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New To Me 1994 Indy XLT

3K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  RJ Gleason 
#1 ·
I just picked up my first sled that I've purchased as an adult at 33 years old. The last ones I rode in 1995 were my dad's 1987 Indy Trail which was bullet proof and simple to fix.

So my new ride is a 1994 XLT Special SKS and I have some questions about it. It has 27XX miles on it and is in great shape cosmetically and appears stock except the suspension in the rear was dropped down 1/2" on the front bolt and 2"-3" on the rear bolt which rides on a plate bolted to the floor boards because the bolt height is below them.

Here are my questions:

I went to grease everything and when I tried to get to the jackshaft the secondary clutch is rusted on. I tried tipping it on it's side and soaking it in PB Blaster / Liquid wrench but it just won't come off. I hit the clutch with a rubber mallet and a block of wood and slightly warped/bent the inner plate on the back side of the clutch. The two sheaves seem to rotate on the spring fine without any noise/binding but I am wondering if I did damage or is that plate cosmetic.

After a couple of days of being tipped on it's side some oil, gas, and coolant dripped out of the belly pan. Of course I had just filled the gas and oil so I am not to worried about that but the coolant has me uneasy. The coolant didn't start leaking until after I set it down level and ran it with the back up. Later that day I found about a cup of coolant on the floor. A day later (today) I ran it for 5 minutes after wiping the coolant off and it looks pretty dry. Is there somewhere the coolant could have escaped from being tipped on it's side for a few days and then ran right after dropping it down?

Finally, the shocks seem pretty solid but the rear squats about 1"-2" from the maximum ride height. If I lift up on the back of the sled it will squat back down. Then if I sit it will rebound 75%. I can bottom out the rear by leaning on it pretty good. Is this normal or do the rear shocks need to be rebuilt. It there a test I can do. They are fox shocks with about 2 years / 500 miles on them according to the seller.

Sorry if these are noobie questions. Looking forward to getting back on a sled this winter.
 
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#2 ·
The coolant is most likely coming from the overflow tank from being on its side, the clutch plate you bent is just a dust cover basically and doesny do much so that wont hurt, is all the track on the ground without you sitting on it or is just the back portion touching the ground, the suspension attack angle has a lot to do with how the geometry of the skid works and if not done right will cause the shocks to compress easily

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#3 ·
The track contacts the ground level. Basically it lifted the rear of the sled an inch or two. I thought about cutting those plates out and bolting it back into the original holes but it might be more work than it's worth. I have yet to ride it but when I do if it seems squirrely I'll probably go back to the stock mounts.
 
#4 ·
Welcome to the XLT club! Those plates you see in the back were standard on the 1994 sleds. They are there to increase deep snow performance. I have the same on my 94. You probably want to try it out before you change anything? The lower mounts cause more pressure on the front skiis and could cause darting. Will you be riding trails or powder?

The coolant leak could also be a seal on the waterpump. On mine I sometimes see a tiny bit of coolant pudding by the pump. Once I heat up the sled it seals up and is all good. Never lost enough to warrant tearing off the pump and resealing.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the heads up on the plates. With some of these older sleds the factory engineering doesn't always look...well, "factory". It will be parked out at the lake where it is a combination of lake bed, trails (hills and bowls) and ditches.

If I stand on it and sort of hop up and down it seems to have pretty good travel but I am wondering if the top 1/3 of the shock travel is bad. My dad always said "shocks don't carry any weight" that they just dampen the travel but I wonder if I rebuilt these if it would ride higher/firmer. 500 miles doesn't seem like a lot but 2-3 years might have the same effect.

I decided to bring it in to a shop to have the secondary removed. It's been eating at me that I can't grease the jack shaft. Maybe I'll have them check for a coolant leak when it's in there. On the other hand they probably have a snowmobile payment so maybe I won't bring it up...
 
#6 ·
It sounds like your shocks are fine. They are doing what they should do. If your shocks were fully extended to start with then when you went down into a hole on the trial the suspension would not have any downward travel. When you lift up on the rear of the sled and release it the sled will sit higher until you put your weight on it. Totally normal. The unfortunate thing is that suspension is before they made the Xtra 10/12, which was a huge improvement! That is the XC-100 (Name?) suspension and it only boasted 8 inches of travel. Love my 94, but it puts a hurt on you after a day of ridding. Enjoy what you have and learn how to ride what you've bought :) That is a great sled to enter you back into the sport.
 
#7 ·
Like XLT said. There should be some "sag" in the rear suspension. Your dad is right; normal hydraulic shocks don't do anything to help lift the sled. If you have air shocks, then there is some lift, but the function of the shock is still to dampen movement. At 500 miles, yours shouldn't be needing rebuilding.

I wouldn't worry too much about greasing the jackshaft bearing. Those bearings seldom fail. Plus, the bearings are sealed both sides, so grease doesn't really make it's way into the bearing. Grease surrounding the bearing does help keep the water out, though.

Good luck on removing the secondary. Once those get rusted on, they are a bugger to get off. It's likely that you will be out a clutch before it's over. Fortunately, P-85 secondaries are cheap and plentiful! If you have to go that route, make sure to get the newer type with the external adjuster. They are a lot simpler to adjust when the belt gets worn.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the advice on the jackshaft. If/when the bearing goes I'll deal with the secondary clutch then.

In the meantime...I have yet to identify the coolant leak. I don't think it has anything to do with being tipped on it's side. The pump is dry, the hoses appear dry and I wiped down the overflow tank and the metal pan directly below. It seems like it is leaking from the middle radiator directly in front of the track but I can't get a good view. Is that riveted in or are there bolts so I can inspect it? Lots of hoses snaking around and under the motor too...hard to see where it's coming from.
 
#10 ·
Does that require removal of the belly pan or is there a way to loosen it on that side to slide it out or will it come out at an angle? Seems like a lot of work and worry to get it off just to slide it back on (after cleaning and lubing).
 
#12 ·
Found it! There was a pinhole in one of the return hoses.

Also, I decided to pull the rear shocks out to have them rebuilt. Of course, I broke off the tension adjustment screw on one side (despite heavy doses of liquid wrench), so now I have that problem. The head basically broke off the bolt. So I am going to weld that lock nut to the end and try wrench it out again. If it doesn't come I suppose I'll have to rivet in a new mount/slide...

Thanks for the advice... Getting closer everyday to being ready to ride. I am also learning that anti-seize is your friend.
 
#13 ·
You can also slide the pivot shaft out of the tube and use vice grips or a vice to hold it.
Then use some emory paper or a file to smooth it back up as the aluminum will burr.
 
#14 ·
So over the past few weeks I have cleaned the carbs, put in new hifax, had the rear shocks rebuilt, changed the chain case oil and fixed the track tensioner I broke.

When all that was done and I thought it was ready to go I brought it to the gas station and filled up the gas tank. Turns out the hose and possibly the brass fitting was leaking gas where it comes out of the tank.

So I took it apart, put plumbers tape on the fitting and new hose from the tank to the fuel filter. This seams to have fixed the gas leak but I have a question.

Should there be air in the fuel lines / fuel filter? It primes and starts fine. Revs fine but I can see air in the line and the filter never gets more than 1/4" of fuel in the bottom. Is this a problem?
 
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