Time to change bearings?

Over this summer, remove the drive axle bearing on the speedo side, and give it a real good checkup. Mine must have got a little water in it before last season. I checked it last summer and it was locked up solid. Not the cheapest bearing, but it can definately cost you a LOT more if you don't catch it when it goes bad. :wink:
 
I have 7,400 miles on my '01, and so far I replaced the axle brg I mentioned only once, and 1 or 2 skid bogie bearings every season. I check everything over before going on my yearly trip up to Canada, and this year I replaced a few bearings, and after the trip, (approx 1,000 miles) I had about 2 or 3 that definately need replaced now. The new bearings are a little skimpy on the grease, so that probably doesn't help the longevity of the bearing. I can't think of a better sled to be on when I go up north! :D
 
Not to difficult?

I'm more a novice mechanic, but have done all work on my skid(removed & replaced shocks & transfer rods for long travel'd), clean my power valves, clean clutch etc... how hard is it to check/replace the bearing on the speedo side...., oh one more thing when i was cleaning power valves last week it made me think if they needed adjustment, should i get dealer to do or is this something i or my buddy(more experienced) can do....thanks
 
I usually take the rear suspension out over the summer and check for cracks, wear, etc while I grease and clean everything. I'm not sure how hard it would be to check it while the skid is in place, but you need either a metric allen wrench or one of those torx wrenches to back off a set screw or two on the bearing collar. If you put a little jack screw to push between the rear suspension bar and the drive axle, maybe you could leave the track tight and take the pressure off the bearing so you could slide out the bearing and check it w/no load on it to see how loud it is when you spin it. Chances are it will suck to get it off anyway, and you may be better off taking out your suspension, pipes, chancase cover, etc, and just check your sled over good while inspecting that bearing. As for the exhaust valves, do not disconnect the servo motor wires to do this. There is another plug close by the servo motor area that is just for plugging in 12volts to check your exhaust valves. If you want to do this most accurately, while you have your pipes off for checking your bearing, put a 12 motorcycle battery to this plug by rigging a couple wires, and make sure your sled is in "run" mode (key on and kill switch up). Your servo motor will open the valves all the way. Shine in your exhaust manifolds with a flashlight and mirror, and see that the exhaust valves open flush with the port. If one is hanging a little low, adjust it up so it is flush. Do not worry about getting the motor to let the valves back down. As soon as the battery opens the exhaust valves, take the battery off the plug. It will stay. When you want the valves to go down, you can either turn the servo motor carefully back by hand, or the valves will go back down as soon as you start your sled anyway. Piece of cake. There may even be some details of this somewhere on this website in the tech section. If you can do what you already did on your sled, then you should be capable of this also. No problem! :mrgreen:
 
First thanks for the info, now in regards to the power valves, i found on Maxximum Performance web page that they selling a valve tested, is this worth buying, or could you better explain(I'm a little slow) how to rig wires(i found the plug you are referring to), and just a few more things on adjusting valves, when you say use light and mirror do i need to remove manifold too?, and just so i get this straight when servo engages valves open up all the way right, so if one is not how do i adjust... i really apprciate all this info man!, and if you havent planned your trip to Canada yet pm me because my father in law has cottages to rent and we have some of the best trails in northern ontario, and i would be glad to set you up.....
 
Unless the tester is $5, I'd just skin a couple wires and rig it yourself. Come to think of it, I think my exhaust manifolds were off at the time. They are fairly long, and now I'm wondering if you can see around the bends or not. If a valve needs adjusted up or down, there are nuts holding the cables in place at the servo motor itself. You don't have to pop the cover off, but you can see that by loosening the nut, you can then thread the cable in or out to adjust your valve up or down. I don't have time right now, but hopefully before the end of the week, I'll see if I can take a picture of how I hook the wires in with the battery, etc. I have an old fuse block like they use for putting in a car stereo ampifier wire off of the positive battery terminal. I put that in line with a fuse like they say, but you are only touching the wires for a second to open the valves and then you take it off anyway, so you probably don't need the fuse, but I had one so I used it. As for the trip up north, I'll try and remember to drop you an email when the snow flies. I've gone to Sturgeon Falls for the last three years, and I always have a good time there, but I know that there are lots of good places to ride. Its always fun exploring new trails! I'll try and get you a picture and better details before the end of this week. I port sleds and atv's (mostly yamahas) and have one that I'd like to finish before the end of this week, because of another already dropped off. I'll talk to you later! Marc Matczak. :wink:
 
My camera isn't working, even w/new batteries. I'm sorry I didn't get you a picture of the exhaust valve checking setup, BUT...I just found the details on this site. (I think that's where I saw it originally anyways!) Go to the snowmobile tech page, click on engine, and then the 4th section down, is the exhaust valve info. It has all the pages, including the battery setup at the bottom pages. All great info. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but this describes it the best. 8)
 
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