Rev HM-X overhaul, a love hate story

[snowx99]

Flash back to the fall of 2010, and after being out of sledding for quite a few years, I found myself with 3 in the garage at one point last year- couldn't fight the addiction any longer. Once an addict, always an addict.

It all started when I traded a quad for a ZRT-800 Cat trail sled and started mulling over a full blown mod mountain project. Parts started rolling in, but as I looked at the tunnel sitting there and all the work to try and make this old lead sled a runner, my A.D.D. kicked in and I quickly sold it all off. Shortly thereafter, I got a lead on a 2004 Summit 800HO Highmark Extreme, 1 owner, higher miles, needs TLC, dirt cheap. Bingo, I'm a sucker for those exact words and brought her home.

As the saying goes, "had I known then, what I'd know later...." A little TLC turned into a nearly complete overhaul nose to tail. And as my wife liked to needle along the way, I shoulda just bought a brand new f'ing one. But alas, I'm stubborn like that sometimes and I ended up dancing with the one I was with!

The original owner, who happened to be quite the large sasquatch type, closer to 4 clicks I believe, had ridden her quite hard and other than some misc. repairs along the way, hadn't done much to the sled in 6 seasons. The true extent would become evident only later on. Had I known....but I digress. I was only focused on the low entry price to a relatively modern sled, surely I could handle what lay ahead?!?! Exact mileage unknown as the speedo was not functioning when I picked it up. But she started, ran, had a brand spanking new Camo 159x16x2.25 track on it, sticker still attached to the track, new hifax, newer Powder Pros skis, riser, I've bought worse (or so I thought), so what the heck, rock on. Did I mention the previous owner was quite large?

I assumed I'd be doing a complete engine overhaul, no worries there. All my engine resources are still in play- step 1, check. Cosmetics needed help, but I usually do well selling/swapping to get what I need, again seemed easy as pie on paper. Do some research, figure out what good clutch, gear, carb combos work and hook it up- step 3, badda bing. Oh, it's gonna be so smooth. Stars are lining up, I'll have minimal cash out, and a sled far superior than that ZRT ever would have been. Freakin' genius I am. Note, previous owner quite large and performed zero maintenance on sled.

Here's a picture of the sled the day I brought her home. In hind sight, maybe I shoulda left the ski bar off!

[snowx99]

First order of business was the engine. First ever experience with a Rev up close and personal and 2 minutes into the project, I already HATE how everything is crammed in there under frame rails, steering posts, etc. WTF, sure not like working on every other sled I've wrenched on prior to 2004! Press on and get the engine out finally after a few phone calls, donations to the swear jar, and a box of Coors Light.

Let me back up a bit. Now I had somewhat inspected the sled before handing over the cash- but I knew it would need TLC and wasn't too overly concerned as I normally would have been, so other than a quick inspection to see if all the parts were mostly present, the true condition hadn't been too apparent to me that day. Did I mention the previous owner lacked a bit of maintenance? This thing was filthy. I mean under the side panels there was more greasy dirty slimy crud than I've ever seen before on a sled that to me was fairly new. Must have been 2 inches of belt dust- what the heck, these Revs have a belt shaver installed in there? Probably removed 12 pounds of broken belt parts, belt dust, and general crap just opening up the clutch cover. I wonder if him being quite large had anything to do with blown belts galore? Belt guard a beat up non-fitting mess. Footrest pounded out of shape. Is the bulkhead powder coated black? Nope, that's just crusted on belt dust mixed with 2-stroke oil pouring down the front of the block from around the Y-pipe.

No worries. Simple green, power washer, elbow grease. It's all gonna be just fine...

Second order of business, disassemble the engine. Gotta get the crank out to my guy asap before Christmas hits. Off comes the head, and looky here. Enuff busted ring dimples to start a new constellation in the heavens. He had mentioned that 1 piston was replaced from a "minor" burn down from bad gas. Too cheap to replace the ruined head? I'm all for saving a buck, but damn, what's a used head cost ya? Oh and while I'm ranting, why lie/withhold information like that? You know I'm going to find out the truth because I freakin' told you the first thing I'm going to do is pull the engine apart. I couldn't have cared less, I new it needed rebuilding, I planned on rebuilding the engine, just tell me what I'm going to find up front!!!! Now I'm wondering, what's next on the surprise list???? "had I known....."

Next, pull the cyls, and yup, 1 new piston in there. Piston looks fine, mis-matched base gaskets, wonder if the bores are square and in spec? Sure don't want to be buying cylinders. Other than being filthy outside, rest of the engine is good to go. Drop the crank off with Pete at NCM for a go through, have cylinders cleaned and checked at TA Racing, order up pistons, and start looking for a new head. Not bad, still within expectations overall...

Hmm. Wonder why there was so much exhaust blow by? Well look at this, Y-pipe has been welded once and now you can see daying through a dozen pin holes in it and the seem is opening up again. Better add a Y-pipe to the parts list. Huh. That doesn't look right. All the rubber mounts on the engine plate are about to fall off. Ding ding ding, chalk up a complete mounting plate with new rubbers. Grrrrr. Budget for rebuild starting to blossom rapidly.

