This is somthing I noticed different to other sleds. Is this aftermarket? What is it?

 

Grease Gun, borrow one or buy one. Has to be about 7 grease fittings on the skid in that machine. Pump em All full of grease. ALSO check All of the idler wheels in the skid for bearing noise or if they are siezed. Be prepared to take a few bearings off. May be lucky and not need a hammer or not need to cut them off. Pay particular attention to the wheels that tension the track.
Welcome to Doo Talk.

 

Welcome to the forum.
So many things a new owner needs to know. You'll be overwhelmed shortly. Good advice above to start with.
First though, don't run the sled with that rotten foam on the air box. It's getting sucked into the carbs. Remove it and replace with a substitute. Not likely to find the stock part. Use the search box above and type "foam filter" and you'll get a bunch of ideas.
I don't know what that is in the second picture. Doesn't look stock to me.
The fuel line mentioned might be the pickup line that is in the tank. It has a weighted filter on the end. Common for that line to be rotten. It's still available online and a job you can do. Search "pickup line" and read about it.
Below are some helpful links. First is a site to find diagrams and part numbers.

Hudsons Sled Salvage w/ World Of Powersports Ski Doo

Hudon's is Your New and Used Snowmobile Parts Warehouse for Polaris, KYMCO, Bennche, Yamaha, Kawasaki, & more. The World's Largest Sled Salvage Shop.

partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche.com

Download your operator's guide here. It will show all your grease points as mentioned above. Make sure to find the one under the secondary clutch.

BRP GUIDES

www.operatorsguides.brp.com

This is the shop manual for all 97 sleds. 4 or 5 volumes in the pdf. Yours is volume 2.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Good luck.

 

Oh boy. Your going to be overwhelmed with things to do/check and unless your familiar with the jargon, your in for a lesson.

Any mechanical ability? Or is the extent of your mechanical knowledge the ability to open a flip phone?

Have a decent set of tools?

How many KM on it?
Does this sled run?
When was it on the snow last?

If you cant do any of your own work, having somebody do everything, its going to be speedy.

Assuming your going to look through the manuals DavidH has given you:

In NO particular order

Engine compression (PSI on each cylinder)
Is the track good?
Make sure there is at lease 4-5" of oil in the injection tank
Make sure the coolant level is at the "cold" mark
Sliders? (the plastic rail in the track suspension that runs front to back on either side)
Check ALL wheel bearings (all are ungreaseable without taking the particular wheel off, so replacement is easier (drop the suspension is easiest)
Change all the rubber fuel lines if they've never been changed (including the pickup line in the tank mentioned above)
rebuild or replace the fuel pump
Grease the nipples in the rear suspension. 7 or 8 IIRC. Few pumps in each, cycle the suspension, couple more pumps, repeat until new grease appears at either end of the pivot rods
Nips on the front suspension spindles.
Nip on the end of the driveshaft, behind the secondary clutch (the clutch closest to the left side handlebar. Tricky to get to, need a flexible hosed greasegun. Pump, rotate track, repeat couple times.
Nips on the steering input shaft under the exhaust? There is on my 02, not sure if the S chassis GT's had them.
Chain case oil level (drain and refill). No drain, cover has to be cracked open to drain, catch pan under the bellypan.
drive belt condition? Maybe worth replacing it regardless.
carb removal and deep clean.
battery condition.


IMO, those are the first things Id check. Every generation of sled has quirks though.

Deeper dive will add things, like jackshaft bearings, drive shaft bearings, clutch maintenance, oil injection pump settings

 

Need better pics of that thing you've circled. Aftermarket whatever it is.

Coolant heater maybe?

 

Great great info.
Yes, I'm mechanically oriented and been dealing with different types of rigs, but this will be the first on the snowmobile world. It looks like I'll have fun like with any other machine this age.

Sled runs, just that as mentioned, previous owner recommended me to replace the fuel line. He also said he had called the dealer and It'd be a a $200-$400 job to fix it, so I wondered if it would be easy to replace it by myself, especially for someone with the tools and some skills, unless "special" tools or equipment were required.

I'll take some other pics for the circled part, but yes, it looks like an in-line coolant heater, but didn't get the cable 😒.

I also have a lot of posts to read in this forum, will enjoy that time but must hurry up 'cause snow is here, although people here in Winnipeg say It'll be a mild winter.

Thanks a lot.

Juan

 

previous owner recommended me to replace the fuel line.

As mentioned, that's is likely the pickup line in the tank. If it's intact, you can use a flashlight and coat hanger and fish the line up through the filler port for inspection. The line lies on the bottom right hand corner of the tank. If it looks good, leave it. If the filter is missing on the end, replace it...the line, the filter and the tank grommet. All readily available.
17 and 23 are in the tank. 47 is the grommet. You'll find this diagram in one of the links provided.
Looks like you already have fuel shutoff. Should be under the hood by your right foot while seated.

 

Ahhhh. Winterpeg. Lovely city, in the summer

fuel lines are simple. Pull the air box and carbs. If it looks like a fuel line, replace it.

primer lines, main lines from the pump.
Install a fuel shut off valve somewhere convenient after the tank, before the fuel pump.
even the drop lines coming off the carbs (keep them similar length to stock).

Pay attention to the condition of the oil lines as well.

replace the lines one at a time so you dont get them all crossed up.

 

That second pic is of a lower rad hose coolant heater. I just tried to install one on a 1960 Allis Chalmers tractor. It won't harm anything and may actually work to plug in it in extreme Temps if it works. It works by having the heated water rise creating a loop.