'00 PS700 or '98 PS600?

WAmtnsledr · Mar 27, 2010

i was thinking about getting me another powder special :face-icon-small-hap, and can't figure out whether to get a 98 600 or a 00 700. i know i can mod the 600 to have as much power as the 7, but know that the 700 modded will have more power than the 600. i could replace the box tunnel on the 98 for the tapered tunnel off the 2000, then some power mods, longer track, and put it on a diet and it would be a pretty cabaple mountain sled. wanted to hear some opinions from people who've owned or had experience with these sleds to help me in my decision. thanks for any help:beer;

mp_2009 · Mar 27, 2010

you could probably find a 1m for a pretty decent price, kevin from mmsports told me they sold a nice good condition 03 1m for $1850

WAmtnsledr · Mar 27, 2010

thanks man, but i'm going to get another PS, i already have an '02 Mountain Cat 800 151.

Qreiff · Mar 27, 2010

I strongly suggest you don't waste your $$ on the 700. It will rank in history as one of Cat's worst motors. They shake and then they blow......guaranteed!!

Build the 600 unless you are looking to spend $$ over and over and have the most unreliable ride you could imagine.

........more than just my opinion.

WAmtnsledr · Mar 27, 2010

thanks, i have heard that the 700's are bad on clutches too because of the vibration.

sprockethead · Mar 27, 2010

Get the 600 and punch it out to a 680 BB. The cat 700 is a boat anchor! I have 2 of the 680's one in a 99 EFI PS 151" and the other in a 01 CARB SnoPro 144" chassis. Lots better motor than the 700 IMHO, just the 600 Cat stator problems. But yours has been around this long prolly has been replaced anyway. GOOD LUCK!

Sprocket

WAmtnsledr · Mar 27, 2010

I definetely know now which sled to get!! the 98 PS600 sounds like a solid machine for sure, and after looking around the 600 EFI sounds bulletproof. i bet a well set up 600 will be a pretty capable mountain machine. I already know of some mods i'll do to my 600 once i pick one up, looks like i can buy one pretty cheap, but anyway the mods should bring me to around 115 hp and about 480 dry, which is at least as much power and a heck of a lot lighter than if i had went with the 700. thanks, have a couple beers:beer;:beer;:beer;:beer;

btw who makes the 680 bb for this sled? i think i'll put that on the mod list too

sprockethead · Mar 27, 2010

U can make the BB 680. Just order a set of pistons from Wiseco(they make a 680 piston kit), get the cylinders bored and renicked, and have the head rechambered for the 680 bore. Will cost u about $700 if u dont have a line on parts and the machine work.

Sprocket

Woody67 · Mar 27, 2010

Powder Special 700....definitely not Cat's finest hour.

WAmtnsledr · Mar 28, 2010

PS600 has 105 hp stock, with the 680 BB maybe 120+?

longtrack156 · Mar 28, 2010

Trouble is both engines had problems, 98 600 had stator issues and a bad crank.

WAmtnsledr · Mar 28, 2010

instead of getting the tapered tunnel off a 2000 PS, i can just taper it myself and get better boards or something like that similar to what longtrack156 did to his PS with a 156.

WAmtnsledr · Mar 28, 2010

longtrack156 said:
Trouble is both engines had problems, 98 600 had stator issues and a bad crank.

well, if these motors were going to have problems wouldn't they have them with very few miles, not after thousands of miles with no problem?

longtrack156 · Mar 29, 2010

Lost my crank at 2000 miles.
That's when I found out others had problems as well.
Dealer did a partial warranty at 4 years.

