stuck clutch?

[pacman]

Hi there,
I'm having trouble and hoping you can help.

I bought my daughter a used 2003 lt50 last week. We got it home and it ran pretty good and started up very easily.

After the first day of riding I decided to give it a complete tune up. I brought it into the shop and tore the whole thing down. I lubed all pivot points, cables, reassymbled the breaks(they were sticky/stiff), new carb hoses, new oil injector line, replaced the old injector oil with fresh oil, new spark plug etc.... you get the picture

I also removed the intake restrictor, replaced stock filter with a twin air, removed the extra pilot jet, and drilled out some extra holes in the air box to make it breath better. These were all mods that I did on my sons JR50 with no problem.

Anyway, I get the machine back together and it now will not start. It's really strange though. Here's what happens. I turn the choke on, I give the pull start approx 10 good pulls, the motor almost fires... then the pull start gets really difficult to pull. It feels like the clutch is engaged. If I keep on trying, after about 100 pulls, the pull starter will loosen up again. At this point I'll let it sit for 10 minutes because it's flooded (and my arms feel like they're going to fall off my shoulders from pulling:blah: )

I keep going in circles with the above steps. Every time it gets to that point that it almost fires - WHAM - the clutch engages and won't release... I ASSUME.

Does anyone have any ideas here. I got as far as pulling the right-side clutch cover off the bike last night.

Any help is appreciated here.

Thanks,
Pat

[pacman]

can you even adjust the clutch in the lt50? I combed through these forums and couldn't find anything about adjusting the clutch in this bike.

[LT80]

No you cannot. It's a centrifical clutch.

[pacman]

Thanks for the reply.
I thought you could adjust how much slippage there is... ?? I thought I remembered the jr50 had an adjuster(which is pretty much the same motor). Any thoughts on why it's behaving the way it is?

[LT80]

I hesitate to reply because I'm not a LT50 guy.
I'd hate to give incorrect info.
Go to motorsportssupercenter and look at the fiche. That may help. :)

[pacman]

ok thanks anyway. Yeah, I've looked at the fiche and couldn't figure it out. I guess I'll have to just tear into it and see if I can figure it out.

[pacman]

argh!!! This stinks. I finally got some time last night to try and pull the clutch apart and I didn't have the correct size socket to break the nut on the clutch. So frustrating... My daughter's bummin

I put it all back together after I realized I couldn't work on the clutch and tried starting it again...

Same problem as before... it almost fires and then the pull start gets real hard to pull. I at least figured out that if I raise the rear wheel off the ground and spin the wheel vigerously once this happens, the pull start goes back to normal. However, I was still unable to get the thing running.

If nobody here has any further advice, do any of you know of another forum that might be able to help. I looked around, but couldn't find anywhere else on the internet that had an LT50 forum.

ANY help is appreciated.

Thanks.

[LT80]

atvconnection
There is some long LT50 threads.
Altho, I don't think that they are going to advise other than taking it apart and seeing what's wrong. Obviously there is a problem. :(
Anyways, go there and see what they say.

[pacman]

thanks. I found a few guys there with similar problems. If I figure this out, I'll post what I found,

[pacman]

ok. So I took the motor apart. Long post coming up here, I have a few questions. Tell me what you think please.

I'll use this diagram to explain
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29/DukeJosie/atv/0011.jpg
When I puled the #11 plate off the clutch this is what the clutch shoes inside the clutch looked like:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29/DukeJosie/atv/1029091403.jpg
I know it's not the greatest picture, but as you can see there are a bunch of gouges in the side of the shoes. Is that normal? By the way, is that what they're called? Clutch shoes? Anyway, the clutch was definitley stuck, but I can't figure out why. Look at this picture:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29/DukeJosie/atv/1029091406.jpg
Does this discoloration look normal? Do you think it's just a the way they manufactured it? Here is the other side of that same part:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29/DukeJosie/atv/1029091406a.jpg

OK, next issue:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29/DukeJosie/atv/1029091401.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29/DukeJosie/atv/1029091402.jpg
As you can see I need a new top end. How can I tell what size piston to go with? what tool do I need to measure the cylinder?

Also after taking the motor out of the quad, I saw that the head gasket was leaking, so I'll order a new one to fix that issue.

OK. last question, when I spin the magneto by hand, there is one point in the rotation where it feels like something(maybe the coil?) is rubbing on the flywheel. Should there be resistance when I spin the flywheel by hand like that?

Thanks, and sorry for the noob questions.

[LT80]

Piston size: Micrometer/dial calipers to measure. On Lt80's, if there is not a number on the top of the piston, it's stock size. After that .5 over has a .5 on top of the piston. I'd bet the 50's do the same.
You're going to get a new base gasket also.
The discoloration (the clutch bell) tells me that it got HOT. Maybe that bushing bad?
Grooves: I can't tell but those may or may not be normal. The pic is jiant so it's hard to say. (I don't know how to resize either) LOL

Yes a stator will feel like it's got a tight spot.

[pacman]

thanks for the reply.

It looks like it's deeper than the clutch. When you turn the flywheel by hand, at certain points in the rotation it gets completely stuck. It must be either a bad crank bearing or something in the bottom end floating around, like a piece of metal. I'm leaning more toward a bad bearing. I can't tell until I get the flywheel off though and split the case. I ordered the flywheel puller last week from Suzuki. I wish I had the tool now. It's driving me crazy.

My daughter is being so patient about the whole thing... She's enjoying helping me work on it at least. She nick named herself Tool-Girl, because she hands me each tool as I need it when I'm working on it. She's a great little helper and wants to know everything.

[LT80]

That's cool.:cool:
My daughter wrenched on the LT's years ago. Turned out to be a very important aspect for her future adult racing.
While at the nationals and the motor came out for a freshen up, Angela had her own tools and the motor was out without help. It is second nature to her now.
All the kids learned. That's why I liked metric. Just had to say 8-10-12, whatever. The 7 slach 16 stuff (7/16) confused em. :D

[pacman]

Originally posted by LT80
My daughter wrenched on the LT's years ago. Turned out to be a very important aspect for her future adult racing.
While at the nationals and the motor came out for a freshen up, Angela had her own tools and the motor was out without help. It is second nature to her now.
that's awesome

Originally posted by LT80
All the kids learned. That's why I liked metric. Just had to say 8-10-12, whatever. The 7 slach 16 stuff (7/16) confused em. :D
it still confuses me! hahaha

[pacman]

GOT IT! Finally pulled the flywheel off this weekend. As soon as I got it off, a beat-up old washer fell out from behind the flywheel. It was wedged in between the flywheel and the stator. Once that was out the crank spun really smoothly. I put in a new top end and slapped the whole thing back together. She's running great now!

Now I just need to fine tune the carb since I removed the intake restrictor, replaced the air filter with a twin air filter and opened up the air box. It has the stock 55 main in it. It was already running a little lean with that main jet so I was thinking about going up to a 70main.

Thanks for all your help LT80!