ZX throttle cable change - way underestimated the job!

go high fast · May 2, 2010

So I'm going with a longer throttle cable on the ol' ZX. Local dealer hooked me up with one from the Rev HO which I'm told is fully compatible with the HO in the ZX. I've changed out throttle cables before on my Polaris and thought this would be no big deal.

Once I determined where the oil pump was located after a small amount of searching I was OK with removal of the airbox, carbs, disconnect of the carb coolant/heater line, disconnect of the line from the case to the fuel pump, PTO carb boot, and PTO reeds and reed cage......that was all no big deal. I laughed at myself when I removed the pipe looking for the oil pump. I've owned the sled for about 5 years and never knew where the oil pump was located.

What was a big deal was the disconnect of the old and reconnect of the new cable to the oil pump. Not much room down there and having to work by feel can be tough. Now I've got to figure out the cable adjustment thing.

I think my next job will be to replace the little rubber heat pad the exhaust pipe sits on. The one I've got hasnt held up well since removing the clam shell and ceramic coating the pipe.

If your mechanical skills are limited like mine, I do not recommend the throttle cable job to anyone!! Huge pain in the butt............but the new risers look terrific!!!

cubby · May 5, 2010

Well worth the PITA, your gonna love the risers:face-icon-small-hap

Thistledoo · May 5, 2010

try it on a XP!

Redsledhead · May 6, 2010

How big of a rise did you go 2?

go high fast · May 22, 2010

The whole project started with the idea to go from a 4 inch riser to a 7 inch riser.

Long story short the Rev cable from the dealer didnt do it and so the story continues........basically I am right back to square one.

The Rev cable from the dealer didnt do chit. Although longer from the splitter to the thumb control it was much shorter from the splitter to the carb so it was a tight fit/bend to the carb and it strattled the top of the air box which I wasnt satisfied with.

I next tried a Polaris throttle cable which was perfect in all lengths but it doesnt have the in-line oil pump adjustment controls and, when connected to the zx oil pump, the oil pump lever sits down in the fully extended position actually lying down on the bulkhead. Even if I take as much slack out to the oil line as possible with the mounting screws the oil pump lever remains fully extended. Kinda surprised that the Polaris cable didnt work with both being mikuni 40 mm carbs.

The other thing I've learned is a bit of a pain is that the Skidoo water cooled motor oil pumps have no alignment marks on the oil pump to use for determining proper adjustment. All the adjustment is done at the in-line oil pump adjustment control.

So here's the last thing I'm going to try. I going to call Hi-Lex who makes the throttle cables for both Skidoo and Polaris and see if they can make me a longer custom cable for my ZX. I just spent some time at thier website hoping to find specs for all thier cables. That way I could compare specs of the others to the specs for my stock cable to see if they have one that would work for me. Unfortunately the website was useless for this purpose.

The last thing is an extender. Didn't want to do this but I suspect this is what it's coming down to.

The hours put into this whole thing are wild. Cant believe it.

Pre-mix is not an option.

If anyone knows of a cable that would work please let me know.

BU1 · May 23, 2010

go high fast said:
the Skidoo water cooled motor oil pumps have no alignment marks on the oil pump to use for determining proper adjustment.

1 mark on the pump casting and 2 marks on the pump arm.

snowmanx · May 23, 2010

Ya, I've changed them on the zx, not too bad, but certainly no fun. I hope I never have to work on my XP!

JustinB · May 23, 2010

I used this on my brothers 03 he is at 8" Power madd. We love it works perfect.

http://www.blairps.com/show_product.php?s=sn&c=75&m=1291&p=0

autowrench · Jun 3, 2010

One of the major catalog companies sells extended throttle cables, Dennis Kirk, Shadetree, JR Graham, High Performance Engineering, I forget which. I didn't have much good luck with the powermadd extender and an 8" extension on a 2002 summit x. Oil cable was too short and really smoked up the woods. Took a lot of fiddling to find the right position for the extender to make it work right. If you can find one long enough, I'd go with a longer cable.
Tom

lasse · Aug 3, 2010

Longer throttle cable in ZX ???

go high fast said:
The whole project started with the idea to go from a 4 inch riser to a 7 inch riser.

