Just got a Max II, have a few questions...

[gijoe0986]

Hello,
I just got my first AATV, it's a Max II, but I'm not sure what year it is. I bought it for $400 and was a little unsure of how it was going to run and how much it was going to cost to get it going. I put a bolt in the middle axle where the shear pin came out, put a battery in it, and took it out to see how it was running. I had a blast driving it around, and it ran great for about 1 1/2 hours until the belt broke. When I went to take the clutch off to clean it out I realized that the engine was not bolted down, it was just sitting on the mounts with bolts put through to keep it from sliding, but not bolted down, so that is the next thing I need to work on to get it running again. I have the replacement belt I got from a Max dealer up here, and I can't wait to get it out again and see what it can do. The only problem I had while I was using it was that it would pull to the right, and it was difficult to make left turns. I did find that one of my left tires had lower air pressure but I don't know if that would affect it enough to not want to turn. Does anyone know what else could cause that other than a low tire? I also checked the chain tensions for the front and they are about the same so I don't think that is it. Also, I noticed that my back tires spin more than the other ones, is this normal or are all tires supposed to move at the same speed? Please let me know if you have any info that could help me out and get a good start on making this an awesome machine again.

[liflod]

I think you have more than one shear pin (bolt) broke on your axles. Get all 6 wheels off the ground before you try it out again and spin the tires to see if they are all connected together and check/ adjust your chain tension. You may want to carefully start and run the engine to see how everything works in a controlled environment.

[Mike]

Edit: liflod beat me to it

All of your tires should move at the same speed. If they don't, then you may have another bolt sheared or missing from your sprocket tube allowing sprocket to spin around the axle without moving the axle itself. Or, you are missing a chain somewhere?

Air pressure would be the first place to look for your turning issue but if some of your tires aren't spinning and instead are just rolling, then that would also cause it not to turn as well in one direction.

[countrycummins99]

also before you take it out agin check the fluid in the T20 to see if its full and make sure its NOT!! full of gear oil needs to be type F atf

[gijoe0986]

Thanks for the info... I've already filled the T20 with fluid. It does have a loose chain on it that I need to adjust, which may be part of my problem. I am definitely going to check all the axle's again as well, already checked them when I first got it but I could have missed something, I'll let you know what it ends up being.

[racerone3]

sounds like your machine might have been a little neglected. you might want to put it up on blocks and look EVERYTHING over really well. check all the hardware you can get a wrench on, lube every moving part and replace any questionable hardware. it will be well worth investing a day to go over everything if it saves you some breakdowns on the trail.

[gijoe0986]

Yeah it is up on blocks now, almost completely taken apart. Whoever owned it before me really neglected it and rigged it up in the dumbest way possible on some things. I have the engine out and got the mount ready for it because it was not mounted correctly. Got all the chains tightened up except for the back two which may need to be replaced. I have found that all the wheels do turn together which was a relief for me. Got everything cleaned up, lubed, and changed all my fluids. I think part of my problem with the turning may have been the wrong fluid in my transmission, when I drained it, it looked like they had put gear oil in it. I keep finding more things that need to be fixed, but it's a good project and I'm really looking forward to getting out and running good. Getting closer by the day, I appreciate all your input and help.

[racerone3]

you may or may not have issues with a trans that had gear oil in it. in some cases it can eat the glue holding the friction lining to the bands. once the friction lining falls off you can do serious damage in a hurry. my wild wolf was FILLED TO THE TOP with gear oil. i drained it out, put in ATF and ran it about ten minutes, drained, filled repeat... did this till the fluid coming out was as clean as it had been going in. if i remember correctly, i think it took about 6 fluid changes to get it cleaned up. i ran it for a year like that... pulled the trany apart about 2 months ago and the bands were in great shape. i believe someone posted a while back that a conversation with recreative revealed that there were several types of glue used over the years and some were much more sensitive to gear oil than others.

[gijoe0986]

Yeah I am going to end up doing the same, especially since the machine is already taken apart and it will be easy to change out the fluid. Thanks for the info...

[gijoe0986]

Just an update on my max.... I completely tore everything apart on it and found some more problems that needed to be fixed. My drive issue was because a weld on the middle sprocket was sheared so I welded it again. I tightened all the slack out of my chains and changed my fluid again in both the engine and transmission. Adjusted the steering and re-mounted the engine because it was not mounted right at all when I got it. I just got it all put back together and took it for a ride the other day. It runs great now and is a lot of fun. Now my next project will be taking the tires off the rims and replacing with a little bit bigger ones. Thanks again for your help getting this thing running again.