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Post by Doo640ER on May 16, 2022 15:11:51 GMT
Looks like I may be picking up a 1995 Skandic 500, (VIN 1517). The price is right, FREE. An old friend wants to give it to me so how could I say no. I've got zero experience with this sled, so if you've got any input as to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly on this model, please chime in. Any issues with the ignition system? Is this Ducatti or Nipp, or ?? The sled is running currently (I think).
Any input would be great, thanks!
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Post by bones on May 25, 2022 0:37:03 GMT
The last few years I have been messing with this type of sled. Some claim the "S" chassis is not very robust, for me its fine . The Skandic 380/500 are very similar to the Touring 380/440/500 sleds just different clutching/gearing. Track is 15" x 136" The ignition is the Ducatti. For some reason with age it can get to where you really need to whip the engine over at a good pace to get it to start, slow pull or E start just does not generate enough spark to start engine. I think for the time frame of these sleds they ride quite nice. I believe they are the easiest Ski-Doo to work on after the leaf spring units. I say grab it and get er goin
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Post by Doo640ER on Nov 13, 2022 14:28:06 GMT
Hey Bones, I finally got around to tearing into this sled. Got the mag side carb cleaned yesterday, and will probably dig into the PTO side today, at least I hope. I'm going to want to replace the fuel lines and rebuild the fuel pump also but I see the fuel pump is buried deep in the pan under the motor. What's the trick to accessing it? Small hands would help, but that's not me, LOL. I've read that the motor needs to be lifted. Got any tips or tricks to this?
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Post by bones on Nov 26, 2022 1:54:45 GMT
Doo640ER glad for you that you are gonna get the skandic going. When I drag one of them home usually most of it gets pulled apart for service/cleaning/repair etc. So I pull the fuel pump from there and mount it on top of the tunnel under the carbs, not more frustration with it !!
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Post by Doo640ER on Nov 27, 2022 15:00:48 GMT
Hey Bones, thanks for the insight. So, in order to get the fuel pump removed, how does that go? Remove the engine? I tried that but can't get to the engine mounting bolt that is behind the starter. And I can't get the starter off because the primary is in the way. I ordered the clutch puller yesterday so once that arrives, I should be back in business. I saw a Youtube video where a guy was working on one of these and the fuel pump was left unbolted under the engine. This doesn't seem to be a good idea having that just flopping around.
We had some temps in the 50s for the last few days, so I spent a good part of a day cleaning up the exterior and under the hood. Here are some before and after pics. I dont think this sled has ever been cleaned under the hood, and it did spend some unfortunate time out in the elements. Here she is after a good waxing, she's starting to look so much better! I've never tried the heat gun trick, but I'm going to give it a shot on this belly pan. The seat also is pretty dry and discolored with cracks in the vinyl on top. Poor seat, I'll just doo my best with it. The windshield is off so I can give it a good polish with the Novus #2. It should clean up nicely, just need to give it the ole elbow grease!
More to come as I get more done.
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Post by bones on Nov 29, 2022 4:42:56 GMT
Another option for the fuel pump. Just cut the hoses to it as close as you can get. Then mount another as mentioned previous and run new fuel lines. Heat gun to the belly pan.....The heat guns is used ( I believe) for belly pans that have been stressed bad and the color turns pale. I doo not think I have seen this in a black belly pan, not too often much of the stress discoloring in yellow bellies, the purple were/are the worst for this and the heat gun works quite well on the purple, unfortunately is does not last for ever. I think your belly pan suffers from exposure to summer sun. I might be wrong but I doubt heat will restore it ?? I have a 95 touring 380 in the OR right now( basically same sled as you have), the belly looks like yours (or did) but not as bad. It is a work in progress but I am using a brass brush in the drill and scrubbing it with that. Have scrubbed a section, used vinyl cleaner then armorall, It looks quite good. You lose some of the ruff texture but to me it looks much better. In the past I have done several fuel tanks like this and have been quite happy with them. Thanks for all the pics !
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Post by olyman on Dec 3, 2022 14:07:07 GMT
That's a great looking sled Mark! Its a lot of work just cleaning a sled like that - but definitely worth the effort. Looking forward to seeing what you doo to it!! It should be a fun sled to ride too!
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Post by Doo640ER on Dec 10, 2022 12:45:24 GMT
Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updating. So, me being me, I decided to tackle this job the hard way. I bought the proper TRA clutch puller to pop the clutch off. It definitely fought me the whole way. I greased-up the threads and the tip and cranked down on it. No go, so i backed-off on it and tried again. Nope. So I hit it with my propane torch to heat it up. Still nope. So I let it sit overnight with the puller cranked down. I just didn't want to break something so I took it really slow. The next day I hit it with some higher heat from my oxy-acetylene torch. I just didn't want to damage the crank seal. Got it hot then gave the head of the puller a couple firm whacks with a hammer and off she came. Sweet. I was then able to get the starter removed so I can gain access to that pesky 4th engine mount bolt. That will be today. I plan to lift the motor out and clean it up under there. I bought a fuel pump rebuild kit so that I can take care it it now hopefully once and for all. The friend who gave me this sled will be using it from time to time so I want to be sure there are no problems while he has it in his possession. It's the least I could do and don't want him to have any problems whatsoever. I also bought an OEM fan belt so I can replace the one that's on there which I assume is original. Any tricks to replacing the belt?
