1990 skidoo safari gearing.???Help! - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

whodamudafuca · 02-22-2013, 08:40 PM

I have a 90 Safari with the 462 liquid. My issue is top speed. It tops out at 100 km/h (thats 60 miles an hour in American). Since I got this sled, I have disassembled and cleaned both clutches using info from this forum, replaced the belt, checked compression. The engine fires right up and runs like a champ. When riding, the sled pulls hard right to 7000 rpm which I think is about it for this engine. It will easily keep this top speed even at quarter throttle. I did the sharpie test and even ran it wide open on a stand with the hood up and belt guard off. It is shifting fully. Even under no load on the stand it only runs up to 120 km. I have a 377 safari that runs 100 km so I just know this thing has to have more in it. When I first got this sled the chain tension was way loose and some cowboy filled the chaincase with so much oil, it blew out the vent when I rode it. (What a mess) this is making me wonder if somebody swapped out a sprocket or chaincase from another sled sometime in the last 23 years. Does anybody know what the gear ratio should be on this sled? I can only assume that the smaller and the larger engines used different gearing.??

**smallengineguy** · 02-23-2013, 06:51 AM

www.hlsm.com will give you the gears in the case. Online fiche.

whodamudafuca · 02-23-2013, 02:05 PM

Thanks, I am banging my head off this thing! I downloaded according to hlsm instructions but it wont open, I have an e-mail in to hlsm, hope I get it figured out. Meanwhile this morning I took the chain case cover off and discovered a 22/44 sprocket ratio. According to "research" done on e-bay, the 467's had 25/44 gearing. So off I went to the local sled boneyard and found a 25 tooth sprocket in a bucket, however it is too thick for the chain. Grrr. So barring any further epiphany, i am going to chuck the 25t in the lathe monday and face it off to the correct thickness.

**smallengineguy** · 02-24-2013, 06:40 AM

I looked at the microfiche for the Safari LC and it shows 22/44 ratio....

whodamudafuca · 02-24-2013, 05:27 PM

Thanks. I'm scratching my head then. This thing has to have more than 60 mph in it. I don't expect mach z numbers but holy smokes I can't lose my 377 on this thing. The only other thing I can think of is the spring setting on the secondary. I cleaned it and put it bach the way it was. Which was looking at the sheave from the belt side, the spring was in the first hole on the left.

**smallengineguy** · 02-25-2013, 03:03 AM

Do the gear swap and see if it works!

whodamudafuca · 02-25-2013, 08:05 PM

So I machined the 25 tooth gear today and put the whole shootin match back together and took it out for a rip. I could definately feel a difference on the "seat of the pants dyno" it has longer legs and doesn't seem to have hurt the bottom end any. However top end still isn't there. I took it down a sideroad that was pretty much ice and it topped out at about 100 km/h. At trail speeds it is much better but it just seems to run out of poop. It will hold that top speed with Very little throttle. It seems like there is a lot of throttle lever that doesn't do anything. I ran it on the stand and the speedo wound up to 140 km\h. So I am back to the secondary clutch. I have been hunting for info on spring location. The bent end of the spring has about 5 different holes to choose from when installing. I put it in the one it came out of, which was the first one on the left when looking at the holes from the belt side of the sheave. If anyone has any info on setting up preload on these secondaries, please feel free to throw in your 2 cents worth here.

**RJ Gleason** · 02-25-2013, 10:26 PM

What is the rpm peaking at at WOT?

whodamudafuca · 02-26-2013, 06:31 AM

6800 on the snow, 7000 on the stand. Engine starts easily and pulls hard. It has under 5000 km on it and 150 psi in both sides (using the take both plugs out and pull the rope 3 times method)

**RJ Gleason** · 02-26-2013, 06:43 AM

Is the back shift strong or slow?

whodamudafuca · 02-26-2013, 05:17 PM

It shifts back pretty quick. When slowing for a corner, when I get back on it, its right there. No bogging. I am going to head to the garage, coffee in hand and do the fish scale test. Not to be confused with the fish scaler test that just scratches everything up. Lol.

whodamudafuca · 02-26-2013, 07:33 PM

So I took the secondary off again. I tried to hook my fish scale to the sheave first but it kept slipping. All I know is that I couldn't open it by hand. I have to use a prybar while turning the sheave. This clutch has one hole in the helix half and 5 holes in the sheave half. Looking at it from the helix or inside, the spring was in the last hole on the right and you have to twist the spring to get it started on the ramps. So I used the bathroom scale to try some different hole locations. The way it was showed about 40 lbs. I eventually chose the second hole (going left to right from the helix side) this showed about 25 lbs on the scale. I reinstalled the clutch (I'm getting pretty good at it) and found I could open it by hand. I could actually push the belt down in it and was a little worried it might be too loose so I ran it on the stand and it seemed to backshift ok. Then for the snow test. A quick jaunt down the ofsc trail that runs behind my house proved that the backshift and bottom end were just fine. When I got to my "test sideroad" I lined up beside my son on the 377 and we took off. Me with skiis in the air. I let him go ahead and when he topped out, I passed him at about the same rate that you'd pass a car on the highway. His speedo was just over 100km. Mine said 100 but I passed him pretty quick. Once we got back I put the stand under it and wound it up and the speedo went to 150km/h. That's cookin but the sled won't do that on the snow. I don't know if the speedo is not accurate or what. I feel like I got about 120 km out of it on the iced road but still think there's more in it. I don't expect this tank to go 100 miles an hour but 75 should be attainable on ice for crying out loud!

TheBearAk · 02-26-2013, 08:31 PM

no, the speedo's are not very accurate. My 377 Touring E's speedo says my top is 60 MPH, but a buddy had a newer sled and ran next to me and said I was getting 74 MPH out of it.

Did the same thing on my '95 summit 583. Speedo read my speed at just under 80 MPH, but my buddy (riding a 800 etec) rode next to me and said he was reading 96 MPH.

Granted, there might be +/- 5 MPH between any two speedos, but 14-16 MPH? I seriously doubt it. I trust the newer one more than the older one.

My '85 Tundra tops out at 40 MPH, and that was my son racing next to me in my car. LOL

whodamudafuca · 02-26-2013, 09:09 PM

Yeah, I know they are notorious, and ice and slippage play a part too. I always take speedo readings with a grain of salt. I have clocked my 377 with a car and the speedo is fairly accurate. These are identical sleds save for the motors. I feel the 467 should walk all over the 377 and it is definately snappier but it doesnt embarrass the 377 the way I thought it would. If somebody who owned one of these things would just say "hey man 65 mph is all you're gonna get" I would leave it alone. Unfortunately for me there is not a ton of info out there on the safari lc.