Bought a turd 99 Phazer

G

GG MM

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Joined
Dec 23, 2023
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Location
Lavington B.C.
Well, I made an account here last year when I bought an 01 Mountain Max, all my Googles landed me here. I don't think I ever posted anything.
Last week I bought a 99 Phazer 500 136" (primarily for my kid), we just mess around on the mountain behind our house and the air cooled is great for it. We will be selling his 1982 Bravo and making the ?upgrade? I pretty much settled on a price for the PZ sight unseen and met the owner halfway between our houses. I kinda wish I ran away when It did not "sparkle" as I expected a sled with 1100kms to sparkle. I love the sled, the style, the tight steering and the motor (because our '93 PZ is such a sweetheart) but so many things on it are just not correct.
When I pulled it out of the truck to run it across the yard it farted popped and backfired, it barely ran. The left ski was toed in large amounts and the tie rod was bent. (explains the upgraded skis) The farts and pops cleaned up a bunch but not good. Pulled the carbs on the weekend, float bowls were full of crap/ rust. Upon further inspection the float pins were both downgraded to small spiral wood nails, then the rust in the bowls made more sense.
Ran it for a couple kms Saturday and it ran okay/good. Selling the Bender Pipe that came on it and have an OEM pipe on it's way. Ran it for a couple kms yesterday and it ran worse. Guess I'm back into the carbs tonight for another cleaning.
I guess I am learning to polish yellow windshields and cleaning carbs for the foreseeable future. I thought this sled was going to ready to ride and not a maintenance whore. (The MM has been good, just also had a bunch of stuff that also was not correct) (the 93 PZ has also been amazing)

Long story short, I paid too much. I should have ran away. First impression was meh compared to the pics in the add. When will I learn!

The snow down low at the house this year is dismal, guess I can tinker...
 
i hope replacing the fuel filter in the tank is on the list. from the sounds of it, it might be in pretty bad shape. i have had one rust in 1/2 from sitting for at least 15 years before i got to it.
 
I'll put it on the list, I was actually unaware that there was a filter in the tank.
I will look it up, is it just a strainer like a dirt bike petcock has?
Huh, looked it up...
Is the idea to hook it with a piece of wire and drag it thru the filler hole?
 
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basicly yes. make sure you hold the hose firmly as it is a pita to get back up again. also pull the white sleeve under the filler cap for better acess.
 
Thanks for the strategy!
If only my trusty Yamaha dealer had one in stock, they hit a homerun for me once in a while, today was a strikeout on a few items!
I'm going to drain the tank today, will try to get a look at the filter.
Received an OEM exhaust today from a Wrecker near Winnipeg, looks really good.
Does everyone in Canada know that there is a website called partshotline.ca that will send a parts request to multiple snowmobile wreckers. It has been helpful to me so far in this Phazer recovery journey.
 
I got the filter off, another inch or two of fuel line would make re assembly easier, I'll be pulling the outlet assembly for sure to put it back together. Almost a good design if I had another inch or two of hose!
The existing filter actually isn't too bad.
 
good to hear. better to have checked and be good than not knowing at all.

thanks for the sled wreckers link. i need some parts for my et and having no luck locally.
 
What a bitch that fuel filter is, the hose on the outlet adapter doesn't have a removable clamp because it wouldn't fit through the tank hole, the only way is through the filler neck. I bought myself 68$ worth of different needle nose pliers to tackle this silly thing. (don't worry, just 68$CAD)(my chunky fingers will thank me on the next project as well)
Tank is flushed, carbs are clean, main jet #'s are unreadable.
Install fuel filter and finish windshield polish tonight.
Put on windshield and OEM pipe tomorrow, kid wants to swap skis with the Mountain Max as the PZ has really big skis from maybe a Nytro and PZ is already a wide one. Re-install grip heaters as they are slipping all over the place, should probably change chain oil while I'm in there with no pipe on...
I paid enough for this one for it to be ready to ride, damn thing is so wide that it doesn't fit in the heated work shed.

I apologize for the word salad but I have noticed that it is slow in here...

What's the go to for sloppy grips? I have super glue made for heated grips, should I do a couple wraps of electrical tape underneath to build diameter a bit and glue to the tape? A bit of electrical tape will help insulate a bit as well?

And really it could start snowing any time now...
 
never had a set of loose grips. when i replace them on my motorcycles/atv i usually only use paint to hold them on. there is a grip glue availible but i could see gorilla glue working well too.
 
The PZ is coming along, back to stock pipe and stock jetting. Running strong other than a sporadic "feels like" lean surge every few/5 minutes when coming down to idle. I haven't played with it much but it seems like if I let off the throttle when it surges it will die but if I get back on the gas it will sort itself out. My thumb has a hard time letting it die and continues stabbing it to keep it running. Seems like if it dies it likes choke to start back up? Anyone have any ideas? Is one carb running lean and out of fuel? I've probably only put 10 mins on it and the plugs don't look lean.
I guess I had to type that out to think maybe it's a fuel venting issue?
I wonder if one of the previous owners had nails for float pins for a reason? Could a float be binding up and not letting fuel in?