Long story short the REV cable didnt do it.......
basically I am right back to square one.

The new REW cable didnt do chit.
Although longer from the splitter to the thumb control it was much shorter from the splitter to the carb so it was a tight fit/bend to the carb and it strattled the top of the air box which I wasnt satisfied with.

I next tried a Polaris throttle cable which was perfect in all lengths but it doesnt have the in-line oil pump adjustment controls and, when connected to the zx oil pump, the oil pump lever sits down in the fully extended position actually lying down on the bulkhead.
Even if I take as much slack out to the oil line as possible with the mounting screws the oil pump lever remains fully extended.
Kinda surprised that the Polaris cable didnt work with both being mikuni 40 mm carbs.

The other thing I've learned is a bit of a pain is that the Skidoo water cooled motor oil pumps have no alignment marks on the oil pump to use for determining proper adjustment.
All the adjustment is done at the in-line oil pump adjustment control.

So here's the last thing I'm going to try.
I going to call Hi-Lex who makes the throttle cables for both Skidoo and Polaris and see if they can make me a longer custom cable for my ZX.
I just spent some time at thier website hoping to find specs for all thier cables.
That way I could compare specs of the others to the specs for my stock cable to see if they have one that would work for me.
Unfortunately the website was useless for this purpose.

The last thing is an extender.
Didn't want to do this but I suspect this is what it's coming down to.

If anyone knows of a cable that would work on the ZX please let me know.

Hi !

I have the exact same problem with my ZX Renegade-800.
I have the 2003 Summit-800 X H.O. throttle cable on it which is supposed to be the longest OEM cable for the ZX.

I'm also looking for a longer throttle cabel for it.

An extension is not an option for me !

Does someone know of any company are taylor making any throttle cables ?

.

Summit8 · Aug 29, 2010

I run an 8" riser on my 02, got PowerMadd Ext. on 2 sleds with no problems, buddy ran the ext. on a King Kat also with no problem.:face-icon-small-con

lasse · Aug 30, 2010

RSI products ?

Has someone tried the RSI extended length throttle cable ???

http://www.rsiracing.com/product_info.php?cPath=50&products_id=223

Part # : TC-1
Part # : TC-4

.

Summit8 · Aug 30, 2010

Sorry you didn't like my post lasse, but the ext. are on there, weren't that hard to install, and they've be trouble free for several years. Just my good luck I guess.:face-icon-small-dis

Just Ducky · Aug 30, 2010

lets see some pics.

Ancient Sledder · Sep 8, 2010

Gravity Works made cables, but I think they went out of business. Good to know that RSI is an option. I tried the PowerMadd extension, but thought it was a little cheesy.

lasse · Sep 9, 2010

Ancient Sledder said:
Gravity Works made cables, but I think they went out of business.
Good to know that RSI is an option.
I tried the PowerMadd extension, but thought it was a little cheesy.

Yes, Gravity Works is out of business.

.

rhino · Oct 8, 2010

i've used the powermad extension for years with out any trouble and was a piece of cake to install.

BU1 · Oct 8, 2010

I tried the Powermadd thing for about 2 rides and promptly ditched it in favor of a Gravityworx cable set. Way better, especially on my 2000 with round slides.

When you can now buy the RSI cables complete for the same price as the Powermadd gizmo it should be a no brainer as to which one to buy.

jwill302 · Oct 15, 2010

just recieved my extended throttle cable yesterday from rsi for my '02 renegade and it is awsome. same as stock just longer

lasse · Oct 15, 2010

jwill302 said:
I just recieved my extended throttle cable yesterday from RSI for my '02 renegade and it is awsome.
same as stock just longer

Hi !

Please post some pictures on it !!

Which one did you choose:

Part # : TC-1
or..
Part # : TC-4

???

.

ZX throttle cable change - way underestimated the job!

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