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Anybody know mid/late 90's Arctic Cat snowmobiles?


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I'm not sure if it would be specific to the 6 or not, i dont know what parts they share, if any. I'm a NEWB with sleds in general and have a little bit of knowledge from reading up but nothing in person. Any info or tips you can give for when i go to check one out, would be awesome!

 

What kind of compression should i expect (cold and hot) and at what (psi) should i start to raise an eyebrow? I'm guessing 120ish psi give or take 5% across all three cylinders. I'm bringing a gauge with me to check.

How do i check the hyfax, or what do i need to look for?

What about the jackshaft any quick way to check it for bearing slop or play?

Is there anything specific to a tripple that i should really be on the look out for?

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What are you looking to use the sled for trail riding, ice racing, off trail exploring? I personally wouldn't take an Arctic Cat if someone gave me one. I have been riding sleds for over 30 years and ride with some guys that are diehard Cat fans but they are always the ones to have problems on every trip we go on. Now before anyone blast me for my above statement I have owned Yamaha, Ski-Doo, Polaris, and now have gone back to Yamahas again though i have 2 Polaris' and 2 Yamahas so I'm not brand loyal at all. I have been riding with the above mentioned guys for almost the whole time and the Cat's are always the ones to break down somehow. In my opinion if a Cat is what you want I personally would go with a ZR 800 twin cylinder much better handling than the triples they have a ton of power and were before the ACT drive came out which my buddy has had to replace the last 2 seasons on his 2005 ZR900. Now if you're looking for just a lake racer the triplescan make some real good power but were more prone to problems than the twins. All this is of course based on my experience not from owning a Cat but having several trips throughout the years where time was lost taking their cats to dealers for repairs losing valuable riding time so I might be slightly predjudiced on the issue. Best bet for cylinder pressure is to find out from a dealer or performane shop what stock compression should be i have had several different sleds and engines and they all had different psi ie: my 1994 Stock Ski-doo 670cc Mach 1 had 165 psi in both cylinders, my wifes 1993 Ski-doo 580cc Formula plus had 130 psi in both cylinders, my 2004 Polaris 700cc XC/SP has 135 psi in both cylinders, our 2005 Polaris RMk has 125 in both so as you can see it varies a bit but typically yes both cylinders should be about 5-7% within each other. As for the jack shaft bearings grab hold of the secondary clutch and try wobbling it up and down to check for play on the clutch side. The brake side is harder to detect as the shaft will most likley have a bearing where the shaft enters the chaincase and a bearing and a seal where it comes out of the chaincase for the disc brake to be attached to it. I would look for studs if there are studs I would check as good as possible for damage to the underneath of the tunnel and the heat exchangers in the tunnel and the front exchanger at the front of the tunnel this area can be hard to see but I know of someone who bought a used sled and found out afterwards the tunnel was ripped and had some sever damage to the heat exchangers that the previous owner just tried welding up. I would also check the dipstick in the chaincase for metal shavings it is common to see some but not a ton and if the lube is black and thick it may have been neglected. Also check the drive cogs on the driveshaft for wear and alignment you can also grab the driveshaft and try wiggling it up and down check the idler wheels in the rear skid to make sure they rotate freely and look for missing track clips also. Good luck and if you get one remember there are families out on the trails so stay on your side of the trail so you don't kill someone.

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What are you looking to use the sled for trail riding, ice racing, off trail exploring? I personally wouldn't take an Arctic Cat if someone gave me one. I have been riding sleds for over 30 years and ride with some guys that are diehard Cat fans but they are always the ones to have problems on every trip we go on. Now before anyone blast me for my above statement I have owned Yamaha, Ski-Doo, Polaris, and now have gone back to Yamahas again though i have 2 Polaris' and 2 Yamahas so I'm not brand loyal at all. I have been riding with the above mentioned guys for almost the whole time and the Cat's are always the ones to break down somehow. In my opinion if a Cat is what you want I personally would go with a ZR 800 twin cylinder much better handling than the triples they have a ton of power and were before the ACT drive came out which my buddy has had to replace the last 2 seasons on his 2005 ZR900. Now if you're looking for just a lake racer the triplescan make some real good power but were more prone to problems than the twins. All this is of course based on my experience not from owning a Cat but having several trips throughout the years where time was lost taking their cats to dealers for repairs losing valuable riding time so I might be slightly predjudiced on the issue. Best bet for cylinder pressure is to find out from a dealer or performane shop what stock compression should be i have had several different sleds and engines and they all had different psi ie: my 1994 Stock Ski-doo 670cc Mach 1 had 165 psi in both cylinders, my wifes 1993 Ski-doo 580cc Formula plus had 130 psi in both cylinders, my 2004 Polaris 700cc XC/SP has 135 psi in both cylinders, our 2005 Polaris RMk has 125 in both so as you can see it varies a bit but typically yes both cylinders should be about 5-7% within each other. As for the jack shaft bearings grab hold of the secondary clutch and try wobbling it up and down to check for play on the clutch side. The brake side is harder to detect as the shaft will most likley have a bearing where the shaft enters the chaincase and a bearing and a seal where it comes out of the chaincase for the disc brake to be attached to it. I would look for studs if there are studs I would check as good as possible for damage to the underneath of the tunnel and the heat exchangers in the tunnel and the front exchanger at the front of the tunnel this area can be hard to see but I know of someone who bought a used sled and found out afterwards the tunnel was ripped and had some sever damage to the heat exchangers that the previous owner just tried welding up. I would also check the dipstick in the chaincase for metal shavings it is common to see some but not a ton and if the lube is black and thick it may have been neglected. Also check the drive cogs on the driveshaft for wear and alignment you can also grab the driveshaft and try wiggling it up and down check the idler wheels in the rear skid to make sure they rotate freely and look for missing track clips also. Good luck and if you get one remember there are families out on the trails so stay on your side of the trail so you don't kill someone.

