Mudbound Grizzly

bunyanbob · #1 (**permalink**) 10-12-2007, 03:49 PM

Hi all!

I have a customer who brought in a new-fangled (yet still carbureted) Grizzly last week with a really intermittent issue. He got it stuck in a mudhole up to the gascap, yet luckily it still ran. What's been happening is when you wind it right out now it starts to sputter and break at wide open throttle, but runs perfect the rest of the time. I finally got it to die last night (sometimes blowing it up is a good way to find a glitch...I guess), and when it did, the throttle just wound down slowly and shut off. Now it's officially dead!! yay! Anyhew, I've been reading about Grizzlies being notorious for bad electricals, especially the computed ones.

Before it shut itself off, when I'd wind out the throttle, the reverse LED would start blinking, and the speedo was reading 5 km/h while the bike was standing still. Is it possible the CDI got waterlogged? All the wiring is checking out so far, and I've cleaned up all the grounds. Relays and diodes look good and there's no blown fuses. I even substituted a new coil just in case and it checks out. Bike is still dead.

This morning I'm going to start ringing out the harness to hopefully clean out any remaining dirt and bugs in the thing. I read somewhere that if you mudhole these things they're pretty much toast and you're starting over...thoughts, ideas?

Thanks...

bunyanbob · #2 (**permalink**) 10-12-2007, 08:14 PM

Ok, so dig this, first it's weird to add to my own post, but the plot thickens....I got spark back. Turns out it was a loose connector...one of a million. Anyhew, it was redirecting ground and pulling my spark. That's fixed, bike runs, but same issue. Wide open throttle and it pops and sputters, let off the throttle, it's perfect. Idle perfect, start perfect, up to 5000RPM perfect, above that, sputter. Kinda sounds like a bad two stroke. Another interesting thing, the reverse led still blinks at high speed, then goes back off when you wind it down.....thoughts, ideas?

MarGinJoey · #3 (**permalink**) 10-12-2007, 08:21 PM

I can tell you the blinking reverse light is a warning light. Like SES light, it means the idle is too high, or you left the choke on waaay too long. Grizzlies and Kodiaks and Bruins (and maybe other Yamiez have this)

As for the other issues... whats with the revving until it dies?

As I recall, that only fixes peoples wallets.

Anyway, not a tech by any stretch, but the speedo reading a "speed" sitting still was a battery issue for me recently.

Good Luck

MGJ

bunyanbob · #4 (**permalink**) 10-13-2007, 01:19 AM

So check this out...I happened to be talking to my buddy across the street who had a Grizzly up until this summer. He got rid of it because it had too many electrical glitches, and I can't say that I blame him...anyhew, glitches aside, he had a similar issue and apparently when these bikes get a good soaking, the rev limiter for reverse can go snakey and affect forward too!

Hey MarGinJoey, thanks for the tip on the warning light...figured it had to be some kind of 'you're going too far stupid!' light. AS for the revving til it died, turns out it was a partially yanked wire from dragging the bike out of the mud. In fact, many of the wires are partially yanked from dragging it out of the mud. Oh well, who cares....nothing but a cash cow for me!!!

Normally I would feel bad for somebody who got their bike so darned stuck, but know what? It was a case of manly stupidity for this dude....all his buddies went around the hole, he called them a bunch of pansies and went for it....S-T_O_O_P_I_D!!!!

Anyhew, I'm shut down for the night, so I'll hit it again fresh tomorrow morning and let you know what it was...Thanks!

TIMe2Ride · #5 (**permalink**) 10-13-2007, 01:24 AM

Bob!

Hambone · #6 (**permalink**) 10-13-2007, 02:00 AM

Hey Bob. Here are a few things to check. I have no idea what model Grizzly you are refering to but many people have driven themselves crazy trying to locate electrical problems on the 660,s when it turned out they just needed to adjust the valves, Yea thats Right!! Valves

When hogging around in the deep slimy mud you need to check the vent hoses for the carbureator. Yamaha uses check valves on the newer ones but sometimes they can jam or get plugged up. If this unit has a carb and not the throttle body fuel injection then you might have sediment in the high speed jet.

Yamaha uses some very expensive wiring harness connectors and after owning 4 Grizzlies I have never seen one pull apart. Of course there are lots of things I have never seen! This guy must have really been in it deep.

Anyway hope some of this helps if not get back to us with a specific model and I will see if I can help.

flash · #7 (**permalink**) 10-13-2007, 12:15 PM

I had the same exact issue with my grizzley. After being buried in the mud I had the reverse light blinking and sputtering. I limped my way home luckily. After practicing some techinical cursing it turned out that my winch motor had shorted out causing effects on the battery that was killing spark to the plug.

bunyanbob · #8 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 03:11 PM

Ok, so it's definitely speed related. Anyone know what the top rpm spec for a Grizzly is? Is it possible the clutch is slipping letting it wind too high in forward? I know it starts to crack up at about 7 grand which to me sounds awfully high for a four stroke. Personally, I can't see a need for much more than 5000RPM at any time. Anybody? Anyhew, if the rpm settings are normal, and if the limiter does kick in at 7000 on a normal day, then we have a slipping clutch....piece of cake. Too bad I won't be riding it at 85km/h (50mph) to test it.

Speed ain't my thang....

So, clutch maybe? thoughts, ideas?

bunyanbob · #9 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 04:54 PM

Ok, so here's an update that I've been too busy to post since I got the bike going again...it was a couple of things that contributed to the slow Grizz. The fact that mud got up to the gas cap was definitely the cause of the guy's grief...but check this out. The mini mud bog trashed a couple of grounds when it got dragged out of the quicksand. It also yanked apart a couple of key connectors. In these parts, we have lots of muskegs which have the consistency of peat mixed with tar and decaying plant life. That's what the guy hit.... Anyhew, in the clutch area, the primary clutch had packed full of this stuff to the consistency of concrete. The primary was no longer able to grab the belt effectively, and although the belt was within spec, the clutch wasn't grabbing it all the way. After a few hours with a chisel and mallet, we got 'er all cleaned out and it's back to being faster than reasonable.

Oh, another tidbit....these bikes DO NOT like over sized rubber. It had the big wheels to get through the muskeg, but obviously it didn't work very well. The big tires wear out belts like crazy when the going gets sloppy....just thought I'd pass it on.

Thanks for the help!

Bunyan Bob

rpyfz450 · #10 (**permalink**) 12-08-2007, 06:22 PM

Those symptoms sound like the RPM-limiter problem the Raptor 660R's sometimes have. The reverse light comes on at the point the rpm limiter cuts spark to prevent over-rev. I believe this happens on the 660R when you have the parking brake on or when the system incorrectly thinks your driving in reverse. I would check the parking brake and reverse sensor/sender/switches. If my diagnosis is correct, the solution will be a quick, inexpensive fix once you find which sensor, or its connection, is the problem.

"Jerkyboy" and "Fire Raptor" on this forum each experienced this problem on their 660R Raptors.