[tiggershark]

Lets start with riding in December, the 30th, In Michigan (48 degrees!, nice day!) all 4 quads running great, had a great time. Heading back to the cabin and my 05, which was in front of me with my 2 boys riding it, about a 1/4 mile to go and KA-POW!
The worst noise I have ever heard, grinding, metal on metal, wasnt pretty!
It coasted to a stop, still running. Gave it a little gas and the noise came back. Shut it down and towed her home, no noise while towing it. Fired it back up at the cabin and it starts to move forward and the noise comes back. Loaded it on the trailer and its heading to the dealer after the Holidays, Jan 3rd.
I'm thinking some internal, Not clutches though, the noise is coming from the rear of the engine/trans area. We pretty much elimated the rear end, because it doesnt make any noise while being towed and it towed very easily. Rear end would be alot easier fix though. It exploded while at cruising speed, roughly 35 mph and not beating on it or accelerating.
I'm not too disappointed, we had such a great time riding all day that it kinda makes up for it. Hill climbing/ trail riding/ some small mud holes/ blazing new trails through the woods. Great day!! We then headed ( in the truck)to a local bar that makes pizza to die for. Good stuff.
We should be snowmobiling, but zero snow. Its probably a good thing that it busted now, next spring it wouldn't have any warrenty left. So I feel lucky, that it broke now.
I will update you all as to whats going on with it. p.s., My 03 500 manual ran flawlessly again. Its never had a problem. Our 05 has been in the shop 2 times, 3rd now!

 

[kevinbender0311]

bi-level gear?

 

[MattCat500]

Same thing just happened early december to my 05 500. Is the rear shaft sticking out abit from the diff? Does the rubber boot on the shaft look like it is off? If so I just got mine done at the dealer and it turned out to be the drive shaft and it had a broken shaft bumper and the splines on the shaft were all worn down (the grinding noise). Mine was covered by Cat Care. It turned out to be about a 400 dollar job(canadian funds)

Good luck and I hope you get it fixed up.

Matt

 

[tiggershark]

Thanks for the info, its going in tomorrow morning first thing. I hope its what you said it is. Somewhat of an easy fix and hopefully the motor/trans wont have to come out.

 

[tiggershark]

update: the problem was what mattcat500 said it was, the output shaft (or yoke) was stripped and its covered under warranty.
Thinking about extending the warranty. Only catch is that it isnt really cheap and you have to pay for it before you have 30 days left on the original warranty.
$426 for 1 year
$488 for 2 years ---probably the best deal....
and 6** something for 3 years
but its still available... for me until April 15th or so. Factory warranty expires around May 15th........tigger

 

[tiggershark]

New news, I was promoted to Arctic Chat moderater.
You guys all better mind your p's and q's from now on..........lol

 

[cardiocasey]

I didnt realize that you could still extend your warenty. So you can a? This is good to know. I think I will extend mine if poss.

 

[MattCat500]

Congrats Tiggershark ! Both on the mod job and the warranty work to get the cat fixed. I have never heard of this problem before. Did they mention to you how it happened and how are we to avoid this issue? My dealer said it was the rubber bumbpers that broke and therefore the shaft came out and got stripped. Is this rubber shaft bumper an item we should be replacing every so often? Or like you mention, should we keep the warrenty up on our machines?

Thanks and congrats again tiggershark......

Matt

:chug:

 

[Sanny651]

I haven't heard much stuff like this on the 500's, so this must be more of a "one off" situation vs. a normal/expected situation.

 

[tiggershark]

I'll find out more when I pick it up. The dealer told me all the parts were ordered and it should be a fairly simple fix. He has never done one of these repairs before so I think its just one of those things???
I asked him about extending the warranty and he gave me a brochure with the prices on it. (of course I mis-placed it) Its not Arctic Cat its a different company. I guess they just roll the dice and hope that the cat holds together and they make money on the policy. It comes with a 50 dollar deductable each time the dealer has to work on it. I've had a few problems with my 05 but nothing major like this last one. If it happens again, its covered for the next 2 years if I ainte up the 488, which I think I'm gonna do...........tigger