[ericmpkennedy]

The sound is more of a knock or slap (metal on metal) than a pop I think. Hoping if it's a valve, it's not too complicated to adjust. I was worried at first I did something wrong reassembling the dropcase, but then I realized the sound was only at idle.

The muffler is pretty solid, but I'll take it off tomorrow and see what I can find.

As far as the oil leak, the fill cap was on solidly and the dipstick was on the upper side when the sled flipped. After we tipped it upright, max of 5 minutes, there wasn't enough oil to show on the dipstick.

One odd thing I noticed yesterday is that the oil on the dipstick was creamy looking. I was assuming it was just from condensation due to sitting outside, but seemed strange because I just changed the oil couple weeks ago.

 

[kopeck]

Did it start making the clicking noise after it was rolled over?

K

 

[660catman]

Oil colour doesn’t sound good. Make sure you check your spark plug holes for oil just in case gaskets leaked. Years ago my son tipped my turbo coming off an ice road on a lake. Oil made its way to the air filter.

 

[kopeck]

Oil colour doesn’t sound good. Make sure you check your spark plug holes for oil just in case gaskets leaked. Years ago my son tipped my turbo coming off an ice road on a lake. Oil made its way to the air filter.

I've never tipped one all the way over, I've put them on their sides but never 180 deg. out.

I've thrown this around a few times in the last month but more as a far fetched maybe, this time I'm wondering if it really could be true. Hydro lock... I mean the clicking and weird exhaust noise...

I've noticed the fill caps get a little milky oil on them from time to time, I've always chalked that up to cold starts. After running the up to temp it goes away. I've never noticed it in the crank case.

K

 

[ericmpkennedy]

I've never tipped one all the way over, I've put them on their sides but never 180 deg. out.

I've thrown this around a few times in the last month but more as a far fetched maybe, this time I'm wondering if it really could be true. Hydro lock... I mean the clicking and weird exhaust noise...

I've noticed the fill caps get a little milky oil on them from time to time, I've always chalked that up to cold starts. After running the up to temp it goes away. I've never noticed it in the crank case.

K

It wasn't a full 180, but far enough to shatter the windshield, plus being sideways on the hill. So roughly 120 degrees I'd guess. My wife's and son's feet were stuck underneath, so I didn't pay too much attention to how far the sled was over at the time. Just glad it didn't go farther.

I first noticed the clicking noise after I got the skid shock straightened out. I was just prepping the sled for use this winter when I decided to fix the speedometer and started this whole thing. It's possible that the cause happened while being stored over the summer and I didn't notice it while moving it to the garage.

The milky junk was on the fill cap when I first got the machine, but up until now, I never saw it on the dipstick before. Hoping it was just because it hadn't been run yet. No sign of sludge when I checked it after the tip over.

What is Hydro-Lock and how do you fix that?

 

[kopeck]

Is the ticking noise faint? They all make a little timing chain noise. The other place to look is the clutch, your machine has the old 9 tower AC clutch and they were notorious for wearing and becoming rattly.

Hydolock is when oil gets into the combustion chamber, when you go to start the engine the oil stops the piston from moving (since oil isn't compressible). It's not the "lock" that hurts, it was gives since the piston has stopped (rods, valve train etc).

Other than the exhaust issue and the missing oil does it still run OK? You kind of hit us up with 3 problems in one post, knowing what started when would help a lot. It sounds now like the clicking predated the rollover so they're probably not related.

K

 

[ericmpkennedy]

Ok, so the knocking noise and loud exhaust I first noticed when I test rode the sled after flipping the rear shock back into its place. It's possible it occurred before then, but didn't notice it as my other sleds are 2 strokes and much louder in general. The knocking noise is relatively loud, but not to the point you think the engine will blow up. Maybe about the same loudness as if you clapped your hands together. The exhaust is loud for a 4 stroke, but still quieter than most 2 strokes.

It started right up and other than kicking out a bit of smoke right away, seemed happy to run. I didn't notice any loss of power, but I only ran it long enough to get it onto the trailer.

My impression is the oil leaked out because the sled tipped on its side, versus damage from tipping over. But I will look at it tonight - thinking I should be able to find a trail of oil on the engine that will point to the leak. I just brought up all the different issues in case they are related and someone would have an 'aha...' moment, especially if it was an easy to fix thing.

I'll report back what I find when I get it into my garage tonight.

 

[ericmpkennedy]

Is the ticking noise faint? They all make a little timing chain noise. The other place to look is the clutch, your machine has the old 9 tower AC clutch and they were notorious for wearing and becoming rattly.

Hydolock is when oil gets into the combustion chamber, when you go to start the engine the oil stops the piston from moving (since oil isn't compressible). It's not the "lock" that hurts, it was gives since the piston has stopped (rods, valve train etc).

Other than the exhaust issue and the missing oil does it still run OK? You kind of hit us up with 3 problems in one post, knowing what started when would help a lot. It sounds now like the clicking predated the rollover so they're probably not related.

K

hmm... just thinking I didn't really answer the order of occurrence question like I thought I did. Feeling a bit fuzzy today... Anyway, short answer, the clicking and loud exhaust happened before the tip over last night. The oil spilled out when the machine tipped over, I don't think anything on the machine (other than the windshield) broke when it tipped over though, so I think the leak was there already, just somewhere above the oil level. Wondering if a head gasket blew or something similar where oil & exhaust could escape. Might explain water in the oil too.

 

[ericmpkennedy]

I guess it was much ado about nothing. It looks like the oil escaped out a breather hose and out through the airbox. No sign of oil leaks on the engine.

The doughnut gasket on the exhaust is pretty decrepit. It probably got bumped when I changed the oil and opened up a gap. I'll know better once I get a replacement in place, but I think it's more of a coincidence than anything.

I didn't get a chance to look at the knocking noise yet. But I'm feeling much better about the wngine now.

 

[kopeck]

That's all good news. I think knowing the order of things wouldn't have made me just to such a bad conclusion. The hydolock thing has always been in the back of my mind. The dealer we got one of our machines from had someone bend a rod on a 660 very early on. Honestly I haven't heard of one since but it is possible. It's why the later 4-Strokes went to a dry sump.

I bet the rattle is something like the clutch. How many miles are on it?

K

 

[ericmpkennedy]

That's odd, I wrote out a reply a few days ago, but must not have hit the post button.

Anyway the sled has a little over 4,000 miles on it.

The knocking noise has disappeared. Maybe it was a cold weather thing (or whatever was hitting finally broke off and is sitting down in the oil pan!).

I had it out on the lake yesterday and I could only get it up to about 40mph. I never had the speedometer working before, but it seems like it is missing some top end. The snow wasn't great, so was possibly holding it down, but the hydrolock theory is still in play.

I'm going to give it another try today.

 

[660catman]

Maybe you had a ice block in tunnel for the knocking?

 

[kopeck]

Maybe you had a ice block in tunnel for the knocking?

Yeah, ZR Chassis and especially 4-Strokes are good for that! If it's cold out, say sub 10F the build ice fast.

As far as the top end...the '02s had less HP than the rest of the NA 4-Stokes. I think it was 50 vs 55 or something like that. My NA touring will do 55, maybe 60 if everything is perfect. That being said if you are on snow that you have to push at all, which happens on a lake, I could see you being limited to sub 50 on the top end.

My '02 Trail could get to 55. It's funny, it will run at 40MPH all day long on the trails and not complain, anything over that and she just runs out of umph.

One last thing to look at is the clutches. Make sure they're clean and there's no slop in the weights. The 9 towers are notorious for premature wear. That being said the secondary you have in there might be the best AC ever made...

K