Hi everyone. I'm about to dump my snowmobile in the nearby river, but before I do, I have a small spark of hope by posting this.
Last year I moved from the Netherlands to Sweden. Of course I wanted a snowmobile for the winter. A friend of mine sold me a Crossfire 800 from 2008 with 9000 km on the odometer.
To make a long story short, it spent about 90% of the winter at a mechanic getting repaired. Why? On one of my first trips, the snowmobile stalled after coming over a hill and wouldn’t start again because it was “stuck in gear.” So I went to my friend’s place nearby and he did something to free the transmission and it started again. Then I dropped it off at a local mechanic. It sat there for most of the winter. He said it needed a complete transmission/clutch rebuild, which cost me about $1,000. I just drove it home to store it because the snow was already starting to melt.
Fast forward 8 months. Because of these problems I lost confidence and now I have put it up for sale. So I did a quick check to see if everything was working. The reverse gear no longer works. Sometimes nothing happens, no sound, but it says R on the screen but it drives forward. Other times it makes a very unpleasant sound, like it is squeaking and not engaging. But everything is new. Bearings, belt, planetary gear, etc. I called the mechanic and he is on vacation, but he said I have to fiddle a bit with the shims/washers on the secondary clutch because everything needs to be broken in, etc. But I can't get it any better.
Now. Before I actually dump it in the river, maybe someone can miraculously tell me that there's something simple that I can try myself? I'm used to working on motorcycles, but this whole clutch thing on a snowmobile is a mystery to me.
Thanks a lot, guys.
Last year I moved from the Netherlands to Sweden. Of course I wanted a snowmobile for the winter. A friend of mine sold me a Crossfire 800 from 2008 with 9000 km on the odometer.
To make a long story short, it spent about 90% of the winter at a mechanic getting repaired. Why? On one of my first trips, the snowmobile stalled after coming over a hill and wouldn’t start again because it was “stuck in gear.” So I went to my friend’s place nearby and he did something to free the transmission and it started again. Then I dropped it off at a local mechanic. It sat there for most of the winter. He said it needed a complete transmission/clutch rebuild, which cost me about $1,000. I just drove it home to store it because the snow was already starting to melt.
Fast forward 8 months. Because of these problems I lost confidence and now I have put it up for sale. So I did a quick check to see if everything was working. The reverse gear no longer works. Sometimes nothing happens, no sound, but it says R on the screen but it drives forward. Other times it makes a very unpleasant sound, like it is squeaking and not engaging. But everything is new. Bearings, belt, planetary gear, etc. I called the mechanic and he is on vacation, but he said I have to fiddle a bit with the shims/washers on the secondary clutch because everything needs to be broken in, etc. But I can't get it any better.
Now. Before I actually dump it in the river, maybe someone can miraculously tell me that there's something simple that I can try myself? I'm used to working on motorcycles, but this whole clutch thing on a snowmobile is a mystery to me.
Thanks a lot, guys.