So last week while I continued to clean-up the sled, I thought I'd try something. I have some 100% silicone oil that is used as a viscosity standard for one of our instruments in the Lab where I work. The oil is expired so it get disposed of every few years. I rubbed this oil into the plastic belly pan and wow it sure made it look good. So that's my fix for the discolored plastic. This is better than WD40 since it doesn't evaporate and I have enough of this oil to last forever. I applied the oil last weekend and it still looks like this today.
She's really starting to look nice
I'm going to try to get the windshield polished-up today and reinstalled. I also purchased new windshield rubber o-rings. The original style with the pull tab. I thought about just using zip ties but I like the original mounting design so that the windshield will break-way if necessary and not destroy the mounting tabs. At least that's what I've heard the reason is.
I also had to replace the bearings on both front idler wheels on the skid.
More later.....
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Post by olyman on Dec 10, 2022 14:35:53 GMT
Wow right on Mark! You're making me want to get one of these sleds myself! I really like that it's a fan cooled too - it's not as good with the warmer temps but it's easier on the back (and the handling too maybe?). That silicone looks awesome on the bottom there. I guess the only drawback would be if you got it on something you later wanted to paint.
Keep it up!
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Post by Doo640ER on Dec 10, 2022 17:11:26 GMT
Thanks Vince, ya I can just imagine all of the fisheyes! So I've gotten to the point of lifting out the motor so I can access and rebuild the fuel pump and replace all fuel lines. I've got all of the bolts out but I can't seem to get it to tip. Am I supposed to pry on it? I don't want to damage an engine mount. Or, am I supposed to remove the bolts that are pointing straight down into the aluminum cross members? I'm not sure if there is a fixed thread underneath there or just a bolt head that is going to spin? OH Bonsey, I need your expertise yet again, LOL.
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Post by bones on Dec 10, 2022 19:01:27 GMT
I like the silicone oil fix, it looks awesome. Engine removal...Remove the two nuts from above the plate on the carb side of engine. Remove the two bolts going into cross member on exhaust side of engine, nuts are fixed. Tilt engine up/forward to clear rear bolts then slide backa bit and up. That is the best way I have found, also.....If you do it like that ( assuming clutch alignment was pre OK) you will not need to re-align clutch at installation.
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Post by Doo640ER on Dec 11, 2022 13:55:06 GMT
Well, Bones, I'm sorry to say I got impatient yesterday and just kinda went for it. The beers gave me courage . I went ahead and pried on the motor plate a little and she popped-out pretty easily. I hope it goes back in as easily. If not I will follow your advice with the mounts so that I hopefully don't need to mess with the alignment. As far as I know the alignment was OK, but I never had the sled running. While I have the motor out, I'm seriously considering replacing the voltage regulator. Hmmm, they are not cheap, and may not last as long as the original that is in there. Nice to get this moving forward and the cleanup continues. She's looking 200% better than when I started.
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Post by Doo640ER on Dec 30, 2022 14:06:48 GMT
I spent a good amount of time yesterday putting this thing back together. Almost there..... Took my time and checked all electrical connections and applied dielectric grease. Removed the voltage regulator and cleaned it all up, made sure there's a good ground. Hey Bones, putting the motor back in went quite easily thanks to your tips on the engine mounts. Had the motor mounted in mere minutes so thanks again! Today I plan to fire it up for the first time. Getting pretty excited . The only thing left to doo is install the primary clutch and throw some premix gas in it. I'm going to run some 50:1 premix until I confirm the oil injection is working because I replaced the oil lines going from the pump to the intake manifolds. It should fire up since I had it running slightly via the primer when I first got it home.
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Post by olyman on Dec 30, 2022 17:00:54 GMT
Looking great! I'd love to have a sled like that. Good luck with it
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Post by Doo640ER on Dec 31, 2022 16:02:22 GMT
So, more questions have come up. What in the world is the correct drive belt for this sled??? I've been researching this for an hour this morning and I'm seeing at least 4 options for this belt.
1. 414-8833-00 is what is shown on the Hudon's website microfiche.
2. 415-0606-00 is what this sled had on it when I got it.
3. 415-6175-00 is what is shown in the 95 Ski Doo service manual.
4. 414-8287-00 is shown as an OEM number according to the MFG supply website (Ski-Doo 415060600, Ski-Doo 415-0606-00, Ski-Doo 414-8833-00, Ski-Doo 414-8287-00, Dayco MAX 1048, Dayco HP3005)
But on a brighter note, I was able to get it all back together yesterday and fired-up. Seems to run fairly well, but it seems like the idle is a little rough. Maybe it just needs to clean itself out a little since it hasn't run for over a year or two. I noticed also that is its sounding like there is a leak at the y-pipe. I haven't dug into it yet to see if its the gasket or a crack in the pipe. When the motor was out of the sled, I did snug-up the bolts so hopefully I didn't screw it up, HAHA.
youtu.be/idaMRZ76h2U
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