Rock through front cooler..advice?

[DTE]

Soooo, through a rock thru the front cooler today, not happy. Luckily i was close to a logging road and was able to get the truck and get it back on the trailer without having to tow or drive it out with no coolant.

Not too expensive a part, $200. Any advice on a novice replacing it? Looks simple enough, pull out track, take out rivets, replace with new part and new rivets. Anyone done it before, am I going to have to pull the engine and everything?? Tell me it's as simple as it looks in the manual...

Also, my skis are wayyy out of alignment from catching one on a rock, it's turned in about 4-5". I couldn't see any bent parts on the outside of the sled, haven't pulled out the pipe and looked inside. What should i expect?

Too pissed off right now to even look at it right now! My fault for taking a summit out in Onterrible!!

2006 Summit 800

 

[DTE]

Alright, so i've talked with a buddy and he filled me in on all the bad news, and it looks like I'll be pulling the motor for my first time ever..so i'm hoping for a bit of advice..

Already ordered the cooler, going to pull everything apart before it gets here so I can get it in and back together ASAP.

Any specific tools I'll need to pull the engine, or stuff to watch out for? Aside from pulling the clutch, exhaust and recoil off is there anything else that needs to go? I"ve heard the Y pipe is a PITA getting off, but my buddy has a 440 so i'm not sure if it's the same.

Same with pulling out the skid, just the 2 bolts per side and then drop it out?

The cooler looks like the easiest part, remove rivets, replace with new cooler and new rivets.

Any heads up I can get before diving in will make for a lot less swearing and hair pulling, I'd really appreciate it!

2006 Summit 800 Adrenaline.

Thanks,

MW

 

[rotax3006]

Dont forget to unhook the oil lines and the pump cables. A lot easier to do it before you get the engine half out. Same goes for all the coolant lines. Take your time and make sure all hoses, lines, wires, ect are unhoooked before you try to pull it out. The Y pipe is a bit of a pain to get out. Get a good set of T handle allen wrenches.... the kind with the ball ends they help a lot. other that that its pretty easy. You will have to get the drive shaft out to change heat exchanger. Thats not too bad either if you have sum help to remove/ install track. put the sled up on saw horses with back supported w/ratchet strap, rope pulley or something that you can raise and lower it with. other than that not much else. If you hit something that might have bent the chassis. now would be a good time to fix it....Good luck

 

[Marty UT]

It's a lot less scary than it looks/sounds. I just had the engine out of my 1000. I went and bought a package of colored tapes (6 colors) and color coded any wires/sensors I disconnected. Probably the worst part was getting to the oil pump to disconnect everything. Not sure how exactly your 800 is set up, but the motor mount on mine on the pto side is one piece. I found that when I took it off, it made acessing the oil pump a lot easier. Same thing with reinstalling it.

A shop manual is very handy to have as well. Doesn't hurt to take lots of pictures throughout the removal process either.

 

[Mac-Daddy-Racing-212]

I've never removed the recoil to pull my motor. Just cut the knot and CAREFULLY slid the rope back to the recoil assy. Tied a large knot and set it off to the side. The Y pipe, I use the ball end allens that are socket mounted. Use the air tools and it goes much faster (I've done a few). You will need a snap ring pliers to pull the jackshaft out, if needed. The snap ring is inside the chain case on the lower bearing. Pull the snap ring, pull the speedo and magnet on the drive shaft (pulls straight out) then push the drive shaft towards the chaincase. This will push the bearing out. Once the bearing is out, you can keep pushing the shaft towards the chaincase until the shaft clears the clutch side of the sled. Tip the axle down and pull the axle out. Now you have a lot more room to work. I like to raise the rear of the sled and tie it to the rafters in the garage. Makes it a lot easier to see what is going on. Besure to look what you are going to drill into or through, before you actually start drilling. Hate to replace more parts than needed.

Good luck, ask questions, get'er done.

 

[DTE]

Thanks guys, definitely feeling a lot better about this. Going to start disassembly today, will be taking lots of pics to keep track, i'll post up any interesting ones. Thanks again!!

 

[mtnjunkie]

Are you pulling the motor to replace the front cooler? You shouldn't need to. I had the same thing happen couple years ago. Ended up routing the coolant around that cooler on the hill, filled with spring water and rode it a couple more days as we weren't riding near home. Then I just pulled the track and everything to get it off, it's just riveted. Had a buddy weld the hole up, it wasn't very big at all. Riveted it back on, track back on, and the weld has held the last year just fine.

 

[DTE]

Are you pulling the motor to replace the front cooler? You shouldn't need to. I had the same thing happen couple years ago. Ended up routing the coolant around that cooler on the hill, filled with spring water and rode it a couple more days as we weren't riding near home. Then I just pulled the track and everything to get it off, it's just riveted. Had a buddy weld the hole up, it wasn't very big at all. Riveted it back on, track back on, and the weld has held the last year just fine.

Just pull track and drive shaft you say? That was kind of my plan in the first place, just to see if it was possible.. I will look to see if it is. did you just flip your sled upside down once u got to removing the cooler or how did you have it sitting?


I also noticed that my left A arm is bent, I think that's all..the top rear part of the arm is touching the shock. Is there an easy way to tell if anything else is bent?

 

[mtnjunkie]

I actually just hooked the lift in our shop to the rear bumper and lifted it way up, then just sat under the tunnel after getting the track and drive shaft out. I was able to drill the rivets out, get the cooler fixed and then just rivet it back on. I used a magnet to get the rivet pieces out from under the motor. It was a bit of a pain getting the bottom hose hooked up and clamp on, but not worth pulling the motor. Just used regular hose clamps and a long screwdriver and several beers.

 

[mtnjunkie]

Just remembered something else. It's easier if you push the hose on the cooler before you rivet it down. That way you can pull the hose through the hole somewhat and get it on the cooler all the way, put a couple rivets in, and tighten the clamp from above, then finish riveting. I think I did that that with both hoses, not sure.

 

[DTE]

Just remembered something else. It's easier if you push the hose on the cooler before you rivet it down. That way you can pull the hose through the hole somewhat and get it on the cooler all the way, put a couple rivets in, and tighten the clamp from above, then finish riveting. I think I did that that with both hoses, not sure.

Thanks!

So far so good right now, about ready to pull the drive shaft out, except for my ****ty snap ring pliers couldn't get the circlip out of the chain case, going to pickup a new pair tomorrow. Also I couldn't get the drain plug out of the chaincase, so i just pulled the cover off and put a big pan underneath to drain into.

 

[palidan]

hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you hit something hard enough to bend the a arm you probably bent the nun. if you hit the right side there will a wrinkle in the metal under and beside the muffler.the left side is not as easy to see,roll it on the right side then look where the a arm bolts on,the brackets and the aluminum behind it will be bent.oh and yes i have bent both sides.

 

[xpspenziv]

c clip

you can get the clip in and out with a small pair of needle nose pliers.

 

[DTE]

Alright! Finally got the driveshaft out after LOTS of prying and a bunch of track stuffing!!! haha From what I can see, i think i should be able to pull the front cooler out without pulling the engine, but i guess I won't know until I drill out all the rivets.

On another not, found my bent A arm isn't infact a bent A arm, it's a bent frame...the forward most part of the frame, right where the front upper A arm attaches on the left side (or maybe just the front plate)..there's a small fold, and a small crack. The fold is no more than 1/2", and the crack is about an 1/8". What do you thin, pound it flat and maybe some JB weld? or replace the part (just front plate or crossmember too)? Will get pics tomorrow, too cold to go back out right now at 11pm.