Finally got a Yamaha...

What is the track on it? I'm wondering if your track is rubbing somewhere. I had a Kimpex aggressor on a Viper. It was listed as a 1 inch track but was more like a 1 1/4 compared to a camoplast. It rubbed on the heat exchanger protectors and tunnel protectors. I had to notch the lugs
 
staggs65 said:
What is the track on it? I'm wondering if your track is rubbing somewhere. I had a Kimpex aggressor on a Viper. It was listed as a 1 inch track but was more like a 1 1/4 compared to a camoplast. It rubbed on the heat exchanger protectors and tunnel protectors. I had to notch the lugs
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Track is a Kimpex Ultimate Traxtion. Had wondered about a rub on the tunnel protectors because it looked tight. Placed a shop paper towel on the track and rotated the track to transport the towel through the tunnel and out the front. Towel came out unscathed.
Would not be surprised to have a tunnel rub at speed now that my track is so loose, but this intermittent problem is present when starting from a standstill as well.

I'm gonna be upset if I replace the driveshaft bearings and it doesn't fix the problem. Gotta do some experimenting with my Viper to see what that track feels like when rotating by hand with no belt on for comparison.
 
Belated Merry Christmas everyone! Just an update on my quest to eliminate this drag that I've been feeling on the V-Max.

Stopped by the local dealership and explained what I had going on, and they were a bit mystified as well. I was going to order parts for the driveshaft bearing replacement job and the tech and parts guy suggested that it may be a waste of time if I'm not feeling any vibes or hearing any noise from the bearings. They also stated that they don't see many driveshaft bearing replacements for Yamahas...but many for Polaris. I think that is likely more attributable to the difference in the population numbers than the relative reliability of the bearings, in my opinion.

Anyway, the last time I had it out, the drag did not happen at all. Guessing I'll have to just be vigilant for other symptoms and wait for a more obvious clue as to what is going on.

On to the next problem - this sled is intended predominantly for my wife to ride with our daughter on the back. Those two add up to one "me": about 300 pounds. Yes, I AM ashamed.

So I have a bunch of preload on the back shock and the FRA set to stiff to help avoid bottoming. I'm thinking this may actually be too stiff, as the ride is quite hard. Middle shock is on the third preload position. This all results in the coupling rod gaps being close to correct with me on the sled. I will try to adjust the FRA back to medium and see how it is, but I'm guessing my fat *** will make it bottom more often than I would like. Anybody have an opinion on what a good strategy might be to minimize bottoming for this load condition while not also making it ride like a race sled?

So, on to the next question: with this current setup, this sled darts like a MOTHER! This is not good, as I suspect my wife is not equipped to handle this beast. What is the collective brain trust on chasing off this darting problem? Adjustments to middle shock preload/limiter strap in conjunction with ski preload? Ski bumper shimming? Dooly carbides? New skis? All of the above? Currently have the original metal skis with skins.

Love this forum, guys. Appreciate the wisdom here!
 
Hope you all don't mind if I continue this conversation with myself!

Solved the excessive darting with some homemade sk bumper shims and an increase to the center shock preload.

I also don't believe I have any driveline drag issue anymore - I think the clutch/clutches need some freshening. Starting from a stop seems a bit labored, but I can easily pull the sled across the snow by hand - the track seems to be rotating pretty easily.

Also, the sled seems to need a bunch of throttle to maintain 30-40 mph on a trail, and is turning what feels like a bunch of revs for that speed. If I squeeze down further, eventually it takes off like a rocket and shoots up to 50 plus instantly. I'm theorizing that my drive clutch is sticking in spots. I bought new bushings for it last year and a puller, but I don't have the right tools to take the clutch apart, so I may try to pull the clutches this weekend and bring it to the dealer and have them freshened up.
 
Nothing like having old sleds, huh?

So I didn't feel like I wanted to ride the V-Max more until I got the clutch rebuilt, but my kids were begging to ride, so I got it out along with our '99 Skidoo MXZ 440 fanner to go across the street to a field that we ride in.

