good deal or not - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

dbenney · 12-30-2004, 05:51 PM

i found a 97 MXZ 670 locally and am going to look at it tomorrow. it has about 7000 miles. that sounds kinda high, but the owner is about my age and the 2nd owner. he bought it fromthe 1st owner and it had been stricktly dealer maintained. i was told a seal went when the 1st owner had it and the enitre engine was gone through. he wants $1500.
i am looking for a decent 2nd sled for the old lady. he said he's selling it due to buying a 2004 MXZ. i figured that it would be ok if i gave it a good looking over. i figured i'd check the compression, start it & listen to it run, inspect the skid(an sc10) and take it for a spin. is there anything else i should look for? or should i stay away from this sled?

dbenney · 12-30-2004, 05:52 PM

went to look at it and it started on the 2nd pull. engine was cold when i got there. the engine compartment is almost spotless, compression measured approx 150psi on both cylinders. it idled smooth. the track was decent and the body was almost flawless, no cracks or gouges. the only thing i could find that it needed was 2 idler wheels. both 135mm.

i do have 1 question though. it has an SC 10 suspension with the AD BOIVIN ETS SC 10 suspension upgrade. how does this suspension work compared to my ARM in the FZ? what i mean is how does it absorb, if i pushed down on the back of the sled it seemed to rebound very little and didnt go down very far either. it has HPG shocks. is this just all adjustable through shock preload? it was on the 2nd setting.

thanks for any help
Don

YamahaVector · 12-31-2004, 12:20 PM

If the sled is in nice shape and runs good then that is probably a fair deal.

sesnopro · 12-31-2004, 02:26 PM

The ad boivin is just to couple the front and rear shocks of the skid. this controls ski lift. your sled proby has it to, it is a little block behind the rear swing arm. It works on the princible that when the rear arm moves back it stops on the coupler and transfers some of the shock to the front arm, thus eving out the suspension.

The shocks are probly blown out. if there is no rebound. the rear springs have no effect on the reboud they are only for preload/ dampining.

RoloCade · 12-31-2004, 11:25 PM

High miles can be insignificant unless the suspension and bearings are all washed out. If the compression is that high and everything else is in order than id get it. Ask him if it has been overbored and how much. The ol'ladies had a fresh topend but was at 40 over and it washed out on now i had to get new cylinders for 435 each or have them put new sleeves in and size for 200 each plus 100 for the pistons.

dbenney · 12-31-2004, 11:43 PM

i just bought new rear shocks for my 98 FZ 670 w ARM suspension. i thought hte rear shocks were blown out cuz i could push them out & they wouldnt rebound. the new ones i got were the same. so i talked to the guy at the dealer & he told me that the rear shocks just handled the damping and the springs handled the rebound. maybe the sc10 is different though.

cgies · 01-02-2005, 02:07 AM

The springs handle the rebound. The shocks handle the damping. If the springs didn't lift the sled back up, there is a cam block that can be turned to tighten the spring pressure. This sled has HPG shocks so they are rebuildable for around $50 (Canadian). You don't want to buy new ones 'cause they are expensive. The adjuster ring on the front of one that I had seized and I had to replace the shock, so check to see that the rings turn on the front shocks. While the sled is running, look closely at the exhaust pipe and canister 'cause the high vibrations of these twins tends to crack the pipe.

All in all this is an awesome sled and I still have my second one.