[Loudpipe]

I'm gonna watch this one

[snowx99]

So while the crank is out and I'm awaiting all the engine related parts to filter in. Might as well start cleaning this thing up a bit and seeing what other surprises lurk within. This is where things take a turn from TLC to major overhaul pretty quickly and the daily chirps from the wife about the POS in the garage and why don't I just buy a new one?

Hood had a big crack and I hated the yellow anyway, so found a used black hood and console local. Hated the stock seat, sold that off fairly easily actually, couldn't find a newer style used seat, so ordered up a Boss. Might as well drop the clutches off with Greg Goodwin, they're filthy and I don't know jack about Skidoo clutches and might as well make sure they're solid. Stumble across some piggyback HPGs, give those to Goodwin's too and gonna pull the sway bar so order up some heavy springs as well.

Parts list growing like the national debt ceiling. Might as well pick up a used HPS can to get rid of that ridiculous stock steamer trunk. Rear bumper and jerry rigged tail light should go, but that's the least of my worries then. Skid seems good to go, new hifax, new track, if I have time before my first trip will worry about it then. Open up the chaincase, decide to re-gear it, new chain and gear added to the tally. "yes dear, I wish I woulda bought a new sled instead of yet another night in the garage". Re-accurring theme. So was the fact that the previous owner was a lard arse and didn't take care of his stuff.

Wonder what's up with the speedo. Pop that sucker out and what do we find? The wire harness is busted up, hacked, cut, taped, etc. It's missing all kinds of connections and needs to be completely replaced. WTF?!?!?! Thank god for eBay. Oh this is getting good now. Hmm, what else is worn out, broken, or missing? Engine torque stop, that's toast. Exhaust donuts, ya, those too. It's becoming painfully clear that 6 years with little or no maintenance and a rider that is pushing towards the quarter ton mark don't leave a sled in "TLC Only" condition.

It gets better. Get a call from Greg Goodwin that goes like this. "Hi Greg. Yes it's a 2004. Not sure on miles. All original as far as I know. You might not be able to save the clutches? You've never seen clutches this worn out in 35 years of working on sleds? Best case scenario is how much? Thanks, I owe you." The good is that he saved the clutches, barely. The bad, he replaced every single component possible. Oh and since we're this far into the spending spree, go ahead and install those adjustable pins and quick clickers too. Printing money faster than the Fed on this build!

[MXRacer58]

Oh this will be watched!

[snowx99]

By now, I pretty much loath this sled and the decision to buy it. But I think I see light at the end of the tunnel now. New wire harness installed. Hood, console replaced. Side panels have decals removed. Boss seat. Heck it's starting to shape up ok I guess.

Next decision, oil injection. Ditch it or deal with it? Oh what the heck. Order up the fancy OEM 440 parts and ditch the injection. If nothing else, makes the re-install easier and cleans up the engine compartment a bit.

Bit of good news, cylinders are golden and matched to the new dual ring pistons quite nicely. Crank refurb'd and given the thumbs up. New stock head sourced nice and cheap. Time to assemble her. After spending a couple hours cleaning the cases and related items, engine re-assembly progresses rather smoothly. Maybe, just maybe, this will be all worth it?! New engine plate, torque stop assembly, Dynoport Y-pipe, CPI single pipe, HPS can, BRP donuts. Looking sweet, can't wait to hear it again.

Get it all buttoned up. Top off the tank with some fresh pre-mix. Drum roll please......pull the cord, and nodda. Nothing. Zippo. Pull until I can't freakin' pull no more. Doesn't even try to fire. OMFG. Seriously? After I treated you better than Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, you're gonna do this to me?

Hours turn to days turn to a solid week. Every single wire, nut, bolt, re-checked 80 times. Suspect the MPEM. Getting very inconsistent meter readings from it. Not sparking. Give it to a friend that designs circuit boards for a living. He opens up the MPEM (which with all the HiPot material is nearly impossible even with a cutting tool on his lathe) and finds some of the traces are broken- feels 99% confident the MPEM is junk. Well no choice, order up a used MPEM and take my chances. Of all the luck, day after I request an over-night MPEM shipment, the Chicago blizzard of 2011 hits and all Fedex packages re-routed and stranded in Nashville. Oh my luck just keeps getting better. So first sled trip of the season and I'm packing the kids Indy Lite 340 with me. Oh what fun!!!!!

[snowx99]

MPEM finally shows up. Toss it in. Meter checks out of the MPEM now good, however freakin still won't fire up. No spark. Go back through the ignition circuit tests. Something isn't right. Yup, crank sensors backwards for primary and RER. MF. Pull the damn engine back out and swap sensors. This is sooo much fun.

Self inflicted gunshot there. All will be good now. Nope. Spark now inconsistent at best. Readings all over the map from the coil pack. Well good at the coil, bad at the cap. OK, new plug caps. Local Doober parts shop informs me that the stock coil, wire, cap, all one, non replaceable. The wire is so fine that the aftermarket plug caps won't screw in and hold. Guess it makes sense, GD things won't stay on tight. Might as well add new coil & wires to this heap.

