Is Crank Bearing Failure Common?

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number1kyster

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Feb 9, 2006
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My 2002 Viper quit this weekend with 6,500 miles. I'm pretty sure the Crank bearings failed. It was idling high all day saturday and I was going about 90 MPH down a trail when she just quit and coasted to a stop. All three plugs looked fine and all three cylinders have compression. I pulled it over and it fired right up running on all three cylinders but it makes a horrible sound when it is running. The motor is also noticeably harder to pull over. I'm not going to fix the sled but I'm just curious to see if this is a common failure. Thanks,
 

This has ben talked about quite a bit. Most guys are raising the needles (in carbs) to prevent this. Vipers do not like the 40-50 mile an hour cruising. I have read on other sites how all the sled rental places took a beating on the vipers the bought to rent. As people renting sleds are usually inexperienced and put around till BOOM! If your not fixing it whats your plans for sled?
 
it is a storage issue, the older the sled, the more chances for moisture in the off season. at 10years old, it would only take one year of bad storage to start the crank pitting. It is usually the bearings one either side of the oil driver shaft that I have seen. This has nothing to do with jetting. Jetting doesn't ruin cranks, lack of oil and or moisture ruins crank.
 
Viper Cranks

My Viper has 8800 miles on it, lots of it hard wide open running up in Quebec for the frist 3 years. I replaced the rings at 5000 miles and the crank is still original. Runs fine. It is a spare sled that my guests that do not own sleds ride.
 
BETHEVIPER said:
it is a storage issue, the older the sled, the more chances for moisture in the off season. at 10years old, it would only take one year of bad storage to start the crank pitting. It is usually the bearings one either side of the oil driver shaft that I have seen. This has nothing to do with jetting. Jetting doesn't ruin cranks, lack of oil and or moisture ruins crank.
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i would absolutely agree. most sleds are stored outside or in an enviroment where there are huge swings in temperature and humidity this is the worst conditions possible. my sled will be stored in my basement where there is a fairly consistent temp./humidity enviroment.(run a dehumidifier sometimes-2007 FZ1 kept here) my sled is 100% stock, runs great on 89 octane. oil cable is set at ~ 19.5m.m. runs a ratio of ~ 45-50:1. perfect. have 2 admit my sled sat alot before i bought it, not sure what crank actually looks like. might seperate cases for a look see and put in seals, hopefully that is all it will need. i think 2 much of the blame is being put on the jetting. i would be more inclined 2 agree with this theory if all these sleds also had blown top ends.
 
if u are fogging ur sleds before storage u should not be getting condinsation on ur crank bearings and using the proper oil that stays suspended on metal surface and i know oil and moisture stay seperated and the only oil that i know stays suspended is klotz oil . allso starting it once a mounth goes a long way in keeping things oiled up
 
number1kyster said:
My 2002 Viper quit this weekend with 6,500 miles. I'm pretty sure the Crank bearings failed. It was idling high all day saturday and I was going about 90 MPH down a trail when she just quit and coasted to a stop. All three plugs looked fine and all three cylinders have compression. I pulled it over and it fired right up running on all three cylinders but it makes a horrible sound when it is running. The motor is also noticeably harder to pull over. I'm not going to fix the sled but I'm just curious to see if this is a common failure. Thanks,
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Just wondering, was it idling high because it was sucking air? Possibly crank seals or an intake boot leak? Only asking because i noticed you said it was idling high. High idle = lean, lean = destruction.
 
bluemonster1 said:
good thing I never bought a Viper..would of been blown up by now..I was looking but changed over to SRX instead....;)!
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lol yeah when my viper blows up i am going to call department of homeland security so they will have an excuse to bomb another country.
 
extremelyfastmax4 said:
allso starting it once a mounth goes a long way in keeping things oiled up
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That is the worst thing you can do to a 2 stroke engine in storage. Fogging oil clings to everything and leaves a thick barrier on all metal surfaces it is on to prevent corrosion. If your not fogging your 2-stroke that's mistake number one. Number 2 is running it periodically. I know the theory is to put fresh gas in the carbs and keeps things freed up. You are far better off to fog it right, drain the carbs, put rags in the intake/exhaust and forget about it until next winter.
 
Backwoods M Max said:
That is the worst thing you can do to a 2 stroke engine in storage. Fogging oil clings to everything and leaves a thick barrier on all metal surfaces it is on to prevent corrosion. If your not fogging your 2-stroke that's mistake number one. Number 2 is running it periodically. I know the theory is to put fresh gas in the carbs and keeps things freed up. You are far better off to fog it right, drain the carbs, put rags in the intake/exhaust and forget about it until next winter.
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most practical way to go. use to think it would be better to run it now and then. nice if u can store it inside. not an option in a lot of cases though. i would think u would want to drain tank and run gas out of fuel pump and lines also.
 
stein700sx said:
Do not the Viper and Srx have the same bottom end???
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kinda

correct procedure is
fill tank up completely and add stabil. This keeps mosture from getting in tank. Empty tanks expand and contract like your lungs pulling atmosphere into them, leaving moisture. Full tanks have almost no air pockets to pull atmosphere into.
run the sled to get stabil into the carbs and fuel pump.
spray fogging oil, wd40, or what ever you want everyone has a favorite, into the carbs through the air box or pull the boots back. Do this till the sled starts smoking badly.
shut off the sled. Then pull the plugs, spray into the hole while turning motor with clutch. Do this to each then spin plugs back in hand tight.
ball up a rag and plug off your exhaust outlet. This is where alot of atmosphere goes into the motor when sitting.
a good coating of oil/silicone on the outside of the motor and exhaust helps with rust unless you haul your sled on an open trailer, then your screwed.

also, remove atleast your belt. leaving your belt on in storage will leave pitting on the secondary in that area where the clutch touches the belt. The best thing to do, is remove both clutches, clean and polish them daily through the off season.

in the fall, remove the gas from the tank and put it in your truck. Do not run it in the sled. clean carbs and new gas, your ready to go.

I have a more complete list to store a sled properly some where on here but this is the short list, minimum you need to do.
 
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