Spree loses power under heavy load

[MichaelP]

I have a bone stock Spree, but it has developed an issue where it loses power (feels like it is running out of fuel) if you go under heavy load (such as climbing a steep hill). It runs great under all other conditions but if you go up a steep hill it will sputter and die. If you go up the hill at a lower throttle opening (barely moving) it will make it without having this issue. Any ideas?

[Topgun]

I had two sprees that acted like that, and each just turned out to be a carb throttle and air screw adjustment.

The biggest time-consuming pain is taking off the fender(s) to get at the adjustment screws. Carb adjustment procedure is on this site somewhere.

EDIT: I stand corrected. It was kindly pointed out to me that the plastic fender has a hole for adjusting the screw so the fenders don't have to be removed. That's nice to know because come next spring I'll be tinkering with both again. Being legally blind in one eye, and not very good vision in the "good" one, I never noticed the hole, or even bothered to look for one. I was stupid enough to read and follow the instructions I found online.

Thanks again for correcting me. It'll sure save me a ton of time next spring...

[patthesoundguy]

adjusting the idle air mixture is always a good idea to do when having issues of that nature but in this case is sounds like a lean issue at a point past 1/4 throttle. So im betting you could have a roasted air filter element or an issue with the air box cover or hose to the carb. or a clogged main jet or a fuel flow issue like a clogged screen in the tank, if it runs fine with a full tank but not at less than full or under half tank that could be your problem. dont run it sputtering like that, it could cause damage. start at the airfilter element in the airbox which you have to pull the cover off the airbox so you can check the lid too. then check the hose to the carb make sure its clamped to the carb, the stock clamps can fail and slip off. then work your way through the fuel system