03 summit recoil problems

catmechanic · Sep 11, 2009

just want to see if i could get a little insight from somebody on this. my cousin dropped his sleds off for me to service/work on. one is an 03 summit highmark 700. last winter, he was riding in feb and the recoil broke. there is a small plastic piece inside that melted causing it to fail.

when we went to cooke city in march, it happened again. same piece melted. we ran uptown and luckily they had one. put it in and it worked fine. the last morning when we packed up and were heading to the parking lot, it happened again.

the only thing i can think of is that the heat of the aftermarket can is melting this plastic part. now, i can understand why it happened in march because it was in the 50's while we were there. february, not so sure. he said it wasn't that warm out. and he has been riding this sled with the can since he bought it new in 03.

one other thing, his gauges and headlight don't work. he took the hood off a couple years ago in the spring and they haven't worked since. my next thought was MAYBE something with the stator??? could this be creating excessive heat and melting the part in the recoil and have something to do with the electronics not working? i doubt it, but i have been wrong before.

vmax1200 · Sep 11, 2009

Had the same issuses on my 2001 summit ,took clam shell off pipe,melted components inside the recoil starter ,after installing new plastic starter pal kit , used several layers of heat sheild tape on recoil housing ,problem stopped,also heads up if the retaining clip that holds the plastic starter pal parts together is not installed correctly it will come off and lots of spendy damage will occur,the metal will migrate over to the fly wheel magnet and wipe out the stator its about $400.00 to replace ,so lesson learned, after installing the metal clip i drilled a small hole in the housing shaft after clip was installed and installed a stainless cotter key in remain end.just a little insureance .

catmechanic · Sep 11, 2009

thats kind of what i was thinking. i was going to make a heat shield too. wasn't sure if i would mount it to the recoil itself, or try to put it somewhere else. its been a while since i looked under the hood.

vmax1200 · Sep 11, 2009

I was also thinkging about your electrical problem ,on my 2001 summit had the stator side crank seal go out causeing the grease to seap out covering the stator wires makeing a hot point and shorting out the system.

catmechanic · Sep 11, 2009

i guess the only reason i brought up the stator was because of the lack of power to the gauges and headlight. i am guessing thats probably just in the wiring or the connector, just thought there was a slight possibility that it could have been the stator. but usually those are either good or bad.

Redsledhead · Sep 11, 2009

Have you checked the fuses? maybe a blown fuse is the prob.

catmechanic · Sep 11, 2009

Redsledhead said:
Have you checked the fuses? maybe a blown fuse is the prob.

no, i just got them here not too long ago. my cousin doesn't ever mess with them. he just rides. i on the other hand am always tinkering with something. i will get that part figured out.

catmechanic · Sep 12, 2009

so i pulled the recoil off and this is what i found. anybody else think that this could have happened just from the heat of the can? or is it something else?

onlyrotax · Sep 12, 2009

catmechanic said:
so i pulled the recoil off and this is what i found. anybody else think that this could have happened just from the heat of the can? or is it something else?

View attachment 75591

Wow that is nasty looking, on my Zx's I covered the outside of the recoil heads with foil covered foam insulating tape, you'll find it at any hardware store probably in the plumbing aisle, I also drill 4 quarter inch holes in the top and bottom of the plastic recoil head to allow cool air to flow in the bottom holes and let the hot air out the top holes, just drill between the reinforcing ribs on the recoil housing, this was an old fix that Bombardier came up with on the old Blizzard sleds when they first came out with plastic starter parts. The last thing I do to keep parts from coming off the shaft inside is drill out the plastic shaft with a 1/4 inch drill bit clear through to the outside of the housing then you can put a 1/4 inch panhead screw into the shaft from the inside, be sure the screw is long enough to reach the outside of the housing, put on a washer and nut (do not overtighten the nut it will deform the shaft), put on a second nut and lock them against each other do not use a nylok nut it may melt. The panhead screw should clear the starter pawl on the crankshaft, be sure your panhead screw is wide enough to cover the end of the shaft to keep the push nut from coming off, those things make a mess of a stator when they are beating around in there at 8000 rpm, never had a problem after doing these things and I have cans on 3 ZX's, as far as the electrical goes try replacing the relay that is mounted just above the starter rope under the hood at the rear of the engine compt, you can pick them up at NAPA for cheap, that should fix it.

catmechanic · Sep 15, 2009

so, does anybody out there have a used recoil that would fit a 2003 summit 700?

redbull660 · Sep 16, 2009

onlyrotax said:
Wow that is nasty looking, on my Zx's I covered the outside of the recoil heads with foil covered foam insulating tape, you'll find it at any hardware store probably in the plumbing aisle, I also drill 4 quarter inch holes in the top and bottom of the plastic recoil head to allow cool air to flow in the bottom holes and let the hot air out the top holes, just drill between the reinforcing ribs on the recoil housing, this was an old fix that Bombardier came up with on the old Blizzard sleds when they first came out with plastic starter parts. The last thing I do to keep parts from coming off the shaft inside is drill out the plastic shaft with a 1/4 inch drill bit clear through to the outside of the housing then you can put a 1/4 inch panhead screw into the shaft from the inside, be sure the screw is long enough to reach the outside of the housing, put on a washer and nut (do not overtighten the nut it will deform the shaft), put on a second nut and lock them against each other do not use a nylok nut it may melt. The panhead screw should clear the starter pawl on the crankshaft, be sure your panhead screw is wide enough to cover the end of the shaft to keep the push nut from coming off, those things make a mess of a stator when they are beating around in there at 8000 rpm, never had a problem after doing these things and I have cans on 3 ZX's, as far as the electrical goes try replacing the relay that is mounted just above the starter rope under the hood at the rear of the engine compt, you can pick them up at NAPA for cheap, that should fix it.

I like your idea about the panhead screw, I had a friend that had his come apart and it totaly ruined the stator, we had to pull him back. Do you have any pictures of the screw going threw. thanks, I could also use another recoil if someone has an extra.

catmechanic · Sep 16, 2009

X2 on the pic of the panhead screw

onlyrotax · Sep 16, 2009

I'll see what I can do about pics, I cannot remember if my backup recoil has the screw in it or not, otherwise I will have to take a head off one of my sleds this weekend to get a pic.

onlyrotax · Sep 27, 2009

Maybe this will help with assembly.

redbull660 · Oct 15, 2009

I cant seem to find a used recoil, does anyone have the cover. the little plastic "stud" piece broke off of mine. I need one for a 2001 summit 700. thanks

1Fast68 · Oct 15, 2009

You can't find one because they all break/melt over time. I know you can still get them new from the dealer but at $150 + I cringe. There was a guy parting out a 600 on here, I don't know if they're the same but its worth a shot, that and/or put up a wanted ad in the swap meet. Regardless I would rebuild the one you get.

WPS carries a rebuild kit for these pull starts, they're only like 9 bucks. Between me, brother and Dad we have Three 02 800 doos, and I carry 2 of these rebuild kits in my pack.

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03 summit recoil problems

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