Headed down our road and stopped at the crossing with me and my daughter on the V-Max and my 13 YO son on the MXZ. Idle on the V-Max then hung at about 3200. "Huh" I thought, assuming it was just my first time seeing the occasional idle hang that I've read about here and there. Went to give it throttle to squirt across the road and the lever stopped dead at maybe 20% throttle. WTF?!?!? Not even enough available to engage the clutch. I had turned off the carb heater in the relatively warm temps (30F), and thought maybe I had iced up, so I turned it back on and let it idle there for a few minutes. No difference whatsoever.

It's in the garage now, awaiting clutch removal and carb exam/dissection. Can't see anything external that is impeding the throttle, but haven't closely looked at the actual lever area to see if there is someone going on there. Verified that the oil pump lever moves freely.

Any ideas? Assuming I will need to go in from the top of the carbs to find the issue. Had noticed when buying parts for my earlier carb cleaning that the gaskets for the carb top covers were not so easy to find. i ended up NOT opening up the top for that reason. Would appreciate any suggestions for a source for those gaskets, assuming I end up cracking them open.
 
Ok. Found the carb problem and fixed. The connecting screw/eccentric nut assembly on the PTO side had backed out so far it was hitting the top cover. The carb synchronization was so out of wack, I'm surprised it ran as well as it did. Guessing i may find tomorrow that much of my supposed clutching issues may be solved. IMG_1078.jpg
 
Took the V-Max out this morning - cleaner response off idle and more linear engine response to throttle. Happy with the carb repair. Temps were just above freezing, and this thing really seems pig rich at lower speeds in these temps. I have not checked needle positions, but mains/pilots fuel screw settings are factory spec.

With all that said, the clutching still seems messed up. So I popped the clutch off, which came off as easily as I could have hoped. Puller worked perfectly.

So now I need to decide whether to tear apart myself or just bring to the dealer for the refresh. Assuming I can replace everything on my own except for the sheave bushing, which I suspect is toast. I liked the guys that I talked to at the shop, so thinking I'd like to give them the business. Just hoping they don't slather the clutch in lube.
 
So I took the cover plate off the clutch and looked around. First thing I noticed was some corrosion on the shaft; but the weights and rollers seem not too bad. The shaft bushings are too loose, in my opinion. Upon further examination, I see that the clutch has 8CR weights. Stock for the sled per my service manual is 8AB's. Spring colors are worn, but appear to be wh-p-wh, which is stock. However, the free length of the spring measures 81mm as opposed to what my manual says should be 78.7mm?

I've been thinking this whole time that I'd like to get things freshened up and back to stock, but now starting to wonder if that's my best move, considering the primary duty for this sled will be 2 up riding. Chaincase is 22/39, and would like to keep that way if possible.

I'm attaching a couple of photos for anyone who would like to comment:

IMG_1081.jpg
IMG_1079.jpg
IMG_1083.jpg
 
Of course, shaft bushings are important. If you have your doubts about the, replace. Sounds like you might have a long spring in a short cap. Did you check your service manual that it is for a 99 model? I think most of them should have tall covers by then. Also, if the face of those sheaves look anything like the outside, they will benefit from a good cleanup.
 
Everything I'm looking at in the manual says for a '99. Thinking I have a Frankenclutch.

So I'm looking at well over 300 bucks for parts from Ronnie's. Any ideas where parts may be less pricy?
 
Ebay is a good start. Can you get a pic of the clutch cover? From top and a profile picture of it?
 
Also - can't get a picture of the cover now as I dropped it off to have the new bushings installed. The number on the cover is 8BV00...which looks to be correct for my model.
 
The clutch cover for a 1999 is 8BV-17630-10-00, so that seems to be in order. Now I'm pretty sure you have a short cover and a long spring, since the spring was too long.
 
I'm having trouble reconciling the spring color with the free length. Unless they put the same colors on springs of different lengths for different years.
Planning on ordering the right spring and weights.
 
With regard to the weights - I have the part number, and the service manual says 3 each. Will they go in the heel or in the toe? Also, I don't have a tool for insertion. Better off letting dealer do it?
 
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