firecat99 · Jul 13, 2010

agree with longtrack156, i have seen lots of sleds like the 600s in all forms PS, ZR have broke the clutch side crank where it spun, but also the ones i have seen also have 5000miles, which i see is not to bad i guess on very hard miles, seen more our of different motors but theses were some of the lowest i have seen, anyhow from all the research i have done its the 500 or 600 to go with as they share the same parts but different bores, but the 700 from what i have seen have a totally different set up, JM2C

clutch man · Jul 13, 2010

firecat99 said:
agree with longtrack156, i have seen lots of sleds like the 600s in all forms PS, ZR have broke the clutch side crank where it spun, but also the ones i have seen also have 5000miles, which i see is not to bad i guess on very hard miles, seen more our of different motors but theses were some of the lowest i have seen, anyhow from all the research i have done its the 500 or 600 to go with as they share the same parts but different bores, but the 700 from what i have seen have a totally different set up, JM2C

Humm 98,99,00 Cat spent more on warranty than all the other manufactures in those years and over 70% of that was on the 600 cat twin motor.
The 600 cat motor was a big thorn in Arctic Cats side. I have a fiend that ran the local dealer here then and he said it was a nightmare.

paulharris · Jul 14, 2010

powder specials (600 and 700) eat stators like crazy too. I think the stators are like 500 bucks (more than the whole sled is worth imo). do yourself a favor and stay away from these nightmares. if you are looking for a cheap arctic cat buy a king cat. the king cat will absolutely stomp the powder specials and the 900 engine is bulletproof.

boondokr · Aug 26, 2010

I have 2 98 PS 600 EFI's. One is stock with 2900 stators and 4 miles on it (ok maybe that's backwards

. The other is a Cutler 680 big bore 144 in an 01 MC chassis with a few stock parts left. The 680 kit was put in about 1500 miles ago and some parts of the sled have nearly 6000 miles on them. I didn't have any stator problems with this sled for the first 4 years. You can have the stator rebuilt for about $200 or purchase a new aftermarket one for about $220. I am now on the third stator in this machine. I just bought an M8 for next season, but I am keeping the mod 680 for friends and family to ride. The 98 600 is a great machine....I just keep a spare stator in the trailer.

Ultra · Aug 26, 2010

paulharris said:
powder specials (600 and 700) eat stators like crazy too. I think the stators are like 500 bucks (more than the whole sled is worth imo). do yourself a favor and stay away from these nightmares. if you are looking for a cheap arctic cat buy a king cat. the king cat will absolutely stomp the powder specials and the 900 engine is bulletproof.

And the king is lighter than the other two. Got 3 king cats, like mentioned above they are almost bullet proof and nothing else I have can touch them.

98 was the first year of the 600 and they had more than their fair share of problems but they turned out to be pretty good motors from 2000 and beyond.
I have a 2000 600 motor in a 2004 chassis with a 151 and a 2004 600 with a 153 and a 2004 600 with a 162. All run good but the 162 will out climb the others.

The 99 and 2000 PS 700 was just a detuned wildcat motor from the early to mid 90's. Arctic brought it back to satisfy their dealers that were yelling about the Polaris 700 sales. I had a 99, it was kind of a dog so I added some mods:
-tapered the tunnel, had to cut the rear cooler.
-added a 144x2" CE.
-added PSI twins
-cut the head .020 then added .010 back into the squish area.
-added egts and got aggressive on jetting.
It ran pretty good then.

tivoklr · Sep 7, 2010

personal experience

I have a 99 Powder Special that started its life as a 500 EFI, but after submerging it in a lake, I rebuilt it as a 600. It's the same bottom end just different jugs, pistons and head. I threw a performance chip in it from some 3rd party manufacturer that was for a 600, with a touch of added power (probably just advanced the timing a bit).

This was my first mountain sled and I still love it. I don't ride it much at all anymore but it still holds a special place in my heart. I don't miss the 5k engagement RPM at all though (spoiled 4 stroker now).

I have no idea on mileage, for some reason the way the speedo cable was routed on mine (possibly by the prev owner) it kept binding up and failing. Who needs a speedo anyway in the deep though?

Either way, I don't really ride that sled anymore but it's an awesome loaner, 3 pulls and away you go. It's easy to throw around.

As everyone above has said, forget the 700, someone should have to pay YOU to take it off their hands. If you have the skills to customize the 98 tunnel, you'll be set.

'00 PS700 or '98 PS600?

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