[tic]

Rode my wife's 03' MXZ550 Fan today and noticed the thumb throttle lever was loosey goosey.. Looked down and the upper bracket just below the hinge pin was cracked all the way through.. It still works but if the lower bracket fails I'm doomed... Ordered another throttle lever. The lever itself is no biggie to replace, just a pin, washer and circlip. The question is, how do I get to the connector for the heat?.. Does the handlebar assembly have to come off?...All I see is a wire assembly disappearing into the bar and no obvious way to take it apart. I have the shop manual. It shows that wiring splitting off into 3 connectors but it doesn't show how to get to them..thanks

 

[tic]

Nobody has done this???? Or was my question too vague?

 

[trailblazer]

Not having any pics of your handle bar pad, I'll assume it's the standard rubber pad that is held in place with the 2 sliding clamp type things. The best words I can think of to describe them is that they look like caterpillars with a rubber ring at one end. Undo this ring and slide it off in the other direction. Some models also will have 2 small screws you'll have to undo. Then remove the rubber bar pad. There should be 2 plugs under there. Follow the wires from the thumb warmer through the bars (if yours go inside) and to the plug. The wire ends have metal pins that lock into this plug.
Patiently, carefully, gently and did I mention patiently, work a small screwdriver or small awl into the plug and release the little tabs holding the metal connector in place. Once you're able to release the connector, the wire will just pull out. Replace the throttle and reroute the wires as the original ones were through the bar and into the plug connector.

It's difficult to explain without pictures and knowing for sure what your sled has.
I hope this helps.

Let us know how you made out.

Jeff

 

[tic]

I will take some pics of it today.. I do indeed have two rubber thingies that look like caterpillars and I tried to take them off with no luck. It looks like a tab at each end of the caterpillar and I thought if I pulled the tab out the rest would come off but it didn't. That is a hard piece to describe so I'll take the picture and post it..

 

[tic]

O.K. Here's the pic of the caterpillar... It does look like I need to take the screw and nut off on each side of the pad too... Also notice the pretty goop job on the teather switch.. It's loose and I can't get to the nut on the backside of it w/o taking the whole thing apart.. I can ALMOST reach up there behind the airbox but my hands are too big, so I just used some household goop to hold it in place.. Geez, no problems whatsoever with my 98' formula 3 700.... I don't ride the MXZ550 fan much though.. Wife must be hard on the switches....

 

[tic]

I've found that a few thick rubber bands around the thumb throttle is holding it together just fine... I'm not taking it apart until I have the new one here... Suppossed to be in tomorrow.. I hope so because we leave for a sledding vaca on monday... Also going to give each sled a new belt.. My biggest fear is getting it apart and not being able to get it back together... I might just bring the new piece with us and replace if neccessary but that won't be alot of fun on the side of a trail!.. I know how this stuff can go (at least for me) I'll take it apart and break the connector or lose the throttle cable or something else that will raise my blood pressure.. LOL... I sure wish I had a mechanic to ride with... Jake, you out there? I think someone needs to call in sick next week...

 

[Thumbdoctor]

Tic,

I have attached a document with all the service manual details on the thumb throttle and how the thottle cable attaches to it. I have also listed the description and part number of the heater flipper. The console can be lifted to gain access to the tether switch by loosening & removing the large plastic nut under the gas cap. This will give you access to the backing nut under the console. I have attached the section of the wiring repair so you can fgure out which connections for the thumb heater and how to get them apart.

[attachment=33661:Tic_.doc]

GOOD LUCK with it !!!

PM me if your having DOO DOO

T.D.

 

[tic]

WOW!!!.. thanks!!!!

 

[tunedbyear]

how's this.

 

[tic]

O.K. After an hour on the phone w/ Jake and me being unable to download the graphics he told me his computer was using word perfect R 12 to open the file and so I tried that and it worked!.. Still not the clearest of diagrams but it sure is better than going in there blind.. I hope to have the new throttle lever tomorrow and then I'll try and get the bar pad off and see what's in there... Looks like it could be any number of connectors for the heat but the diagrams show how to take each one apart.. I really appreciate all the help!.. Beers on me!

 

[XCR583]

Leave it to thumbdocotor or Jake and one of the two will get you fixed up!!

 

[tic]

Got the parts today. 4 hours later I'm done.. (that includes installing new belts on both sleds)...On Jake's advice, I decided not to mess with the connectors for the thumb heat.. I just cut the wires near the throttle and soldered the new wires to the existing.. Tedious soldering but I've got all kinds of soldering supplies, heatshrink etc.so I was prepared.. Fired it up and the thumb heat works!.thanks for the tip on how to get to the tether switch backing nut thumbdoctor, worked out great. The new belt was a good investment too.. There was black belt debris on the belt cover and the old belt was installed with the rotation direction reversed.. New belt sits 1/8" above the pulley instead of 1/8" below it as it did before... $48 bucks for the 550F belt... $78 bucks for the formula 3 700 belt! Jake tells me some of the new sleds have $140 dollar belts... Thanks a bunch for the help jake, thumbdoctor and trailblazer.. Saved me a bunch of labor $$$ and the shops are swamped now anyways.. Now we can leave for the grand canyon of PA trip knowing everything works.... Great feeling, great help, great forum, great sport!

 

[tunedbyear]

well i'm glad the job was a success. now i can relax and have a couple triple x's lol. good job i knew you could do it.

 

[tic]

Here's a pic of the busted part... I thought it was metal, but it's plastic... Also a pic of the LONG thumb heat cable and connectors.. Also I am including a pic from "take your kid to work week"

 

[tic]

Thanks again for the help everyone