need immediate help with right case cover on 400ex

Okay, Im trying to get my right case cover off. Ive taken evey bolt off the cover and the cover just wont budge. What do I need to do to get it off. Im trying to get this done right now!!! Thanks!!

[trx400ex]

take the wooden end of a hammer and hitt the opposite end to help knock the case off, or a rubber mallet, be careful do not crack the case, go easy and it will come

bro, what do you mean opposite end??? I dont have the other side off to hit through if thats what you mean.

[MichaelS693]

The right side of the case cover is that the one with the clutches in it?????? if so it has a seal thats gotta come off and the clutch little deal see i had to change out my clutches anyway if it isnt sorry

yea... thats the side. I only unattached the cable, I havent taken the clutch "arm" thing off. Also, where's this seal your talking about?

[MichaelS693]

its in between the case and the motor its a little seal type of thing it just goes just around the edge and why are u takin it off anyway?

Last weekend I snapped the long oil filter cover bolt into the case. The thing wasnt even tight when it snapped. Well, I need the cover off so I can e-z out the bolt from the crankcase it self. E-Z outs are too short to reach through the long hole.

[trx400ex]

i meant hit the back of the same side where the gasket is, i pmed ya

[MichaelS693]

o ok anyway the seal my be just sealing to much haha but ummm like has whats his face said get a hammer or something to get it off just dont hurt anything haha but it should come right off

[MichaelS693]

O yeah and the clutch arm should have no effect on it commin off but it might u should take the clutch loose from the handle bars and when u pop it off(the case) it should be the only thing connected and if u want u can disconnect the cable from the arm

[trx400ex]

no you dont have to take the lever off..

[MichaelS693]

I know you dont i didnt say you did but if i did say it i ment u didnt but when i changed my clutches it got on my nerves just hangin there so i took it off

Thanks for the help guys, I got it off. Now, what about the gasket? I picked up a new one already but how much of the old one needs to come off? Of course, all the gasket needs to come off, but there like a few places that have a little bit of paper"film" left on it that I can hardly get with a razor blade. Thanks!

[stevengates45]

Get as much as possible. If the gasket isnt real bumpy where its left at, I would just leave it & go, the new gasket will basically melt into the old one, nothin to worry about really. But dont get me wrong, get off as much as possible.

[SporTrax400]

Take a razor and brake parts cleaner and a rag and scrape the old gasket off. You should be able to get it all off. Just make sure that you don't get any gasket shavings inside the crankcase.

Greg

[400exRacerX]

NO NO NO!!!! Don't keep hitting the case you will wack the clutch out with it, while tapping the knob on the bottom of the case cover take the clutch arm and turn it counter clockwise, thus disconnecting the arm from the clutch so you dont pull the clutch out of the bike. then when reassembling turn the arm clockwise when putting back on. I snapped the same bolt and believe its easy to preform.

[400exRacerX]

And use a gasket scraper to take the gasket off, but go real easy when scraping the gasket off you don't want to scar the machined surface and cause a oil leak.

[JabberJaw]

When I took mine off, I just used a big flat blade and pried against the small knub that sticks out on the bottom at the back of the case.

thanks for all the help guys!! When I was taking the cover off, the clutch arm twisted counter clock wise on its own... but Im glad it did or else I would have had a problem. Everything went as good as can be expected, being my first time to become one with my quad. I felt like my 400 was proud of me that I didnt let the dealership mess with it.:p As far as the gasket, I took as much off as I could without scratching the soft surface. I'll find out tomorrow if I have a leak. I also dont have a tork wrench, so I tried to tighten the bolts good and snug without snapping another one again. That mistake cost me $40.00. I know I'll be more careful in the future. This is such a great forum. Now I'll be able to help the next guy too. Thanks guys!! Ride Red!!! Woooohoooo!!!

[400exRacerX]

You should really find a torque wrench and torque them down to the torque specs, because you want to compress the gasket evenly and you don't want to warp your block or have oil leaks. The torque spec for the righside crankcase cover is 9ft lbs.

Thanks, Im sure someone at my work will have a tork wrench. I'll be sure and tork her down correctly next week.

Thanks for the tork spec too!

Permatex makes an aerosol gasket remover that will soften baked on gaskets.Get it at your auto parts store. Be careful where you spray it, because it also will soften paint,plastic, and even your eyeballs. Also, a torque wrench is nice, but it is only as good as the nut turning it. If you buy one you really need two! One should be for low torque range, and the other for higher torque ranges. Case bolts need alot less torque than axle nuts.You can't go wrong at Sears because of the great warranty,but you can get screwed buying cheap.When you drop cash for tools,GET THE BEST YOU CAN AFFORD the first time.Us old dudes have already made the cheap mistake and got to buy stuff twice. Also, buy a clicker style, not a difflection beam type torque wrench because they're alot easier to use. Maybe we could add a tool review to the site to help everyone decide what to buy from each others experiance?

Hey Leo, thats a good idea that Oldfart requested.

Yea, my pops has a really old one that he used on cars, but I may ask Santa for a clicker one for Christmas. Thanks for the advise.