Max Buffalo with no power

[Jraby]

I just purchased a 2003 Max Buffalo. I am new to aatv ownership and know little about the t-20. It has 50 hours on it and has sat for a few years. It seems to drive fine on flat ground however I could not get it to drive up the ramp to the trailer I used to get it home. A friend pushed while I was driving it up the ramp to get it on. I have yet to really look into potential issues with the Buffalo and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on where to start looking into the low power problem.

I have not done much to it yet. Before starting it I put fresh gas in it. The tank stank like very stale gas and there was only a few oz of old gas I could not drain out. I pulled the plugs and they appear somewhat fouled. So I will be getting new plugs. I will be changing the fluids also. Any other maintance situations would be welcome.

Thanks.

[tbone9]

Sounds like you're off to a good start. I would also put a new belt on and clean the clutch faces.

[racerone3]

First question: were you pushing hard forward on the sticks, or relying on the springs to do it?

[Jraby]

I was pushing on the sticks. Maybe not hard but I was pushing forward. Nothing sounded like it was slipping and the motor did not sound like it was working harder.

Just checked the range of forward movement on the sticks and they really do not move forward much. I would thing that the slight movement oould not move much back to the t-20 due to The slop in the rods. So what should the first adjustment be? How far forward should the sticks move on a properly adjusted machine.

[Mike]

Try it again by pushing hard on the sticks like racerone3 mentioned.

[ARGOJIM]

Where are you located? Just curious?
Check the belt also, it should just cover the driven clutch when engine is off.

[Jraby]

I am located in western new York. I had some issues getting able to post to the form and have yet been able to figure out how to update my profile. To be honest it have no tried to hard to figure it out, have been messing with my Buffalo in my limited free time.

I think that the belt maybe just about 1\4 inch down on the clutch wheel when the motor is off. I will confirm this tomorrow

Thanks for the situations.

[msafi65]

When you get it running get a tachometer and see what full throttle RPM is with the belt installed. It should pull 4000-4100 RPM if everything is correct.

[hipowerone]

Hi
For my 2 cents....I am restoring a 1996 MAX II. When I got it, it had little to no power. I found a post (http://www.route6x6.com/howto/carbclean/index.html) and did a complete carb cleaning, replaced all the gas line, filter, pump. Drained and flushed the tank. Added a fuel cut off valve. When I was done, the engine ran fine.

[Jraby]

I do not have the motor running 100% yet, but close. My issue does not appear to be a motor issue but a transmission issue. She seems to move fine on level ground but will not climb up an incline. I just ground down a scocket to adjust the tranny. We will see if that helps.

[msafi65]

If it will back up and turn properly it's not the transmission. Stick movement on buff trk should be 6.5-7 inches measured at top of sticks. Does the belt sit flush with the outside of the driven pulley? If it sits 1/8 " down it's shot. I just got some buff belts from The vbelt guys on line. Haven't installed yet but they measure correct.

[ARGOJIM]

Deffinately seems belt or rpm related provided you are pushing the sticks forward. But I did not re read the thread.

[Rabbit929]

I'd put my money on a loose belt. A quick test you could do is loosen the motor mounts, pull the engine back a hair, tighten it back down so you belt is decently tight. You don't want it tight tight, because it will drive at idle.

If your engine seems to run good that would be the first thing I'd check. If it's not that, your t20 may have gear lube in it and no bands left. The benefit to that is you'll have a shiny new rebuild by the time your done.

[hipowerone]

Getting back to my similar issue....lack of power...would not climb hills....I finally did the belt tightening trick, and what a difference. I can now climb a 30 degree or better hill with two full sized adults in the MAX II. I plan on doing one more minor tightening as I feel I might get just a bit more before it is too tight. While the cleaner gas system, and clean carb worked wonders on the engine running reliability, the belt was the trick for hills.

[Jraby]

I snuged up the belt and that seemed to solve the problem. Hard to test in my yard but it will move the truck with the breaks on. It was the only way I could think of to put a load similar to climbing on the truck in the yard. Could max make the flex mount harder to get to? It was buried deep in there.