Question for the experts...... Every where I look I hear people talking about how this is the best motor that was ever put in a sled and how you can run them to 10,000 miles without doing a thing, etc, etc.
Well, I know 2 poeple that have owned sleds with this motor; myself and a friend of mine. I had a 1996 Indy trail and he had a 1995 Indy trail.
My Motor started running like crap (1 cylinder) at 1800 miles. I pulled the head on the PTO cylinder and found the skirt had broken and later found the aluminum pieces got down and damaged the pump gear and crankshaft.
My friends burnt up the PTO side cylinder at about 4,000 mi, looked like it leaned out and detonation got the best of the piston. Well we cleaned the carbs honed the cylinder slapped a new piston and rings in, and in a very short time burned it up again.
Then recently when talking to a guy that does all kinds of sled repair, he said he has rebuilt dozens of these motors beause they are TIME BOMBS. He said that the far crank bearing on the PTO side has a oil drilling feeding it oil, and that the drilling was undersized from the factory from '85 (or whenever they began making the 488) all the way up to around '97 when the recalled that model year and fixed the problem. The theory is that you overheat the PTO side bearing until material comes out and damages the crank seal. Then when the crank seal is gone you start sucking air leaning out the PTO side and causing all kinds of fun repairs.
Has anyone else had problems with these motors or heard of this problem? Apparantly you can drill out the small hole larger which fixes the problem.
The reason I bring this up is because I found an old 488 fan motor for my old indy trail which has been sitting without a heart for the past 3 years. The motor has been sitting for a few years as well so I am going to tear it down and go through it, and while I am at it I was going to drill out the oil hole in question. Has anyone ever done this before or know any more details about it?
Well, I know 2 poeple that have owned sleds with this motor; myself and a friend of mine. I had a 1996 Indy trail and he had a 1995 Indy trail.
My Motor started running like crap (1 cylinder) at 1800 miles. I pulled the head on the PTO cylinder and found the skirt had broken and later found the aluminum pieces got down and damaged the pump gear and crankshaft.
My friends burnt up the PTO side cylinder at about 4,000 mi, looked like it leaned out and detonation got the best of the piston. Well we cleaned the carbs honed the cylinder slapped a new piston and rings in, and in a very short time burned it up again.
Then recently when talking to a guy that does all kinds of sled repair, he said he has rebuilt dozens of these motors beause they are TIME BOMBS. He said that the far crank bearing on the PTO side has a oil drilling feeding it oil, and that the drilling was undersized from the factory from '85 (or whenever they began making the 488) all the way up to around '97 when the recalled that model year and fixed the problem. The theory is that you overheat the PTO side bearing until material comes out and damages the crank seal. Then when the crank seal is gone you start sucking air leaning out the PTO side and causing all kinds of fun repairs.
Has anyone else had problems with these motors or heard of this problem? Apparantly you can drill out the small hole larger which fixes the problem.
The reason I bring this up is because I found an old 488 fan motor for my old indy trail which has been sitting without a heart for the past 3 years. The motor has been sitting for a few years as well so I am going to tear it down and go through it, and while I am at it I was going to drill out the oil hole in question. Has anyone ever done this before or know any more details about it?
