Major Mech. Scare Today

[rmkman]

Well today I took the sled down to a major lake in our area and when I started it up it sounded great, I let it warm up while I got dresses and then when I took off the sled would fall flat on its face once it reached the mid range! I knew it wasn't the jetting I just rode it in the same conditions two days earlier, it was definitely a motor issue not clutching. I pulled the plugs and they looked OK, so I swapped them with a brand new set and ran the sled down the strip and rechecked them..... they looked great!. Well now I am stumped so I drove the sled to the truck and brought it home to dig deeper. The first think I did was a compression test and I had 128 on the PTO side and 130 on the other, well thank god thats not the problem. My only other idea was maybe I blew part of my reeds out the Exhaust???? not likely but I am running out of ideas at this point. My Power valves were cleaned 200 miles ago and the TPS was just reset in Nov. So before tearing into the intake or carbs I decide to check the Power valves since it was simple to do. They were a little gamed up but not bad, I cleaned them and ran the sled down the road.... it was still acting up! I had enough I called the Polaris dealer and asked for advise. They asked everything and I already checked everything but................
the Power valve Bellows(diaphram) I just pulled the two side bolts and checked the blade not all of the internal workings. Well there was a small tear on it so I had to travel to the dealer and Pay the $34 dollars for a new one. I guess what I am trying to say through this overly long story is when you do your cleaning of your Power valves I suggest you take a close look at the Bellows also I have only taken the valves completely apart once when I first bought the sled and that was only due to me not knowing that I didn't have to disassemble the entire valve to clean the Blade. Sorry for the long Post

[snow4mydooplz]

Glad you found your problem......The unknown can eat at you !! :bash:

[PETE/NY]

Originally posted by rmkman@Feb 27 2005, 03:47 AM
Well today I took the sled down to a major lake in our area and when I started it up it sounded great, I let it warm up while I got dresses and then when I took off the sled would fall flat on its face once it reached the mid range! I knew it wasn't the jetting I just rode it in the same conditions two days earlier, it was definitely a motor issue not clutching. I pulled the plugs and they looked OK, so I swapped them with a brand new set and ran the sled down the strip and rechecked them..... they looked great!. Well now I am stumped so I drove the sled to the truck and brought it home to dig deeper. The first think I did was a compression test and I had 128 on the PTO side and 130 on the other, well thank god thats not the problem. My only other idea was maybe I blew part of my reeds out the Exhaust???? not likely but I am running out of ideas at this point. My Power valves were cleaned 200 miles ago and the TPS was just reset in Nov. So before tearing into the intake or carbs I decide to check the Power valves since it was simple to do. They were a little gamed up but not bad, I cleaned them and ran the sled down the road.... it was still acting up!* I had enough I called the Polaris dealer and asked for advise. They asked everything and I already checked everything but................
the Power valve Bellows(diaphram) I just pulled the two side bolts and checked the blade not all of the internal workings. Well there was a small tear on it so I had to travel to the dealer and Pay the $34 dollars for a new one.* I guess what I am trying to say through this overly long story is when you do your cleaning of your Power valves I suggest you take a close look at the Bellows also I have only taken the valves completely apart once when I first bought the sled and that was only due to me not knowing that I didn't have to disassemble the entire valve to clean the Blade. Sorry for the long Post* *

[snapback]406097[/snapback]

RMKMAN- When you take the VES valves out to clean and inspect them, you don't have to dissasemble them entirely.What I have been told and do is- push the blade into the housing and put your thumb over the center of the covers hole.If the bellows is good, the blade will stay in.If the bellows is cracked, the blade will just not stay in. Hope this helps.

[michahicks]

I had a bellows let go on me earlier this season. That was my incentive to go with the TI update - they come with the new updated bellows.

[PETE/NY]

Originally posted by michahicks@Feb 27 2005, 04:55 PM
I had a bellows let go on me earlier this season. That was my incentive to go with the TI update - they come with the new updated bellows.

[snapback]406223[/snapback]

Michahicks- what is the TI update? Are these the Titanium VES valves? Do they come as a package or do you have to piece them out one by one? Thanks.

[NewfieBullet]

It's so ironic that you just had this problem, and that you figured out what it was like that.
A few weeks ago I noticed a bog in the midrange. Tried new plugs and caps, same thing.
Talked to the dealer about it, and they all tried to convince me it was jetting. NO WAY! I had 3800 miles on the machine, why would the jetting all of a sudden cause a problem?
I brought it in for them to check out, and they found broken motor mounts, and they changed the helix and put in a new driven spring (reverse wound). No difference, and the bog was getting worse. At the end of it I couldn't get any more than 7500rpm.
Brought it in again and they put in the new bellows (had about 1/2 inch tear in one), and new Ti Valves because mine were getting pretty dinged up.
Took it out again, and WOW! it was like a new machine. All of a sudden it was fun to ride again.
Anybody with a VES sled, check the bellows if you notice a drop in performance. Aparently it's a fairly common issue.