04 rx1 grinding out of chaincase

[derbydriver7]

i bought sled with 1900 miles changed all fluids did a check up myself and have taken it north on a trip it currently has almost 2600 miles and has left me on a trail. It started to make a whining like noise but immediately turned to a very aggressive grinding noise....track turns freely by hand when it is up in air chaincase oil level still at correct level I'm sitting at bar now waiting on the trailer and trying to figure out what happened and what I can do to fix it if at all possible while I'm still on trip...I did not take cover off and inspect when I changed chaincase oil just drained it....any help or advice will be greatly appreciated, I have replaced jackshaft bearings on older polaris sleds with no reverse but am not familiar with these sleds with reverse inside of the case

 

[blkhwkbob]

Sounds like you gotta open up the case, and that takes some tools. Does it have reverse? Chain tensioner problem? Bolt come off top gear or nut come off bottom gear?

 

[derbydriver7]

Yes it does have reverse, and it shifts into reverse fine and driving in reverse makes same noises. How big of a pain is it to pull cover off and work inside of these cases with reverse? Anything I need to inspect or change while I'm in there?

 

[blkhwkbob]

You need to remove the side panel, brake caliper, parking brake, brake disk, and reverse linkage. You will need a number 3 phillips, snap ring pliers, 8, 10, 12, 14mm sockets, extensions and wrenches, metric allen keys, something to catch oil in, etc. That's low mileage for the bearings to go. I think something loosened up.

 

[derbydriver7]

Ok so it's probably going to wait til I get back home to work on it....Ya idk picking rear of sled up I can move track freely by hand hope it's something simple inside, had nothing but bad luck so far

 

[Lonerider]

put it reverse and drive it a 10 feet , then put it back in forward do the same, it sounds like it may be coming out of gear. push reverse lever all the way in. Also check chain tension, needs to be finger tight. you can check this with tools in your kit. Where are you riding?

 

[derbydriver7]

Checked reverse immediately same result.....then took side panel off and checked chain tension because I thought possibly too loose, after releasing lock nut it may have turned 1/8 of a turn by finger..also same result....I am in boulder junction WI, we leave Saturday so not like it messed whole trip up, just thought it was too soon for bearings, hoping nothing serious when I pull apart however the noise it's making sure is nasty

 

[yama_rider]

My guess is that you had a bearing failure in your chaincase

 

[maim]

all the bearings are common # and you could get them at a local bearing supply house. you can use all balls kits as well. i reccomend packing them with grease as all balls is cheap on the grease.

 

[derbydriver7]

Just finally got it pulled apart...the top bearing on what I would call the case cover was out and balls were rolling around inside the case...appears to have done no other damage, Sled has 2500 miles....go ahead and change rest of bearings while I am inside already? Any advice on doing so? Is there 4 more?

 

[low flying missile]

Just finally got it pulled apart...the top bearing on what I would call the case cover was out and balls were rolling around inside the case...appears to have done no other damage, Sled has 2500 miles....go ahead and change rest of bearings while I am inside already? Any advice on doing so? Is there 4 more?

I am so surprised that a bearing failed with such low mileage. Did you see any blueing of the jackshaft or bearing race indicating overheating? I would try and find a cause other than a defective bearing as Yamaha uses premium bearings. Check the parts manual and make sure that spacers behind the brake disc were put in properly. If this isn't done right the brake might be putting a side load on the bearing causing it to fail. I would at least remove the chain , top gear and drive belt then spin the secondary by hand to see if the other top case bearing turns smooth. If it seems fine then I wouldn't change the other bearings. I've had the wheel bearings go in a front wheel drive car and they started to whine as a first indication of a problem. Its usually quite a while after that that things disintegrate.

 

[Sasquatch]

Just finally got it pulled apart...the top bearing on what I would call the case cover was out and balls were rolling around inside the case...appears to have done no other damage, Sled has 2500 miles....go ahead and change rest of bearings while I am inside already? Any advice on doing so? Is there 4 more?

I would check it over and while its apart, I would put all new bearings in it. Bits of metal floating around in the case may take out other bearings. I would at least check them all, when I had a bearing go I found a few others that where rough! Your call!

And buy quality bearings don't cheap out! I did that once and had to redo the whole job because one bearing failed on the driveshaft PTO side. I took everything apart just to check the other bearings and I found others that where very rough and near death! So I changed them all. One years service out of a set off bearings, I was a little miffed. Factory bearings where still good at 8,000 miles but I changed them when I put in the new driveshaft. Factory bearings have near 8,000 miles again now.

 

[derbydriver7]

Ok thanks guys I did not see any blurring on the shaft. What bearing would of came factory on this? The one that failed (I am not good with technical names for this thing yet) would be in the cover itself on the top shelf. It was a koyo bearing I caught it's failure immediately all it did was let all the balls out there is a little metal but the races almost look perfect can't remember the number. I was wondering if someone didn't screw with me and put a low mileage speedo on a higher mileage sled. I have no other proof sled is beautiful like miles should be right but I also think that 2500 miles is low for a failure. Thanks for ideas im gone on work stay away til Friday I will tear rest of it apart this weekend and just as well change them all. Thanks guys!

 

[YammyRX1]

The bearings in the chaincase usually last the longest and the two on the clutch side are the ones that go first so I would replace them all while you have it apart. Keep all the parts in order when you take them off and replace them in the same order- some guys tie them together with a zip tie. There was an upgrade in 05 for the tapered sleeve that fits in the jackshaft bearing, they added a locking nut and you might want to put that in but you need a special spanner to get at the lock nut to tighten it (like a shock wrench).

 

[smokingcrater]

This makes my suspicion meter go up! There had to have been another cause for that bearing going. The chaincase bearings RARELY go, and certainly not at that mileage. I'd more likely believe it at a couple hundred miles, that you could blame on a defect. But 2500 is well past that, but also way before the time it should have gone.

What type of chaincase oil did you run? How did the oil look?