Need Some advice on 800 - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

Surfbp · 01-15-2013, 07:36 PM

I recently blew up my PTO bearings and cranks shaft on my 2004 Polaris 800 and also one cylinder is toast. The sled has 6000 miles and I am weighting my options. I can get a used motor with 1100 miles on it for $1200 plus install, or upgrade to the larger PTO, bearing, shaft etc, or part out the sled. I have been offered $600 buck for the whole thing which I am not happy about. I bought the sled at the end of the season and only rode it about 150 miles. The sled is otherwise in great condition. Does anyone know the cost for the upgrade PTO bearings and shaft and pistons? Is is worth the upgrade into a 6000 mile sled? Or should I go with 1100mile stock used engine? Thanks Mike

360 xrt · 01-15-2013, 10:04 PM

i monitor these post all the time waiting for 800 crankshaft issues. from what i've read,these engines stay bullet proof till about 2,000 miles. after that its a crap shoot.i believe to do the wide bearing mod and rebuild the crank is around $600.thats hoping you catch it before it ruins the block.did the sled give ANY warning signs at all,or did it fail in a split second.my 02' 800xc has 1,900 miles,so i need to start thinking about the future. good luck with the sled and keep us posted.

meburdick · 01-15-2013, 10:53 PM

Mike,

If you have a VES motor, your motor needs some serious money to get it back up and running.

You'll need the wide PTO bearing kit, the crankshaft will need to be swapped with a re-man one that has been completely trued, the extra oil line added to the case, all new bearings for the rest of the crank, new crank seals, new gaskets, new top end, the newer stainless steel VES guillotines, and a variety of other miscellaneous small parts (and a LOT of labor). If you do all the work yourself, you can likely reign the price in to keep it under $2,000.

Consider parting the sled and buying something else... The '02 through '04 VES 800 motors were a bad design and suffered badly from oiling and heating problems. I looked at a 2002 Edge X (just like my 500) rolling chassis 800 this fall. Everything was there except the crankshaft (I wouldn't have been able to avoid the core charge as a result when buying a remanufactured one) and I offered the guy $600 for the chassis (it was a bit rough with a couple of cracks in the hood and such).

Believe me when I say I don't -want- to be the bearer of bad news, but... Your best bet is to part it out and use the cash toward something else.