1995 597 XLT -from an XCR 600

Goinboardin · Apr 3, 2010

I have a 597cc XLT motor sitting on the bench in the garage with a pto burned piston (I'm in CO till mid May, the garage is in MN, and I haven't torn into it yet, just going of the 0 compression for that hole); it was given to me in this condition. I've heard there are crank issues with this motor, and was wondering if it would be worth rebuilding or if I would simply reincarnate another $$ pit. It came in the 95' XCR 600 my unlce gave me, but I had a 500 LC that ran well, so I used the 500 in the XCR chassis instead.

I'm thinking about going to a 151 track this summer with a drop and roll and gearing down to 18-41, as well as going lightweight on everything worth doing. So I was thinking the 597 would be much more powerful and fun than the 488 but I'm worried about durability.

I ride at 9000-12000 in colorado. Has everyone had bad luck with these motors (or is just the ones who only look at their sleds when they're broken:face-icon-small-con)? The odometer on the sled read 6050 before I got it going again, so that 597 motor has some serious revolutions logged on it (all back in MN, WI, and MI). I have access to a pretty well equipped job shop in the summer if that's worth anything for the motor (I know its worth something for the chassis:face-icon-small-hap). Just looking for some thoughts/suggestions/warnings from those with some experience with this motor. Thanks.

Goinboardin · Apr 23, 2010

Bump.

Nothing? Starting to think about going to the dark side, with a decent job this summer those M10's are getting pretty tempting.

jgd · Apr 23, 2010

Given the choice I'd run that XLT motor over that 488 any day. You need to first determine why it hatched a piston. Most likely a crank seal.

In my experience these cranks held up well as long as you spun the motor at stock max rpm. People who piped these motors had to spin them at much higher rpm which these cranks didn't like over time.

I wouldn't put much money into this though. You can buy a pretty decent complete (read running) sled with a Polaris big block motor for under $2K. JMHO

joshkoltes · Apr 23, 2010

choices

the 600 will cost you about 650 to rebuild.
crank bearings 20$ per, maby a ros kit 150$ depending
bore three cyl 45 per and re sleeve 45 so they all match
3 new pistons 150
gasket kit 80
labor from whoever 60 -100 hr
be brand new though, did three last fall

id go try and find a 99-2004 twin to throw in though. especially if your going to do chassis work. problem with that though would be cooling, needing to add radiators. find some out of an old doo and throw them in the tunnel then get rid of the rest. iv done it and its a ***** but beats the price of an aftermarket radiator. i paid 20 bux on ebay

fordpickupman · Apr 23, 2010

500

The 500 is only rated 10 hp less than the 597. The 500 doesn't have near the top end pull, but it works well for boon docking and is lighter to toss around and get unstuck. I rode one for years that had an Aaen pipe on it and filters. It ran pretty hard for me. Now my wife rides a 500 with the same pipe on it and likes it pretty well with the 144x2 on it and 19/40 gears.

I currently ride and old 579 xlt with a 151 and 17/42 gears and love it. engine is stock.

clutch man · Apr 23, 2010

If you do use that XLT/XCR motor make sure you go thew the crank and have it trued. If you do this and what smurfin said it will work good. I had a 95 XCR that i rebuilt and put a 144 + 2 in track on and it worked great impressed allot of people.

X2Freeride · Apr 27, 2010

The XLT's like to twist the crank out of index. You need to get the crank trued and welded and go with a tough boy larger PTO bearing. After that you should be ok. I cant recommend otherwise using the XLT motor to pull that big of a track.

Goinboardin · May 3, 2010

Thanks Everyone

Thanks for the input guys. There's a good chance I'll be looking for an 800 edge (with big bearing crank update done) this fall instead:face-icon-small-hap, and just keeping the wedge in its current engine/track setup.

I'd like to drop some weight on it (still has steel skis, and I might make some aluminum front suspension parts) and will look into the clutching, or just call SLP and see what they recommend. Its a pretty fun sled as is but doesn't always backshift properly (just needs some secondary maintenance, belt, and new primary spring), and thus can be really frustrating.

I mostly just use the sled to go snowboarding, but, that doesn't mean a leisurely ride to the bunny hill; usually breaking trail, climbing, often times doubling up too. I've repeatedly had people give me the strangest looks when they finally get to where I've gotten on the old indy.
Enjoy your summers,
-Mitch

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1995 597 XLT -from an XCR 600

Goinboardin

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Goinboardin

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jgd

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joshkoltes

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fordpickupman

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clutch man

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X2Freeride

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Goinboardin

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