98 formula III engine problems - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

tripletriple · 01-27-2008, 09:52 PM

I decided to go for a cruise on the lake by my place today, but it was cut short. After unloading, i tried to start my machine, but it took many pulls, and took a while for all three cylinders to fire, which it never normally does. But it got running and all seemed ok. I drove out onto the lake, cruised for about a kilometer until everything was warmed up, then pinned it for about 4 seconds, got loose, got off of it, then tried to go back on, and nothin was there. Everything went silent. When i stopped, i tried to pull it over, and nothing would budge.
So far, i have taken the head, and jugs off, and everything looks great there.
Any ideas what this could be, and what the next step would be to find out??

**smallengineguy** · 01-28-2008, 07:13 AM

Take the belt off and see if you can turn the clutch by hand. If not, sounds like a crank bearing seized up on it.

tripletriple · 01-30-2008, 07:32 PM

I tried taking the belt off, and turning by hand. It will barely move. just a little bit back and forth, thats it. When i went out the next morning, the bottom end was full to the top with fuel.

**smallengineguy** · 01-30-2008, 07:37 PM

That's the problem. Remove the spark plugs and pull it over slowly to get all the fuel out of it. Then remove and clean the carbs completely, and use compressed air to blow everything out. It should be OK after that.