700 -1800 rpm ish. Make sure you have fresh premium fuel and add a little seafoam. Another thing to do is if it doesn't start buy the second pull hold the throttle open when pulling it until it starts.

 

[Sage Crusher]

Do you check your throttle cable adjustment, it sounds like the throttle safety switch may be the issue. It is somethin to check and eliminate. 2500 seems like a lot to change injectors parts are under 400. The ECM can get an aftermarket flash but it wont help with starting if you have any other issues. A couple things you can do is let the idle normalize before shutting it down 1700 -1800 rpm ish. Make sure you have fresh premium fuel and add a little seafoam. Another thing to do is if it doesn't start buy the second pull hold the throttle open when pulling it until it starts.

Yep that will help as full throttle will shut off fuel flow- but from all your problems I leans toward bad injectors.. you can get them cleaned- and do a search on here -alot of guys have cleaned and reprogrammed their injectors and solved their starting and performance issues

 

[jarred kale]

Hello, new the group but looking to see if anyone has had a similar problem with a CTEC2 not starting. Little background, Tutuapp 9Apps the sled was brought up to Montana by a family member from Iowa. It started and ran fine there, at lower elevation, but had a cold trip out (-20F) here. It wouldn't start on arrival, even after warming it up in the shop. Pulled and pulled, til we noticed gas in the air intake... flooded to hell and gone. Pulled the plugs and let it sit, and I ran my old sled. Few weeks later we went back up to the shop, which is at 6k elevation, and still didn't start. Finally cleared the flood by riping on it with the plugs out. It ran for one day, with only one incident of not wanting to start but after 20 pulls she started. Got it home, and now nothing. The sled stays at higher elevation, 6k, and I brought it to town to have a mechanic look it over. It started second pull every time it was here, at lower elevation, 2-3k. Mechanic says it needed to be re-flashed. Brough it to the dealer to re-flash it and they wouldn't as there "wasn't an update available". They say it's the injectors, and quoted me $2500 to get that done.

Is the first mechanic on to something? Should I look into aftermarket ECU upgrades? Or bite the bullet for the injectors? The problem seems elevation dependent.

PS, I have replaced the TPS and do have spark. I replaced the plug anyway. Temperature doesn't seem to matter, and its in a heated shop, and I have tried to start it this spring. Unless the extremely cold 14 hour ride from IA to MT did something.

did you took it to another mechanic

 

[edewit]

did you took it to another mechanic

Not yet, gotta get on that. I'll update if/when it's diagnosed.