98 Kitty Question...Maintenance Issue?

[NHmountainman]

Just bought a very nice 98 KC. It starts and runs awesome and seems to have great power, but...

When the throttle is opened, it takes a lot of throttle to move and is very jerky and knocks my son off the back...or if he hangs on and lets off the throttle, he flies forward. The govenor is set at full power...

I don't know if the sled was ever serviced. Is the track too tight? Is something else too tight?

I ordered a service manual last week but it has not come in yet...

Help!

Keith

[MachJeff]

It certainly sounds like something is binding up, check to see how easily the track turns, you should be able to spin it by hand.

[lenben1]

like jeff said check out the the track, wheels, bearings, gears.
if thats good, look at changing your clutch.

[jstoeckly]

Take a shot @ this recmotors.com

kinda sounds like the clutch to me, there's acooking oil tip on their tech page that can't hurt either....

CLUTCH PROBLEMS 101

ONE OF THE MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS I GET ON OUR TECH LINE IS, WHY WHEN MY SLED TAKES OFF DOES IT SOUND LIKE THE CLUTCH IS RINGING or THE TRACK IS JUMPING COGS. ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU HAVE JUST INSTALLED DIFFERENT GEARS FOR MORE SPEED.

(ANSWER) A CENTRIFUGAL CLUTCH ENGAGES AT A CERTAIN RPM, WHAT THAT RPM WILL BE IS DETERMINED BY WHICH SPRINGS OR SHOES YOU HAVE IN IT AT THE TIME. THE ABOVE PROBLEMS USUALLY OCCUR WHEN YOUR ENGINE DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER OR (torque) TO ENGAGE THE CLUTCH AND MAKE THE SLED MOVE. HERE ARE JUST A FEW THINGS TO TRY (1) GO TO A LIGHTER TENSION SPRING IN YOUR CLUTCH, (2) MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NO BINDING IN YOUR TRACK AND IT HAS BEEN LUBED ( as per our tech tip) (3) CHECK TO SEE THAT YOUR DRIVE CHAIN ISN’T OUT OF ALIGNMENT OR TO TIGHT (4) CHECK TO SEE THAT YOUR BRAKE BAND ISN’T DRAGGING ON THE CLUTCH DRUM (5) RUN NO HIGHER THEN 87 OCTANE FUEL. OH AND ONE MORE THING THESE LITTLE SLEDS WERE NOT DESIGNED TO HAUL AROUND ADULTS LET THE KIDS DO THE TESTING.

good luck,
Jim

[Guest]

Thanks everyone...I have an appointment scheduled a local dealer here in NH. I called this morning and I told them about my problem and the guys painted they grey-est picture possible about all the problems this sled has...I was about to get steaming mad! He mentioned it might be the clutch. They are going to go through it, about $75 for an hour...do you think it's worth it? What about any other repairs...is $200 too much for the sled?

[Guest]

Also, where are these tech tips? Like lubing the track...I have no idea...thanks!!!

[jstoeckly]

yeah $200. is 175.00 more than you need to spend! the tips are off of recmotors.com
you can get a clutch anywhere from $25 -$125. it's really not that hard to keep up the maintence. I have a couple of operater/maint manuals-guides- I'll send ya one- $15 it's yours. if you can screw in a light bulb you can keep the basics up on your sled. pm me your mailing address & we'll go over the details....

Also look @ obups - john's all over this site, the racing forum & bill trips web page, & recmotors. the more info you can get the better off you'll be & the less $$ you 'll spend/waste....
hope this helps,
Jim

& sign in so we can email or pm you directly - thanks.

[Jonn]

Thanks Jim. And I think you and the rest of the posts are on the right track.

Keith:

The easiest to check first is obviously the track, drivers, chain and sprockets as mentioned above. After that I would check the clutch closely before spending any tech money. Just recently I had a customer call and described the same problem. In his case I had him remove the drum from the clutch and he discovered that the spring had broken, thus causing the shoes to randomly engage and disengage the drum causing jerking. In this case it was a simple $8 spring fix.

As for paying alot of money to a shop to look at it, that's mostly what they will do. The reason a shop will charge by the hour for this is because they typically don't have any idea what it could be or how to find the problem. By the time your tech guy finds the problem, you may have just paid for his education. I'd recommend either finding someone in your area who has some first hand experience in Kitty Cats or continue to work with the experienced folks on this forum.

As for parts, I have pretty much anything you need for a Kitty Cat in stock. If you want help trouble-shooting the problem, call me and I'll work with you to fix it. Just mention this post when you call me.

[jstoeckly]

John - I'm not the one w/ the clutch problem- mountain man is. I am confused now. He mentioned a local dealer not a shade tree mechanic... I think you aren't completly awake or might not have your glases on - it is pretty late....


well, at any rate I hope this info gets to him before he makes a HUGE mistake ($$$)

Jim

I see you edited it to include his name ...too funny

[Guest]

Wow! This board is great!

What I can tell you is that I did bring it to the dealer. They called me today and said some brake parts had come loose and were preventing everything from moving freely...apparently a 15 or 20 dollar part. It should be in by Monday.

I know it's not a very sophistocated machine, but I wanted to have it checked out, for peace of mind, as my 2 year old and my two nephews will be riding it. They said they went over the sled and it looks fine except for the brake issue.

Is the service manual worth buying or does the owners manual cover regular maintenace?

Thanks everyone. I've already printed your previous replies for future reference.