Got great spark at last. Still won't run. Fuel pump working like crazy. Pull the carbs a dozen times. All seems perfect. Dump fuel into the cyls and she pops over. Otherwise won't fire. I'm baffled and so fed up by this point, can't see straight. The hours invested are literally countless. I'm about to light the entire thing on fire. Last resort, load it up and bring it 90 minutes to a Doo dealer I trust and kick it off there. I simply couldn't look at it another second. It beat me and I didn't care. The money pit just couldn't be satisfied until every dime possible was sucked in.

[MXRacer58]

Originally Posted by snowx99

Local Doober parts shop informs me that the stock coil, wire, cap, all one, non replaceable. The wire is so fine that the aftermarket plug caps won't screw in and hold. Guess it makes sense, GD things won't stay on tight. Might as well add new coil & wires to this heap.

If it is the same as 05 800ho this is complete bs. Hell I rode last season with a car pluf wire with one end cut off jammed and zip tied (insert what do you do with beer here ) into the coil and never had a problem with it.

Oh and good luck!

[snowx99]

Get a call a few days later from the dealer. "Uh, well, not sure what to tell you. But it runs now. It didn't at first. We re-checked all the stuff you told us you checked, and it was all good. Didn't really find anything sir, but it starts every time now." Sure enough, the demons were expelled. Might have been the best $100 spent on that sled so far. No clue as to what or why, but the beast was breathing fire at long last.

Just in time to, was headed to Wyoming a few days later. My EE buddy that helped me with the MPEM did up some nice simple LEDs for the tail & brake lights. Pics below were from that trip. No time for much break in. But she ran like an absolute champ out there. Clutching, jetting, etc. all spot on. Chassis wise, I had major problems though and once again found myself HATING this sled. It trenched like a backhoe on steroids. Uphill, downhill, standing still. If it was moving, it was trenching. I mean zero get up on the snow. You hit the gas and it started digging down. 2 guys with me had newer XP Summit's and I was in love for sure. So I made it through the week, but determined that the Rev was out the door and an XP would be the only cure for this hell of a relationship.

[snowx99]

The love affair waned over the summer months and as fall approached, I was pretty set on dumping the Rev for a new hold over XP. Only problem was I made the serious mistake of adding up all the receipts from project Rev OverHaulin' and had an instant coronary. Then every single dealer I talked to either didn't want the Rev on trade or made an offer that basically said they didn't want it on trade. Up against taking a monumental bath on the Rev investment or sinking more money into it and figuring out the chassis problems, I crumbled, opened my arms once again to my Rev, and resigned myself to fixing her completely and making her whole like all good Rev's should be. I knew it was inside her somewhere, there were too many others like her that did work well and didn't trench insanely all the time.

Having replaced, rebuilt, and upgraded nearly every single part from the seat forward, I was only left with 1 area to look in and that was the rear suspension. So this past fall, the skid came out. Initially I assumed maybe the rear shock was blown out, as the body was a bit rusted up and it wasn't the stock HPG T/A that comes with the X-package sleds. Once I took that off, I quickly could see that it was in perfect functioning condition, just needed to be cleaned up cosmetically. Torsion springs were fine. All the shafts and torque arms good to go. That left the center shock- which had been upgraded to a Fox Zero Pro at some point.

I may have mentioned at some point in my ramblings that the previous owner was a large guy. In fact, I'd say he was gi-freaking-normeous. It may have contributed to some of my issues along the way.

With the center shock in my hand, something was not right. The shaft appeared to be bent and it had 2 springs on it as well. One pre-loaded quite stiff. Only choice was to have Kurt at Goodwin's take a look at it and tell me what was going on with this skid. I explained to Kurt what was happening, what I had found, and what all was done to the sled. He took a quick look at the shock, noted that sometimes they do put 2 springs on them, and said he'd call me with details in a couple days.

Two days later, I get another call, kinda similar theme from the previous calls I've been getting on this project. "John, Kurt here. Dude, I've never seen a shock so jacked up. This thing has about 450 lbs. of spring preload on it. Where did you get it? The shaft is bending because there's no way the shock can compress like this. No wonder you trenched so bad, the skid was not moving at all. Simply pushed down into the snow. I'll rebuild the shock, replace the shaft, and get the correct 190 lbs. of spring preload on there for you."

Hearing that it made complete sense and I suddenly felt confident that just maybe this thing would finally be fixed proper front to back. So I did what any rational person would do, dumped more money into her. Ordered up a windshield, all new black wheels, new black hifax, made up a gas rack, different shock springs (hated the super stiff ones. so much shorter that I was left with no adjustments on them) and powder coated them black. Different bumper and the single best chassis mod, aside from sorting out the center shock, WRP running board inserts. WOW, 1 stomp to clear boards. Mandatory upgrade for any Rev that doesn't have wide open boards.

If you've made it this far, you've got more patience than I do! So all in all I now have a sled that runs like a top, looks pretty darn good, and now actually goes up over the snow like it should. Was not even close to being worth the money and time involved, but what the heck, at least I wasn't worried about it tumbling down the side of a mountain in Wyoming!