MAX II Adventure

[skarven]

HI, I just bought a MAX II 2006. Having read a lot on this forum and looked at the videos, and having a 4-wheeler 2x4 for a few months, I realized that the MAX II is what I want.
It was described as a restoration project with a broken throttle cable, a not running engine and generally in bad shape, being left outside close to the sea for 2 years.
I bought it unseen, ( the seller seemed true and friendly!), and had it shipped the about 600? miles by sea to my home town Trondheim in Norway.
I was very excited, and followed the ship on the AIS system as is CRAWLED its way up the Norwegian coast. here is a picture of the last about 90 miles of the journey!


The engine was not running, so I had to install the winch that was meant for the MAX in the trailer to get it in and out.

Now finally got it in front of my garage. It looks GOOD!

As You can see, the MAX is just the size to get into my trailer with only a couple of inches on each side

There was a bundle of spare parts included, 4 outer bearings, 3 inner ones, a new heated throttle cable and a safety belt.

The inner bearing was SA206-20

and the outer bearings was HC207-20

There was a few loose wires, probably from the missing 12V Cig. lighter plug.

A rusty AMMeter

There was some leaves, dirt, chocolate paper and a liberal amount of grease in the tub. At first it looked scary, but you get used to it, and it was not that bad. The chains seemed to be well greased.
There was a good-looking Briggs and Stratton engine, although I new it did not run and the starter was defect.

Some corrosion on the torque converter.

Not to mention the exhaust pipe.

The muffler will have to be mended somehow!

The hitch have seen some heavy work!

The air filter didn't look bad

And there was plenty of good oil!

All in all this seems to me as project with some chance of success.
As as I know, this might be the only MAX II in Norway, or maybe there are others here on this forum. The forum is certainly the best I have visited.
I will be back with more info on this to me exciting adventure!
English (American?) is not my native language, so please bear with the errors.

[Mike]

Congratulations on getting your Max. That was a great post. Once you take care of some of the corrosion issues you should have a reliable and fairly new Max II. Keep us posted regarding the progress that you make.

[mountainman]

And remember, despite its epic journey, Max's are generally not rated for salt water!

Hmmm... (Starts searching for stainless steel hubs.)

[skarven]

And remember, despite its epic journey, Max's are generally not rated for salt water!

Hmmm... (Starts searching for stainless steel hubs.)

Yes, it's a pity! And most of the water close to my cabin is salt. The only freshwater is actually rain, but of course I can put it in the trailer and find some freshwater lake.
I think the wheel hubs should live for quite a while in salt water, but the bearings and flanges, not to speak of everything inside the tub would probably not like it if there is a leak.

I had my first real testing of the max to day at the place of my daughter and son in law (Yes he liked the MAX, and my three boy grandchildren too). It was great fun, but of course some new problems surfaced. I drove it down into a steep valley and could not get out again.
When I tried to run uphill, there was not enough power. The RPM of the 14hp BS went down, and I guess that the torque converter started slipping, because the wheels stopped, both sides.
After a little trial and error, (one error was scary when my missing instincts for lever control had me running at speed downhill backwards), i finally managed to get uphill by alternating between left and right wheels, wagging my way uphill. There was not enough torque for both sides at the same time.

I think this might be a governor ajustment problem. I will check that tomorrow. I also think the top speed on level ground was very low, no more than about 12-15 miles/h. I do not now the max RPM for the 14hp Vanguard, but it seemed low to me. Does anybody have the max RPM for this. If this engine is able to run a 60Hz generator it should have a max RPM of at least 3600.

This could also be related to the muffler I had on it. It came from a diesel heater from our previous boat. It is not very restricted though, because the diesel heaters can't take that. Tomorrow I will try it at my cabin with no muffler, there is no one there to hear it!

[coosaridgerider]

It sounds like you got a good first lesson.lol.I would check the throttle cable at the carb to make sure it is opening the butterfly all the way open and the belt may be loose or worn.

[skarven]

It sounds like you got a good first lesson.lol.I would check the throttle cable at the carb to make sure it is opening the butterfly all the way open and the belt may be loose or worn.

Yes, a good first lesson, when you have no instincts for the laterals, it is too late when you have thought it through!

I just installed the throttle cable, but I will check it tomorrow. The belt looks good to me, and wouldn't a loose or bad belt give you high rpm at full throttle. I get low RPMs.
I'm bringing 2 tachs and the MAX and BS manuals to my cabin (100miles away) tomorrow. Will report back here when I'm back.

[skarven]

The engine was running on one cylinder. Someone in another thread here about 14hp BS suggested to start the engine from cold for only a short time, and then feel the exhaust from each cylinder. On my engine one was cold. I swapped the plugs, and the other one ran. The strange thing is that also the defect plug gave a spark most of the time when out of the engine.
I had checked that when checking if the diodes were OK.

The difference between one and two was sensational! It now ran up the steepest hills I could find, and the sound was also great.

[coosaridgerider]

Glad to hear you got it running good.The vangaurd motors do sound real nice.A little practice you will see the potential of your machine.