 

Good stuff. Back in the day (my day, which was a long time ago) I had a Yamaha 433, which I rode all over Dewitt, Gaylord, Grayling and Sault Ste Marie. It was rock solid reliable and if I lived anywhere near a place with significant snowfall, I'd buy another.

 

WJ

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Thanks for the info about checking the jackshaft. Duke, are those cold psi numbers or hot?

I'm trying to avoid sleds with picked tracks, for the reasons you mentioned.

 

I'm keeping my purchase to under $2k and looking for around 1998-2002 model years. I'm not ruling out Ski Doo's or Yamaha's by any means, it just seems they are usually a bit more expensive then all other comparable models of the same year.

I'm looking at all makes an models, MXZ's, ZR/ZRT's, ZL, etc. etc. whatever fits the bill and how close it is to me.

 

I'll be doing trails in N. IL and WI and alot of ditch riding, i imagine i'll get around to a lake every once in a while as well as the Fox River channel once its ready to ride.

 

This ZRT600 in particular just happened to be within 30miles and $1200, is why i brought up this topic for it.

 

Last time i rode a sled was about 18yrs ago and it was all lake riding in WI on some Ski Doos. I was ~12 then and damn was it fun!

Edited by Mullet Man
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theDuke pretty much covered everything as far as checking out a sled. As far as the Cat vs Polaris vs Yamaha vs Ski Doo thing goes, don't forget some of these other brands were running Suzuki and Kawasaki engines.

I was raised in a Cat family although there was a Ski Doo in there along the line. Never had problems with any of them where they needed to be shopped. I have had five different Arctics and they all were good to me not to mention all the Cats we had in the family. Then for some reason my Dad decided to buy he and my Mom new Polaris rigs. Mom's Indy spent some time in the shop getting the bugs worked out of the fuel injection system. The old man's triple ran good though. I've seen good Yamahas and Ski Doos go down as well. My ZRT and Wildcat are long gone as the military transplanted my ass here in FL a few years back. Funny thing is I bought three Polaris ATVs when still in possesion of a couple of Cat sleds.

 

Good luck and if you get one remember there are families out on the trails so stay on your side of the trail so you don't kill someone.

This is so true. There are plenty of idiots on the trails on sleds that are waaaay to fast for them. If they don't kill someone else, chances are they'll do themselves in. Also be aware the law may be out on your local trails enforcing speed limits if any are posted. We had State Troopers on state trails and Deputies on our county trail system. It's treated as if the violation was in a car. ($$$ + points off your license). Good luck!

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WJ don't you ever get the urge to ride again? I am trying to face the fact that I may have to give it up sometime here as my back and leg keep getting worse but man it's one of my greatest enjoyments.

 

Oh, yes, I miss riding. I have some great memories of riding that snowmobile and my dirt bikes. When we lived in Arkansas a few years ago, I bought another dirt bike and a quad. Unfortunately, I was not as good a rider as I used to be and was much more timid a rider than I was at 14 through 24 and healed much slower. Getting old is not for the faint of heart.

 

 

WJ

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Those were all cold psi readings I was just trying to elude to the fact that 4 different engines but 2 of them being right around 700cc and the other 2 being real close at around 600cc are still all different. All sleds have there problems I had Ski-doos from around 1985 to 2004 and had very good luck with them but I have seen alot of the newer ones broke down on the trails more frequently. I've also had good luck with my Polaris' but the Yamahas I believe have hands down the best 4 stroke engine so I got a couple of those to see how well we would like them and I got to say they are awesome.

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Welp, ended up with a '98 MXZ670. She skoots good and a pretty good deal also. Hopefully it'll last me thru the season!

Thanks for the info guys.

 

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The 670 was one of Ski-doo's best in my opinion very durable and puts out right around 118-120 hp. I think Ski-doo should have stayed with the Rotary valved engines. The newer ones get good fuel milage but they are running them so lean on fuel and oil for emissions that they are just burning themselves up. Good luck with it and have fun just please remember their are whole families out on the trails Moms,Dads and their children alot of times. I myself had my son on my sled before he was 2 years old and took him almost everytime i went sledding he's hooked now and my daughter got the smae treatment but I can't tell you how many times we had close calls of someone blasting through a blind curve so fast they couldn't stay on their side of the trail and almost hitting us head on and then just blasting off instead of making sure everyone was alright. I guess it's a good thing they didn't stop or I may have gone to prison for homicide.

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