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Project 2001 RMK 700 Rebuild.

TRS

Life Member
Lifetime Membership
Dec 1, 2007
4,094
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Cody, WY
With all do respect, you need to find a buddy that has done a few rebuilds. Your comments here show that you need help. You also need to check the pulley that drives the oil pump, the matting slot looks worn beyond spec. Check those carb boots for cracks and holes, they had fatigue failure problems.
 
A
Oct 20, 2014
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Well, got the motor out.

Just need to remove the flywheel and clutch.

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I have a manual, dial calipers, bore gauge and all the other required tools. This just happens to be my first 2 stroke tear down. If I sound ignorant when it comes to two strokes its because I am.

Nothing experience cant cure!

I will be heading out in my Polaris ranger this weekend, so I won't get any further for another week more than likely. I need to spread work and play out. :)
 
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volcano buster

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2007
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Stayton Oregon
Word of caution when pulling the mag cover. Figure out how deep the threaded holes are for the puller to install and don't insert bolts any further in than that. I did it once on my Edge 700 and stripped wires on the stator. Had to buy a stator...

Clutch will be tough to pull. You may have to set the engine back in the chassis to hold it when you pop it loose.

I also had to replace my oil pump on my '99 700 because they don't have a good flush mechanism and the worn metal stays in the pump which accelerates the wear. You can disassemble the pump and flush the gunk out and then reassemble.

If you split the case halves, make sure the oil drain holes to drip oil into the crank bearings are clear and working.
 
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Oct 20, 2014
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Thanks for the advice. I have done a few race car motors before, just new to the 2 stroke world. I managed to do some riding this weekend in my Polaris ranger. On the way back my trailer wiring stopped working so I spent today doing maintenance work. Welded my exhaust on my truck, it had some holes and needed patching, fixed the trailer wiring, swapped the woman's tires over to studded tires..

Dropped my RMK motor off at my buddies house as he wanted to take it apart. I am never against free labor. :)

Going to relax now.

Take care fellas.

Edit: My buddy is a diesel mechanic and he said he tried a 600/tq air impact and was unable to get the clutch off, he said the same thing about the flywheel. He said either don't take it apart or see if a shop wont charge you an arm and a leg to take it apart and inspect because its on there tight!

Took a while, but he got both the flywheel and clutch off... He is going to split the case and inspect bearings and seals and let me know. Good to have buddies with an abundance of tools. :)

I removed the main jets from the carbs.. The blown piston side was running a 430 jet, the piston that had good compression was running 450... They both still looked lean to me. I think I am going to step up to 470's. Those high flowing cylinders more than likely require richer jets.
 
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A
Oct 20, 2014
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Checked out the seals, bearings etc. Everything checked within spec. Putting the bottom back together and shipping off the cylinders to get re-plated.

After talking to the dealer they explained that the cylinders should have zero dish shape in them. The cylinders are dome shaped... So that leads me to believe after checking the timing that the sled was run extremely lean, melted the tops of the cylinders and spit the metal out the exhaust ports... The sled was at 430/450 on the main jets. I switched the main jets to 500 today.... Bought some 470 jets as well just in case the 500's are too rich... Figured I would rather start rich than lean and work my way down. Hopefully I have all my parts and gaskets by next week sometime so I can get this thing put back together.

I decided to go with PowerSeal USA to fix my cylinders. I also purchased the SLP brand flywheel remover, great buy!

Did some more research... Looks like even at 500 i may be a little lean...

SLP recommends from what I can tell -20/+10 degrees a 520/500 jets if running their SLP twin pipes. I also have ported and polished heads, so I would assume I may want to step up to 540/520 bare minimum? Any guidance would be appreciated...

https://www.startinglineproducts.com/instsheets/09-726.pdf
 
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A
Oct 20, 2014
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Ok, took the secondary clutch apart.... Had a blue with orange spring in it... Looks fairly new, but I wanted a more stout spring.

I went with the one SLP recommended and put the spring in the 2nd position in the helix.

Cleaned everything, lubed up the bearings and raceway areas that would make contact and put it back on the sled.

I had a bad engine mount up front, so I ordered a new one and I am waiting for that come in before I can put the engine back in the sled and put the new primary spring in.

Here's some pictures... Not much progress, but a little at a time.

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A
Oct 20, 2014
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Well the rear suspension was making some bad noises, looked to be original hyfax's, broken in places and just rough shape all around so I decided to pull the skid today. Loosening the lower torsion arms is where its at. I completely removed them out of the equation and had the skid off in under 10 minutes.

The big problem besides the weird noises was that the sled would not stay all the way up... I could literally lift the rear of the sled 3 inches up and it would not seem to stay. I tried loosening the track, adjusting the torsion springs etc before removing the skid but nothing seemed to help. There is a local guy here who does just suspension work for snowmobiles so I am going to take my skid to him so he can get it fixed.... After I am done with this thing its going to be completely rebuilt...

Once I get the skid back with the shocks re-valved I am going to replace both front trailing arms, all the tie rod ends and the bent radius arms up front.

I sold my Indy 600 XLT to fund this project... I can tell you, its a PROJECT.
 
