Drive Shaft Service Bulletin

deschutes said:

A service bulletin has been released, relating to the 2013 drive shafts.

Summary:

Polaris has confirmed 70 drive shaft failures, out of approximately 20,000 units sold.
Broken shafts will be replaced.
Replacement parts are available, and will be replaced under warranty with confirmation of a broken shaft.
Polaris has performed rigorous testing, and is committed to the technology used in the 2013 shafts.

Click to expand...

70 so far out of the 5% to 10% that have hit the snow. Most of those active sleds still having less that 100 miles on them. Remember, just because it hasn't failed yet, doesn't mean it won't.

owners should not have to wait for the shaft to break and stranded 30 miles out in the woods to get the warranty.

deschutes said:

It is true, just came out overnight. Double checked, it is 70 not 7. Don't shoot the messenger.

Click to expand...

didn't mean to shoot the messenger, i was just saying that its BS if they don't recall them all because then a guy has to wait for it to fail. i don't trust this POS driveshaft for 50 feet past the truck.

It's a good plan, use the customers to do final testing on it and only replace the ones that break.

Well I don't think the sky is falling. So if this bulletin is legit lets take the worst case scenario of only 5% of sleds on the snow shows a failure rate of 7%. I'll continue to take my chances. The poll on snowest shows, at this time, that of all that have voted 52% of sleds are on the snow. We have lots of snow up here in Canada boys. So now your at a failure rate of a whopping 0.67%, yup less than 1%. Ya perfect exampample of internet hysteria.

I'm glad I haven't taken possession of mine yet. I won't accept anything other than a upgraded shaft.

It is real.
SAF-12-02 Drive Shaft Field Issues
Dated November 30 2012

70 reported failures

Your going to need a lot higher failure rate then 70/20,000 for a mass recall.

I suggest everyone just ride there sleds and quite worrying about the inter-webs forecast of certain doom.

As long as parts are available and sleds are getting fixed in a timely manner then you cant really expect much more. If failure rates increase then I'm sure some sort of recall will be issued.

rmscustom said:

It's a good plan, use the customers to do final testing on it and only replace the ones that break.

Click to expand...

We are there best test control on the prodution sleds. It is what it is!

!

IEATSRT said:

Well I don't think the sky is falling. So if this bulletin is legit lets take the worst case scenario of only 5% of sleds on the snow shows a failure rate of 7%. I'll continue to take my chances. The poll on snowest shows, at this time, that of all that have voted 52% of sleds are on the snow. We have lots of snow up here in Canada boys. So now your at a failure rate of a whopping 0.67%, yup less than 1%. Ya perfect exampample of internet hysteria.

Click to expand...

statistics are made up 60% of the time

Going West said:

Your going to need a lot higher failure rate then 70/20,000 for a mass recall.

I suggest everyone just ride there sleds and quite worrying about the inter-webs forecast of certain doom.

As long as parts are available and sleds are getting fixed in a timely manner then you cant really expect much more. If failure rates increase then I'm sure some sort of recall will be issued.

Click to expand...

Easy for you to say, lets just sum this up I live in Nebraska I take time off work to ride only so many days a year are available to ride.1700 miles round trip about 700.00 in fuel 120 a night for cabin x 3 nights now we are at 1060.00, now for food another 40.00 a day so lets say a day out 3 days there and a day back we have now invested 1260.00 into this trip not including what it costs to be off work. If I can ride worry free for 3 days its no big deal to make these plans and feel good about the trip. But now with Polaris not coming clean about the issue what am I to do. Spend 1200.00 plus have unplanned issues with machine loose a day of riding plus loosing a day for a friend to help get you back to the cabin. Remeber I want to ride...So do I make a non-refundable deposit on a rental sled or just take it easy and hope my sled doesn't break. I spent 12k on a sled I cannot rely on for even one sled trip. I went through this when I owned XP's its not the reason I left but it was a nail in the coffin. I guess I just need to make plans and pay weather I ride or not. Very dissapointing and also stressful in something I do that relieves my stress. I have been told the drive shaft is like a ****ty socket trying to loosen a tight bolt, its gonna strip eventually. Not good I guess I'll make my plans but feel no confidence at all for my sled's capabilities. What happens to the guy sidehilling with trees below and the shaft fails and totals his sled. I am going to have a rental lined up just incase, Togwotee has Polaris and Cats for rent guess which one I'm holding?? Damn right Im gonna try a M8 if my poo fails.

heres the bulletin....................

