changing chain case oil on 2004 viper ER

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Mainerider1

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That's what Im attempting to do. Sled has 2900 miles with ES and reverse.I took the muffler off to check the level and condition of the oil.It seemed to have a lot of silver flake in it but the level was good. I took the battery and battery case out and it looks like there are 4 bolts around the edge holding the cover on.I loosened them up but seems like there is more holding it on .I was trying to back the cover just enough to drain the oil and clean it out some and maybe check the chain tension.I was hoping not to have to unhook all the linkages.I noticed theres a bolt in the middle of the case but I didn't want to start pulling bolts I don't have to and having things start falling apart and end up in a mess.Anybody got a pic of the bolts that need to be removed so I can get the case cover loose? Thanks,,,,after this its done and ready for snow.
 

don,t touch anything here, no need to. sure a just your chain tension, but their should be a service drain on that case. it will be under case , this is on right side right at foot rest, but its under chassis where track bend is. drain your case and add fresh. 3:16x (yammie tony)
 
^^^ chain case drain is inside tunnel.

That middle bolt on chaincase does have to come off to take cover off but like he said theres no need to. Metal specs/shavings are normal.
 
I thought everyone says not to just drain the case but to pull the cover so you can clean it out real good and check the chain tension. If your saying not to pull the cover and just pull the plug,drain and refill thats what Ill do. Id rather not pull the case cover but i thought that was the right thing to do.
 
thats up to you. you sounded in your post your were unsure, you can service your chain case by draining fluid. you don,t have to open it up. to check chain tension, go to your seconday and rock it back and forth. if it seems loose, adjust your tension. 3:16x (yammie tony)
 
If you don't take the cover off make sure to spray some brake cleaner down the dipstick hole with the plug out. You will be surprised how much more gunk comes out. It's really not that hard to take the cover off the 5th bolt is the small one in the middle of the cover. It holds the cover to the shaft for the reverse counter gear.

If you want to see what your up against look at the thread in my sig, it has all the steps from a bare chain case to putting the cover on. What happened with mine, and it totally impossible to tell without taking off the cover is if the return roller has seized. Mine came back from the mechanic seized and the roller was an egg. 5 minutes of running it on the track stand would make the magnet fuzzy. Not good at all. When installing it back together too you want to make sure that the shift fork is "floating" between the collar on the bottom gear. With the shifter in fwd and the linkage loose at the ball stud the shift fork lever should be able to go a little bit this way, a little bit that way so that its in the middle when the ball stud is tight. The fork riding the collar will make shaving too and if it's touching the wrong way could lift the sled out of gear when going forward.
 
I should add that I have cleaned out a JD chain case before by draining, refilling w/ diesel and running it on a stand. Then obviously draining and refilling with your choice of chain case fluid.
 
I was/am unsure.I only bought the sled and few months ago and this is the first time attempting to pull a chain case cover on a yamaha with the reverse.I thought it would be straight forward but after loosening the 4 bolts i could see theres more to it.I could of guessed and started pulling bolts in the middle which i assumed that was keeping it from coming off but i thought maybe other things might be supported by said bolt and things would start falling off on the inside and me not knowing how to put them back. I think Im going to tighten the 4 bolts back up and spray some brake clean down and try to douche it out some. I bought some amsoil syn chain case lube. One side of dip stick says reverse and the other is not,,,,the reverse marking looks lower on the dipstick than the other side which i think it said standard(memory).I checked the fluid height before i did anything and it looked too full as it was past the reverse level mark and up to the other side level mark. Thanks for the responses.
 
What part of Maine are you in? There is a big Yamaha following in Maine I'm sure someone would come over and share a 6 pack with you and help you go through it. If I wasn't in western NH I'd come give you a hand too. You really were almost there. 4/5 of the way actually. That one last bolt and the cover will fall off. It's a one piece rubber seal too so you don't have to mess with sealant at a seam either (like my Polaris). Getting eyes I'm there really is the best way to make sure nothing will surprise you.

The double dip stick levels is because of the increased case volume in the bottom. Instead of just saying a reverse case runs more oil we'll put a lower mark and leave the fill volume the same. I run my reverse case at the regular level, never caused me any grief and I'm ok knowing everything is well lubed up.
 
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