A
Oct 20, 2014
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Well, had time to grease the skid, check all idler wheels, remove the shocks, tension springs and look at bushings etc..

The springs are shot. One measures 119 degrees and the other is at 121 degrees. I ordered new .375/77 torsion springs to replace the stock .359/88 degree springs.

The shocks seem super stiff, but do return slowly... I am going to take them to a local guy who specializes in these shocks to see what he says, but I have a feeling its the springs fault and the shocks are fine.

After removing my shocks I noticed that something just didn't seem right... On the upper portion by the shock mount there is a plastic bushing, but on the bottom there is a metal looking bushing. The bottom one rolls around, looks like it was cut with a angle grinder cut off wheel and just shoved in place... Im thinking I need to replace it with a plastic bushing but was hoping I could get some advice.

Does anyone know if their bushings are metal or plastic?

Below are some pictures to try and show you what I am talking about.

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I am also confused, because according to the diagram its showing the arm going in between, below the shock... (not on either side of it).

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Thanks!
 
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mike_s

Well-known member
Jan 19, 2012
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Ashton, Idaho
On either end of the shock should be 2 halves of a plastic "cushion" type bushings, with a metal bushing inside to prevent the mounting ears from bending if the bolt is overtorqued.

The diagram you have posetd is incorrect, the rear torque arm in your sled has compression struts on either side of the shock.
 
A
Oct 20, 2014
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Is it just me, or is that lower pivot tube below the metal spacer bent?

I was wondering the same thing... Hard to tell if its a design thing or actually bent thing.. :noidea: Im betting on bent based off the way I got this sled.

#26 SHOCK PIVOT ARM,XL,BLK -1541484-067

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Bought a new one off partzilla
 
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A
Oct 20, 2014
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On either end of the shock should be 2 halves of a plastic "cushion" type bushings, with a metal bushing inside to prevent the mounting ears from bending if the bolt is overtorqued.

The diagram you have posted is incorrect, the rear torque arm in your sled has compression struts on either side of the shock.

Thanks, looked up a 800 RMK of my year and found the right part! I went to the dealer today and they are both in fact metal. I will be replacing both. They also had my needed pivot arm and new hyfaxes. Hoping to get the skid put back together today and back in the sled...

#22 - BUSHING - 5010252 - $1.29

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A
Oct 20, 2014
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Well, took my shocks to a local pro and he told me both my rear shocks on my skid are from an Arctic Cat. Interesting enough the Rear most shock works fine on a Gen 2... It's 14 1/2" long, however my front skid shock is only 11 1/4" and it needs to be 12 1/4" long. So I am ordering a fox shock that fits a 2012 Rush 121. Same size, just in case that helps anyone.

Luckily my rear shock was fine on the skid and as it turns out the front shock was bad... You could hear the oil in the cylinder where the gas normally sits in the chamber....

Making progress... The rear most shock doesn't line up exactly and luckily my buddy has a CNC so he is making me some spacers to fit the bottom mount on my skid.

New shocks are around $300 and that was just way out of my budget when I already have a perfectly good working shock.

This is straight out of my Gen II Manual for shocks...

Front Track Shock on SKID
Body Length - 6.000
Shaft Length - 6.150
Max Length - 12.22
Max Travel - 3.650
IFP Depth - .0690

Rear Track Shock on SKID
Body Length - 7.285
Shaft Length - 7.340
Max Length - 14.490
Max Travel - 4.840
IFP Depth - .0870
 
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A
Oct 20, 2014
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Here is the front shock mount.... Notice anything odd??

IMG_1045.jpg


Haha, this guy must have dropped this sled off 100' mountain tops.... How the heck do you bend a shock mount that badly... Seriously.

Well, at this rate I think a new M-10 skid would have been about the same cost. Live and learn. This thing is nickel and diming me to death in suspension parts.
 
A
Oct 20, 2014
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Ok, waiting on one part to finish my skid...

I was able to remove both front engine mounts from the engine bay today.. What a pain! Anyhow, the mounts I received look like the rear engine mounts, not the front.

Can someone confirm I am not seeing things... The one on the left is the new engine mount and the one on the right is the front engine mount I removed...

engine_mount.jpg


I checked the part number they gave me 31100602.... This looks like the rear mount to me...

I think they should have ordered me part #3021099

So now I have to wait until they can ship me the correct front mounts until I can get my engine in... Always something with this project.
 
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A
Oct 20, 2014
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Ordered my SPI piston kit because the company doing my cylinders said they couldn't get them... Then I get an email stating that they ordered them after I went and placed an order to get the pistons shipped to me...

In the mean time I decided to tear apart the front end to replace the radius rods and the steering components and measure the center to center of the fox shocks that are on there.... They are 17 1/2" long... They function just fine, but they are the wrong height... I imagine that's why the front radius rods were bent and the trailing arms looked so close to the tub.

So I am going to get some stock 14.5" shocks for the front skis in hopes that remedies the front end issue.

So now I have 2 fox zero pro shocks that would work fine for an edge I imagine, or Arctic Cat.... But are just too long for my sled.... Man some people should stay far away from turning a wrench.

Also managed to get the right front engine mounts from the dealer and got those put in.
 
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