[jacqui583]

Ran my sled for the first time last night since I had the suspension out of it and worked on the secondary clutch; I had a ratcheting sound coming from the front end that sounded like a helipcopter or like a baseball card in your bike tire.

I guess the obvious answer is that it's my track ratcheting, but I wasn't sure if that would be it because the frequency didn't seem to increase and decrease with my speed, and because I had set my track up to the tight side of the specs when I put it back on.

I gave it a quick looking over under the hood last night while we were riding and couldn't find anything loose that might be rattling, and whatever it is it didn't affect performance; acceleration was mint and she ran like she just came out of the box.

Opinions anyone?

 

[ZRT600]

Did you check all the wheels in the suspension to see is the rubber is coming off, make sure nothing is touching the track. (ice etc.)

 

[ACMan]

I get major ice build-up in my STX suspension, Jacqui, and it sounds exactly like the track ratcheting. Are you hearing this right from the get-go when you head out or is it after some time has passed (and some ice has built up in your suspension)??

 

[jacqui583]

It started probably 15 minutes into the ride. Trailblazer slammed the sled on the ground a few times to free up any ice, but that didn't cure it.

Something else; if I was stopped and just giving it a little gas to move ahead a bit, it didn't happen. It was when I had given it a little bit of rpm that it kicked in. When I was coasting down it would be there, but if I touched the brakes as I was close to stopping, that would stop the noise.[?]

 

[Junior]

check your chain tension!!

learned that one the hard way, sounds like a baseball card in a bike wheel then BANG and then it gets expensive.

tracks will generally only ratchet when you punch it hard.

also, check your heat exchangers and your tunnel to see if your picks have been eating them up, that can also get real ugly. (also learned the hard way)

 

[Junior]

O, also, track ratcheting doesn't generally sound as high pitched as a helicopter or a basebell card, it's more of a low pitched lug/thump kinda sound, it'll repeat a few times then probably go away. it's a fairly unique sound, but you'll probably know it if you hear it, fairly low pitched, you can tell it's rubber that's being hit.

 

[ripperd]

yup, track ratcheting will feel like you are running off the road onto a rumble strip... And will usually only happen on hard accelleration... not coasting EVER.

I would bet that the poster above is right on the chaincase.. CHECK it out NOW! I bet your chain is wayyy loose, and skipping.

-Dean

 

[jacqui583]

Junior and Ripperd2, you might have got it! I just went and checked and the adjusting bolt was a full turn back from finger tight! Now how did that happen?! I would have checked it when I changed the oil maybe 500km ago or something like that.

Let's hope that was the problem, and that I didn't cause any more damage; I ran it like that for almost 100km last night. I was having too much fun on my first ride out and wasn't turning back for anything! And the sled was running awesome if you could ignore the nasty noises![:I]

 

[Polaris650]

I had the same thing happen to me for my first ride. It sounded like a loud clicking some what like a helicopter or something. Anyways, I took it to the dealer because I thought it had something to do with the suspension, but it turned out to be the belt. My belt had a big wear spot on it which made it look like an hourglass. When that part of the belt turned the clutch banged down on that spot hard and made that loud noise. The faster you go, does it make that noise faster?

 

[In Alaska]

Sounds like the chain to me. Did your gears look ok?

 

[jacqui583]

I haven't taken the cover off yet. I'll give it a good looking over tonight; it's in my garage so the snow can melt off. I'll check the magnet on the dipstick; it there's no excessive filings or chunks, I'll leave it until I tear it apart in the spring. I'll also have a good look under the sled but I don't think it is my pics damaging the heat exchangers, I do have tunnel protectors on it, and I don't think I'll have chunks of wheel missing. Everything had just been looked over as I had the skid out and this was the first ride since and the problem started very soon into the ride.

I don't have anywhere to test-drive it before I tow it back to Trailblazer's next weekend, so now that I've tightened the chain, I'll focus on resolving my electrical problem (another post).

 

[hotrod]

You lost me when you said the frequency does not increase with speed or rpm. Everything mentioned above plus everthing I can thik of would. Good luck.

 

[Junior]

make sure you tighten the lock nut down real tight

 

[jacqui583]

This sled doesn't have a locknut on the tensioner, Junior, it has a hairpin.

Trailblazer found my problem; it wasn't the chain tensioner, it was a flat spot on my belt.