Here's a problem I haven't had before. I've worked on sleds for 40 years and removed dozens of clutches before. My clutch maintenance may have turned into an engine rebuild project.
I found a decent Polaris 1997 Indy Trail with the 500 Fan cooled engine. It has 6000 miles on it. It worked great all weekend as we drove over 100 miles at an average speed. Not pushing it at all. It was using lots of injection oil and the jetting is spot on because the plugs look perfect.
The only problem was that the primary clutch was sticking a bit. I bought a proper clutch puller for this engine and had a real hard time getting the clutch off. Not unusual if it hasn't come off in 20 years. I braced the clutch with a bar so it couldn't turn. I had a 12" ratchet handle and got the bolt as tight as I could. I lightly tapped the end of the bolt with a hammer and repeat, repeat, repeat.
As I was going through this process I realized that the engine had totally seized. I removed the bar that was holding the clutch in place and the shaft was totally immovable. It's not turning even a bit. I've never seen this before. I wasn't pulling on the engine exceptionally hard. I only had a 12" handle on my ratchet and I'm not a big guy. I've seen 200 pound guys use 3' bars (although I don't recommend it). I've heard of guys using a 3' bar. Since the shaft isn't moving at all it's like the crank bearings are totally seized. If it were the pistons you would feel some movement. I did get the clutch off after I gave some penetrating oil time to work. This work was done with the engine cold. The last time it was running was when I drove it on my trailer 3 days ago and it seemed fine.
This is my first Polaris. Is this a common problem? Does this sound like crank bearings or a bent crank? Thanks for any advice and I'll take sympathy and donations as well.
I found a decent Polaris 1997 Indy Trail with the 500 Fan cooled engine. It has 6000 miles on it. It worked great all weekend as we drove over 100 miles at an average speed. Not pushing it at all. It was using lots of injection oil and the jetting is spot on because the plugs look perfect.
The only problem was that the primary clutch was sticking a bit. I bought a proper clutch puller for this engine and had a real hard time getting the clutch off. Not unusual if it hasn't come off in 20 years. I braced the clutch with a bar so it couldn't turn. I had a 12" ratchet handle and got the bolt as tight as I could. I lightly tapped the end of the bolt with a hammer and repeat, repeat, repeat.
As I was going through this process I realized that the engine had totally seized. I removed the bar that was holding the clutch in place and the shaft was totally immovable. It's not turning even a bit. I've never seen this before. I wasn't pulling on the engine exceptionally hard. I only had a 12" handle on my ratchet and I'm not a big guy. I've seen 200 pound guys use 3' bars (although I don't recommend it). I've heard of guys using a 3' bar. Since the shaft isn't moving at all it's like the crank bearings are totally seized. If it were the pistons you would feel some movement. I did get the clutch off after I gave some penetrating oil time to work. This work was done with the engine cold. The last time it was running was when I drove it on my trailer 3 days ago and it seemed fine.
This is my first Polaris. Is this a common problem? Does this sound like crank bearings or a bent crank? Thanks for any advice and I'll take sympathy and donations as well.
Polaris Engine Seized while pulling clutch
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