[nAVEL]

Hey All -

Looking for some sound advice.

I've got a 1997 MXZ 440 Fan that has been rock solid in terms of reliability (well, up until this weekend anyway). It has 13,000KMs on it. And my wife rides it all the time (and loves it).

THis past saturday we fired it up and she wouldn't rev past 6,000RPM - pulled my helmet off and I hear a destinctive clunking sound. Shut it right down and tore into the top end. Nothing. However when I was turning it over slowly there was a distinctive grinding feeling so I took it in to a shop to have them take a look at the crank (I suspected the connecting rod bearing at the bottom was shot).

Turns out I was right.

The bearing let go and took out part of the connecting rod and was beginning to grind through the case. Crap crap crap.

He quoted me $440CAD to repair the crankcase, and says I may as well put new pistons, rings, etc etc. while he's in there for a grand total of $1,200CAD.

Ugh. The sled isn't worth that. However it's been the most reliable sled I've ever owned and the top end looked great when I ripped it apart (apart from some carbon on the pistons which I could easily clean up).

So here's what I'm thinking. Have him (or someone - can anyone recommend a cheap way to get a crank rebuilt? Or is $440CAD a pretty decent price??) rebuild the crank and I'll look after the top end myself. Put new gaskets on it but leave the current pistons (you can still see the cross-hatch in the cylinders.. still looks real good), perhaps switch the rings - that's put me back just over $600 for the repair... better than nothing I guess.

What I'm looking for is help/suggestions on getting this thing back and running. Has anyone had any experiences with those crank rebuild shops you send you busted crank into and they send you back a good one? What's the cost on that?

Would appreciate any/all suggestions to get this sled back out on the trails where it belongs...

Thx,
Bill

 

[Mikadoo]

There is only one way to save money and that is do it all yourself.
It will still be expensive, but a new remanufactured crank from Doo is about as cheap as it gets.
Your dealer is right about a new top end also, with those miles a whole new fresh motor is the only way to go or you will just be spending good money for bad.
As old as the whole sled is and high miles you might want to consider parting her out, she owes you nothing. Put the money towards a newer sled.

 

[EastCoastWest]

IF the jugs/pistons are in good shape why not just get the dealer to do the bottom end (gonna be hard to do yourself without the proper tools anyways), throw new rings on the pistons and use new gaskets everywhere. Don't fix what aint broken.

 

[cdn600mxz]

I threw a bearing seal in the crank of my 99 mxz 600- I sent the crank for a complete rebuild (new seals, new bearings, dipped the rods and weights) to adrian bernard in quebec. They specialize in rebuilding cranks. total cost for all new rebuilt was 425.00cdn I do not have they web site but just do a search on adrian bernard crank. Great work for a good cost
After that you should be able to do top end yourself
Took me a saturday afternoon to put it back to gather and then back into sled

oh yeah lots of these are required as well

 

[nAVEL]

I threw a bearing seal in the crank of my 99 mxz 600- I sent the crank for a complete rebuild (new seals, new bearings, dipped the rods and weights) to adrian bernard in quebec. They specialize in rebuilding cranks. total cost for all new rebuilt was 425.00cdn I do not have they web site but just do a search on adrian bernard crank. Great work for a good cost
After that you should be able to do top end yourself
Took me a saturday afternoon to put it back to gather and then back into sled

oh yeah lots of these are required as well

[snapback]691509[/snapback]​

Thanks CDN ..

Did you put the bottom end back together yourself as well? Was it difficult? I've rebuilt the top end of my Rev, but I'm a little nervous about tackling the crank. My other option was to have the shop put the bottom end back in - hook up the oil pump, etc and I'd look after the top end.

Did you replace the pistons / rings? The shop told me the one piston skirts would have been under a lot of stress and they recommend replacing the one piston. I don't really buy that. Perhaps changing the rings while it's out. I've only owned this sled for a year, but it's always started first pull - I never bothered to run a compression test on it as it ran so reliably.. I'm thinking a bottom end rebuild would be fine, no?

 

[nAVEL]

IF the jugs/pistons are in good shape why not just get the dealer to do the bottom end (gonna be hard to do yourself without the proper tools anyways), throw new rings on the pistons and use new gaskets everywhere. Don't fix what aint broken.

[snapback]691150[/snapback]​

That's exactly what I was thinking as well.. They said $440 for the crank to be rebuilt, and I think he mentioned $200 in labour to put the bottom end back in.. That'd still save me about 1/2 of the $1200-1300 if I had him rebuild everything. The top end would be a piece of cake on that sled, and I'd probably throw new rings in while i had it apart anyway. ..

 

[moochdog]

to spend that kind of money rebuilding a sled that age with those kind of miles seems ridiculous to me. i think you would be better off searching e-bay or salvage yards for a complete drop in engine. you could probablly pick up a 440 fan for around $500 complete. Heck, maybe even look into getting something a little bigger. might be worth a shot. bottom line is that if you paid for all new parts you would probablly be spending as much as the sled is worth in running condition.

 

[haywire4130]

r+r on the crank is just as simple as the top end. just send out the crank to a reputable shop for replacement of all worn parts ( and new crank seals obviously), assemble it carefully and remember to bleed the oil pump. put new pistons and rings and gaskets in the top end and you're set. spend the money you would have used in labor to buy the new piston kits. i find it hard to believe you lost a rod bearing and the fragments flying around in there didn't score the piston at all. do all this and you will have a nice reliable sled for years to come as well as the pride of doing it yourself. i say do all or nothing, either pony up for all the parts(including new pistons) or dump it and buy a newer sled. good luck.

 

[ONTMXZ]

I used Adrien Bernard in Que for new nikasil cylinders and some machining of my head after I blew a wrist pin bearing a couple of weeks ago. They were pretty good to deal with 1-2 day turnaround. Don't know what you will pay for a crank though.
I am having the local dealer clean out/inspect my crank as there were bits of metal everywhere, and doing the top end myself.
As mentioned above it saves about the price of a set of pistons doing it this way plus I tore it down to see how much damage I did when it blew so I may as well put it back together........

Atelier Adrien Bernard - 800-518-7220 Thetford Mines, QC

Good luck and think snow!

 

[Scipio583]

I had crank bearings go bad on my wife's 1998 440 fan, not connecting rod bearings, and I went with a factory rebuilt crank that I pick up at a local Ski-Doo dealer for $325.00 american. It is ready to go in less the crankcase seals. The top end looked really good for the mileage, but I threw a new top end in it while it was apart. The total for the project was $625.00 american and I did all the work myself with the exception of honing the cylinders to remove the glaze. On my 583 I had a connecting rod go bad and I had $200.00 into that crank and I did not even replace any of the bearings. In retrospect I wish I used a factory rebuild crank, but so far the crank has held up.

I did consider parting out the 440 fan, but I invested the money in the engine because it was cheaper than buying another replacement sled and it is still a good sled that will deliver more years of fun.

 

[nAVEL]

Well after some thought on this I've decided to just get the thing fixed. Beforer the bearing blew this sled was rock solid and we had a ton of fun on it. And frankly, I'm just too busy at work right now to worry about fixing this on weekends while there's some good snow on the ground I'd rather be out riding with the family.
I figure this way we'll have it fixed, we'll know where it's been and we'll get (hopefully) another 13,000 trouble-free KMs out of it as the chassis is in near-perfect shape.

Thanks for all the responses!!

 

[EastCoastWest]

Good luck.