Things to be concerned with?

[meld0gga]

I baught my first AATV a couple weeks ago. 2012 HD 650. I finally got trailer and took it up north for my first "real ride". Day 1- the argo had a nasty sqeal from belt when full turn either side {not wet, dry as a bone}, sqeal was much worse in low gear which I only used to access water entry area {no trail so nav thru thick pine grove}. As dealer advised, I went in, turned around and came out to check for water. found about a table spoon or two in tub so wasn't too concerned. Went back in and putted around for about 10-15 minutes and found about a 1/4" in tub? pitch into lake was steep but never over front tub/engine compartment? I stayed out of water after that. Day 2- Argo wouldn't start? dealer was about an hr away and was nice enough to send his mechanic {as I admitadly am useless beyond obvious issues}. It did sound like engine was not getting enough gas? i checked for gas line kink but found none. mechanic said it was a "faulty" gas cap? when cap was removed, line filled and it started. My last and least important concern, the digital display said i was going over 30mph on land and over 5mph on water? i don't really care what my actual speed is as thats not why i baught it. My concern is this display also calculates engine hrs and mileage. I don't want it to add time to either over years of use?

long story short is mechanic took machine back with him to shop for further testing. Dealer stated he has never heard of any of these issues on a new machine? Anyone have any experience or heard of any of this happening on a brand new machine? did i get a lemon? I have not even really taken into woods or trails yet after initial water test. I spent a blank load of money on this machine and was/am pretty upset. Any advice? should i send it back for new one? let them fix and go from there? do these things happen with new AATV'S? This was primary eason I went new as I do not have the experience to tinker and fix things without incurring major mechanic costs.

Thanks for any input or advice!

[Obsessed]

Sorry to hear of your rough start...sounds like you have a really great dealer and they have jumped right in to resolve the issues...im sure you and your dealer will get the few little bugs worked out quickly and you will soon start to fall in love with your new machine...congratulations on a super awesome new 6x6!

the belts on most new 650 HD's Ive seen seem to squeal more than they should at a soft take off (more agressive starts actually sometimes improve the problem). If your clutches are properly aligned then I would recommend that you and your dealer submit it for warranty as you might just have a bad belt, you might also ask for the new HD belt as a upgraded replacement, it is probably the best overall improvement for the issue. A second approach that your dealer is probably aware of is to simply tighten the secondary belt sheave adjustment which will spread the two sheaves apart slightly and allow the belt to drop slightly into the secondary (transmission) clutch and put a little slack in the belt (also check to make sure that both adjustment screws are balanced so that the secondary clutch sheaves don't start to wobble...ive seen that out of factory adjustment a few times)...some people will debate this approach, but in my experiance it will let the machine engage at a slightly higher rpm and start the movement in a slightly higher gear ratio, meaning that the primary (engine) clutch will grab a little farther out from its center axis giving considerably more clutch surface for the belt to grab on to with less slippage...you may lose a very slight amount of low gear, but the trade off is a smoother, quieter machine with a lot less belt wear...

slight water leaks...ask your dealer to re-torque the outer axle flange bolts and re-grease...also ask them to apply a small coat of silicon sealent around each of the axles where they pass through the new bearing...If left alone this will probably fix itself anyway and usually goes away after you give the bearing assemblies their first good mud bath (kinda plugs the small crack between the axle and the bearing)

Rough running...dont over look a pinched fuel line around the right side of the body, also could be a leaking pick up tube assembly which would cause it to be pulling air through the fuel line...could be several other possibilities, but over all these are proven and dependable little motors and there is no doubt that your dealer will get it straightened out quickly

there is a lot of good folks here also, and if you need it from time to time you'll be surprised how much help you'll get

best of luck

[meld0gga]

Thanks obsessed! very helpful info and more importantly peace of mind. I am picking it up again this Friday and plan on running it in mud, trails and lake this saturday and hopefully all issues will be resolved. I'll mention about HD belt. Is this not standard on HD 650 model? Thanks again and I could not agree more re: this site. Everyone here has been extremely helpful and responsive to even the most rookie of questions.

[Obsessed]

Thanks obsessed! very helpful info and more importantly peace of mind. I am picking it up again this Friday and plan on running it in mud, trails and lake this saturday and hopefully all issues will be resolved. I'll mention about HD belt. Is this not standard on HD 650 model? Thanks again and I could not agree more re: this site. Everyone here has been extremely helpful and responsive to even the most rookie of questions.

Your welcome, and were looking forward to hearing about how much fun you had on your first good ride :-)

Sorry I missed the question on the speedometer ... check to see if it is flipped over to metric instead of standard display...it's one of the little buttons on the front of the cluster towards the bottom

BTW...heavy duty belt is not standard on any model but should be IMO....it's a pretty pricy upgrade but might be the best fix for the belt slippage (squeal)

Talk to you later,

Tim

[meld0gga]

Thanks again Tim-

BTW- The water entry I did was very sketchy! I had to go in lake by way of three steep granite steps with last one about 16" to bottom. I wasn't sure i'd get out but have winch. To my suprize {and delight} it crawled out like a champ! going in was waaay more scary due to weight in front. I've read backing down steep grade is better but could'nt bring myself to try that. Figured I could bail better if endo facing forward?? Anyway despite initial setbacks I'm pumped to learn all the boundries this thing has! I will try and post entry vid next weekend as even mechanic laughed at the fact that was my first water entry! The lakes in ME have rocky shorelines with step ledges so this was my only option and I was determined to see/feel it float- As for the digital display,it was set to standard not metric. ODG boldly states its the fastest argo ever built {stock obviously} but i know boats and I was not doing 5mph on water.

Catch you later!

[sawbuck]

sounds like your having fun, can hardly wait to get mine. pretty sure you meant to say it was set to metric not standard , man it would be fast!
later Bill

[meld0gga]

sounds like your having fun, can hardly wait to get mine. pretty sure you meant to say it was set to metric not standard , man it would be fast!
later Bill

No it was set to standard, just not working correctly. ODG sent instructions to recalibrate so trying that now. if not, getting it replaced. later!

[radar]

Congrats on the new ride.Last Year models had problems over heating in the summer. Do you know if they fixed this and if so what they did?