We got a bit of snow, need more, could definitely use a foot.
 
GG MM said:
The PZ is coming along, back to stock pipe and stock jetting. Running strong other than a sporadic "feels like" lean surge every few/5 minutes when coming down to idle. I haven't played with it much but it seems like if I let off the throttle when it surges it will die but if I get back on the gas it will sort itself out. My thumb has a hard time letting it die and continues stabbing it to keep it running. Seems like if it dies it likes choke to start back up? Anyone have any ideas? Is one carb running lean and out of fuel? I've probably only put 10 mins on it and the plugs don't look lean.
I guess I had to type that out to think maybe it's a fuel venting issue?
I wonder if one of the previous owners had nails for float pins for a reason? Could a float be binding up and not letting fuel in?

We got a bit of snow, need more, could definitely use a foot.
Click to expand...
Id double check that the idle circuit and choke circuit are clean on the carbs. Clean the pilots or replace. If its not starting warm unless you choke it, it sounds to me like the pilots are plugged. Bring the idle up on the rack and see if it cleans out at more idle.
 
Thanks for the thoughts!
Pilots are brand new, carb is cleaned more than twice now, but the fuel was really bad and crud could still be present. My truck ran really bad for 3 days on that stuff after I filtered it. (Mr. Funnel thingy)
The PZ starts really good warm and cold, except after it has had one of these sporadic surges. (seems like a lean condition compared to my dirt bikes)
 
GG MM said:
Thanks for the thoughts!
Pilots are brand new, carb is cleaned more than twice now, but the fuel was really bad and crud could still be present. My truck ran really bad for 3 days on that stuff after I filtered it. (Mr. Funnel thingy)
The PZ starts really good warm and cold, except after it has had one of these sporadic surges. (seems like a lean condition compared to my dirt bikes)
Click to expand...
Maybe an air leak someplace. Only happens when warm? The surges? Check reeds to be sure all good and no chips.
 
Thanks for the help.
I haven't had much test time, but so far I have only noticed it to surge while warm.
Good call, easy to check reeds, I have only peered at them through the intake boot. I'd hope they are good with such low kms though.
I would expect an air leak to be a little more consistent and maybe show up on a plug check.
 
Sled ran good today, lean feeling surge must be while warming up, didn't notice it on the mountain. Finally got some kms on it, how many I don't know as the speedo key smoked itself on the way up... This thing is beating me up! Luckily I have a few keys in stock, bearings seem fine?
PXL_20250208_215221652.jpg
Maybe I'll try again tomorrow... Maybe it's PZ 2 or MM 700's turn. The Polaris trail will stay at home, IMO the PZ's are way more fun in this F/C class.
 
"Feels like" lean surge solved. It was the TORS trying to save my life. Throttle cable routing was less than Ideal and on hard left hand turns the cable was opening the carb and the TORS was dumbing me down and saving my life.
I had never felt the TORS before... Now I know...
 
Drive shaft bearing replaced, shearing speedo keys...
I'd quite like the speedo (especially the odometer) to work.
Nothing feels great, but speedo drive feels plenty smooth enough and lubed it up good. Speedo works for the first 50-200 yards then shears a key.
What's first? Find a new speedo drive? I think I need to cut the cable housing down a bit, cable seems short compared to sheath, but I'd guess the next problem will be sheared cable. I lubed the cable the best I could with a motion pro cable luber tool and cable lube.
Now I've got rammy and pushed the last broken key into the shaft, have been unable to "pick" it out. Any ideas?
I paid too much...
It finally ran really nice and smooth yesterday...
Sorry for more word salad...
 
GG MM said:
Drive shaft bearing replaced, shearing speedo keys...
I'd quite like the speedo (especially the odometer) to work.
Nothing feels great, but speedo drive feels plenty smooth enough and lubed it up good. Speedo works for the first 50-200 yards then shears a key.
What's first? Find a new speedo drive? I think I need to cut the cable housing down a bit, cable seems short compared to sheath, but I'd guess the next problem will be sheared cable. I lubed the cable the best I could with a motion pro cable luber tool and cable lube.
Now I've got rammy and pushed the last broken key into the shaft, have been unable to "pick" it out. Any ideas?
I paid too much...
It finally ran really nice and smooth yesterday...
Sorry for more word salad...
Click to expand...

If you keep shearing the speedo key, then the cable needs to be lubed or replaced or the drive need to be free and or replaced but the key must be in correctly. You should be able to easily spin the drive when in your hands with the key as well as make the speedo move with the key in the drive and drive in hand.
 
That's where I'm stumped.
I can spin the speedo with a key with my fingers, and I can spin the speedo with a key with my fingers from the speedo drive, or just from the speedo cable.
Speedo drive looks a bit hammered from a previous owner but spins pretty okay?
I'm going to throw some parts at it. Cable first or speedo drive... I might try a wreckers for both at once, and buy stocks in speedo keys.
 
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