SUBJECT: SAF-12-02 - Drive Shaft Field Issues
DATE: November 30, 2012 MODELS: 2013 600 / 800 PRO-RMK 155/163 Snowmobiles
*** Important Service Information ***
Please distribute to Service Manager, Parts Manager, and Service Technicians
The Polaris Technical Service and Snowmobile Engineering teams have received field reports of broken drive shafts on a limited number of 2013 600 and 800 PRO-RMK snowmobiles. Please review this service communication carefully to learn what we currently know at the time of this publication, what our engineering and service plan is moving forward, and what Polaris dealers can do to assist Polaris in resolving this issue.
What we know:
 The bonded drive shaft used on MY13 600 and 800 PRO RMK snowmobiles passed rigorous field and lab testing prior to full production, and Polaris is committed to standing behind this product.
 A limited number of Polaris dealers have reported that the sprocket-side hub insert is separating from the tubular drive shaft housing on some consumer snowmobiles.
 As of today, we have received 70 reported failures. Although this represents only a small fraction of the total registered snowmobiles in the field, we will move quickly to resolve this issue for affected customers.
 There have been no failures involving the clutch-side hub insert dislodging from the drive shaft tube.
Current engineering and service plan:
 Our primary focus is to identify the root cause of the hub insert separating from the housing and to determine appropriate corrective action. The snow engineering teams are currently analyzing all drive shafts that have been returned from the field.
 The Polaris service department is logging all field cases from dealers. When we receive a call or ASK Polaris Case, we request detailed information, including photos of the drive shaft, and ask that the shaft be returned to Polaris according to the normal parts return process after the claim has been filed.
 The Polaris parts department has placed all bonded drive shafts on backorder status. This action was taken to ensure drive shaft availability for snowmobiles currently down for repair. At this time, replacement shafts will be shipped only to dealers with confirmed ASK Polaris cases on file.
 When root cause and resolution have been finalized, an official repair notification will be published for the affected vehicles. As stated above, Polaris will stand behind this product and support our customers.
What dealers can do to assist Polaris:
 If your dealership encounters a snowmobile with a broken drive shaft, please submit an ASK Polaris case with failure details and photos immediately. Monitor your warranty parts return list and return the drive shaft to the Polaris warranty department using the pre-paid UPS shipping label as soon as possible.
 Please submit the ASK Polaris case quickly and immediately order the part. We will manage all cases and parts orders individually. In order to minimize vehicle downtime we MUST have a case and a parts order.
 Refrain from promoting non-Polaris remedies that modify or alter the original drive shaft design. We are focusing all efforts on identification and testing and cannot speculate on the performance of these non-Polaris remedies.
o Do not attempt to drill or tap into the stock shaft; doing so will compromise bonding material integrity.
o While steel drive shafts from other RMK models may fit, Polaris does not recommend this because there is a risk of the shaft seizing on to the inner bearing race and lower drive sprocket.

I will say this..this is the first service bulletin I have ever seen poo post that directly comments to things the public(forums) have questioned...meaning they are reading these forums...and they do not want anyone bolting/riviting/screwing/glueing anything to the shaft...it also shows they do have shafts in stock and locked inventory down in order to be able to fix broken sleds as they go down...first time I have ever seen them post an actual failure number also....

more then likely yes........ and as polaris clearly states...must send pics of every shaft failure before ordering parts....as for the clamps..to do any good they have to be tightened down tight to the aluminum shaft..shaft is pretty thin, which means there is a chance it could actually weaken the glue bond at the joint, there by increasing the chance of failure...those who have installed clamps..personally..I would remove them..before your shaft warranty gets denied.........

friscospices.com said:

Easy for you to say, lets just sum this up I live in Nebraska I take time off work to ride only so many days a year are available to ride.1700 miles round trip about 700.00 in fuel 120 a night for cabin x 3 nights now we are at 1060.00, now for food another 40.00 a day so lets say a day out 3 days there and a day back we have now invested 1260.00 into this trip not including what it costs to be off work. If I can ride worry free for 3 days its no big deal to make these plans and feel good about the trip. But now with Polaris not coming clean about the issue what am I to do. Spend 1200.00 plus have unplanned issues with machine loose a day of riding plus loosing a day for a friend to help get you back to the cabin. Remeber I want to ride...So do I make a non-refundable deposit on a rental sled or just take it easy and hope my sled doesn't break. I spent 12k on a sled I cannot rely on for even one sled trip. I went through this when I owned XP's its not the reason I left but it was a nail in the coffin. I guess I just need to make plans and pay weather I ride or not. Very dissapointing and also stressful in something I do that relieves my stress. I have been told the drive shaft is like a ****ty socket trying to loosen a tight bolt, its gonna strip eventually. Not good I guess I'll make my plans but feel no confidence at all for my sled's capabilities. What happens to the guy sidehilling with trees below and the shaft fails and totals his sled. I am going to have a rental lined up just incase, Togwotee has Polaris and Cats for rent guess which one I'm holding?? Damn right Im gonna try a M8 if my poo fails.

Click to expand...

Exactly what my concern is. I left a bulletproof m7big bore that flat out RAN for this. I'm not tweakin.... Yet. But there better be something on the table before we head out west middle to end of January. Guess we'll see in time!

well, this is a good start i guess. my first question will be: will the replacement be the exact same shaft or did they change something? it says right in the bulletin that "shafts were placed on backorder status to ensure drive shaft availability for snowmobiles currently down for repair". So they are replacing the broken shaft with the same POS part?

I firmly believe that this is a bad design and that as soon as everyone gets snow, many more will fail. The 3/8" overlap into the tube is just ridiculous.

funny how the first line says "this bonded driveshaft passed rigorous field and lab testing" Lol, we will probably never know the real story, but it sounds like the test sleds had the steel shaft in them.

o While steel drive shafts from other RMK models may fit, Polaris does not recommend this because there is a risk of the shaft seizing on to the inner bearing race and lower drive sprocket.

Anybody have any insight why this might happen?