89 Ovation with a Seized Motor

dnale

dnale

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South Lyon, Michigan
My father in law has an 89 ovation that has a seized motor. Long story short is a long time ago my brother-in-law ran it without putting oil in it. That's been years. The sled looks in decent shape. It had a cover but it finally rotted off. Literally the sled has sat for probably 10 years. I can have it for nothing. Is it worth my time even messing with it? I guess I wouldnt mind a sled for down here (SE MI) that I could take out ice fishing or just having it. I don't know much about those ovations though and I haven't even looked under the hood.
 
Boy sitting for that long alot of things have to be froze up, i would
look it over real good and see how bad the skid and track is, also
what a used motor or a rebuild would cost,there nice little sleds tho
for kids or ice fishing,but if it;s going to take too much $$ leave it.
 
yeah I certainly don't want to sink a bunch of money into it. If I could put $200 or so into it and have a running sled that when I have kids they could ride or even just have down state, that wouln't be bad. The sled didn't have many miles either. I'd figure all new bearings in the skid, looks like shocks are fairly cheap for those rear skid too. It's not like it would be a mogul buster. If the track is shot, I'd have a better chance at putting a newer skid in it than trying to find that goofy length though.
 
awesome sleds! this is a perfect ice fishing sled and if you keep oil in it it will run forever. plenty of power to scoot to 65-70 if you feel the need. also not bad in deep snow.
 
Aftermarket pistons and gaskets are readily available, it's an iron bore not nicasil so you get to bore it and up the cc's.(IRRC it is basically the 340 enticer motor with a crappy carb) The carb they used sucks and the track ain't much better but they would probably make a decent kids trail sled.

I think Aaen listed a pipe for it.
 
erik b said:
Aftermarket pistons and gaskets are readily available, it's an iron bore not nicasil so you get to bore it and up the cc's.(IRRC it is basically the 340 enticer motor with a crappy carb) The carb they used sucks and the track ain't much better but they would probably make a decent kids trail sled.

I think Aaen listed a pipe for it.
Click to expand...
you have any idea on skid parts or track for that sled?
 
that is the same motor as all the et340/400/410. bro just completely rebuilt one motor with seals, all and the primary clutch and all the bearings in the skid for $800.00 canadian. hard to get a good sled for that cheap.
 
daman said:
you have any idea on skid parts or track for that sled?
Click to expand...
OEM should still be available as they were around till 2000 and had very few changes made to them in that time span.
Stuff like the wheels are available aftermarket as they are pretty standard. Kimpex makes a 3/4 inch lug track but if we ever have to retrack dad's I'd be tempted to "stretch" it to a 121 and see if I could stick a 1 inch lug under it so it wouldn't suck quite so bad in anything more than 6 inches of snow.
 
I know. What the heck am I thinking jumping back into sometihng like this already. I only have 2 miles on my other rebuild.... I was wonder if the other 340 motors worked in that sled. I'm thinking if the track is bad, is it a huge anchor to put a 121 in it? Better to look at something from a pre-proaction days or something like a short travel srx skid?
 
You might want to take a look inside the motor first. It could need as little as one piston and the cylinder cleaned up. If it is too bad inside, one thing you could do is watch for another Ovation that is in poor shape but has a running motor, if you could pick one up cheap. It would not pay to stick a whole lot of time and money into an 89 ovation.
 
dnale said:
I know. What the heck am I thinking jumping back into sometihng like this already. I only have 2 miles on my other rebuild.... I was wonder if the other 340 motors worked in that sled. I'm thinking if the track is bad, is it a huge anchor to put a 121 in it? Better to look at something from a pre-proaction days or something like a short travel srx skid?
Click to expand...

Why bother with a complete new skid, for what it is they aren't that bad. If you were going to a 121 just throw some extensions on and call it good. I think Tracks had some that would have worked.
 
I'm just tossing out ideas. I'm still learning, and especially new at the age of sleds. I'll have to take a closer look at it one of these days. I have a feeling it may be a spring/summer project and not a late winter one. I know it's not going anywhere.
 
DNale: Did you ever do anything with this sled? Wondering what other mods could be done (have an '89 Ovation that seized and we bored it and got it running again). I also know that Aaen does sell an exhaust pipe for it. Throw some plastic skis on it and extend the track to a 121" and I have to think it is a great little sled for ice fishing or a snowmobile beginner/child.
 
I have a rebuilt motor sitting in my basement for it to drop in it in a couple of weeks. I'm debating about "long-tracking" it. I have to take a look at the skid on it. The motor was toast but everything under the hood looks great. I'll keep looking for a set of cheap ski-doo ski's in plastic for it. I used those before on my vmax and the swap was easy. The skis on it are ok. Actually the track looks good too. I've got a couple things to do to my srx and then I'll put it in the trailer and bring down the ovation.
 
I have an 87 340 Yamaha Excel III basically the same motor as the Ovation, it was my first sled so I have held on to it.
I just got a new track for it today, its the Kimpex Aggressor 3/4" lug, it looks a lot better than the stock track, I will try and get some pics of it tomorrow beside the stocker.
I had also thought of extending the skid and fitting a 121 but the problem is finding a 121 track with the 3.92 pitch, none available that i could find.
There was an Enticer and Excel model with 136, they are 2.52 pitch, could be made to work with a change of sprockets.
I found that the fun of these sleds was they were fun on tight trails, a longer track might spoil that imo, I hope the 3/4 lug aggressor will be be enough to give it some bite, will know soon.
 
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