400ex rebuild

[staakej]

Picked up this 03 400ex for 600 bucks has an 07 motor. owner claims he installed new valves and couldnt get it to run after that. I'm undecided on what to do thinking about doin a ground up rebuild but the quad needs a lot of tlc. or I just could get it ride able and make someone a cheap atv with the atv market being what it is i just dont know if it would be worth it to rebuild it or not just looking for some opinions

[staakej]

pic 2

[staakej]

pic 3

[staakej]

http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=417289

This was my last build would like to do somthing along the same lines as it.

[B.C.#11TRX400EX]

Good deal for $600, rebuild it new a-arms,axle,swinger,pc, bars, rebuild engine (get it running),hood, new exhaust make it look beast like your other builds!!! Make this a XC quad for somethin different, just my thoughts haha

Blake

[01boneless]

please rebuild it!!! i love following your rebuilds there the best!

[staakej]

Well I yesterday I started to look at the motor to see what it would take get it runnin and its F^%&#D. I do believe the guy I bought it from did rebuild the engine like he told me he did and he had no business using tools. I removed the head and the cylinder I discovered the crank piston and cylinder are all scored.

[staakej]

Removed the cam chain tensioner and discovered it was put it with some standard thread self taping bolts what retard dose this and for some reason broke off the tabs the hold the sircilp luckly I do have a cam chain tensioner

[staakej]

Well after seeing the mess the top end was in today I decied to remove and inspected the rest of the engine. WOW what a mess

[staakej]

Well I removed the left side cover the stator and flywheel look ok. The I removed the clutch cover and I discovered the the gear on the crank wasnt even making contact with the oil pump no wonder the motor is screwed up. The cam and head seamed to be ok though I'm susprised that it didnt score the cam also. I wonder if this kid over hauled the motor and with oil pump not working he burnt it up right away and then put a differnt head on it trying to get it to run who really knows but i cant believe with no oil pump it did scored the rod and piston but not the head and cam you would thing the cam would be the frist to go.

[staakej]

This gasket was missing also prob didnt help matters any

[staakej]

the cam chain guide was missing the bushing that holds it in place so it was bouncing around in there

[staakej]

One of the bolts was broke of the clutch basket I was lucky and took a small drill bit on the back side and got it to spin out clutches look new maybe they where replaced with the over haul prob why the bolt twisted off

[staakej]

Just started drilling on this side the bit caught and spun it out far enought to get some pliers on it

[staakej]

pic

[B.C.#11TRX400EX]

Geez thats messed up, so u gonna rebuild it still

[staakej]

Got the rest of the motor tore down tranny seems to me in good shape so I started to clean the cases up if you want your motor to look like new agian get some eagle one mag wheels cleaner hands down the best stuff ever for cleaning cast aluminum. I used a small wire brush and it cleans up with little effort if you motor is cleaner than this you dont even need a wire brush you can just spray on and wash off.

[staakej]

pic

[staakej]

cases done

[staakej]

Originally posted by B.C.#11TRX400EX
Geez thats messed up, so u gonna rebuild it still

yeah I think so prob just gona be a stock bike no going to dump a bunch of money in it prob do some powder coating make it look cool though

[B.C.#11TRX400EX]

Cool sounds good

[Stickman400]

Damn, whoever rebuilt that thing deff. needs to leave it the the professionals. That is ridiculous. Good luck getting it all rebuilt and running again. I'll be subscribed.

[staakej]

Originally posted by Stickman400
Damn, whoever rebuilt that thing deff. needs to leave it the the professionals. That is ridiculous. Good luck getting it all rebuilt and running again. I'll be subscribed.

Yeah I know its carzy what people do. I hope to start tearing the chassie down next week while I look for engine parts

[01boneless]

wow messed up good luck ill deff be following :) i cleaned my cases with eagle one too and it works amazingly well

[staakej]

Well looked at the head today its really screwed up to. I'm guessing some got the timing off and rolled the motor over bending both intake valves. It also has took a chunk out of the valve seat. This is turning into a real money pit I'm glad I'm didnt give any more money for this bike.

Hears a pic of the valve seat

[staakej]

Hears the valves you can see by this pic how bent thay are.

[staakej]

Got the rest of the chassie tore down didnt take many pics. I'll take alot more pics when it gose back together.

[staakej]

all tore down

[staakej]

I'm welcome to all opinions one what color schemes I should have one the bike. Plastic graphics powder coat let me know what u think would look good

[01boneless]

red frame black sub frame and black lowers and red uppers would be awsome!!!

[Stickman400]

Lol, that's what I'm doing boneless, except for the red frame. I'm doing black frame, black lowers, red uppers, and black swinger. Then red calipers, oil tank and cooler. I'd like to see some kind of orange or yellow build. I hope you put your bolts in little baggies or something, I have all my stuff laying out on the floor with the bolts where they go. A box full of parts would be a nightmare for me.

[knott89]

ya i seen this posted on craigslist before u got it i also was considering it and sorry to say this but glad it was you and not me buddy i picked one up around the same time for 600 and it runs and rides great but smokes after wheelie or idiling around yard and smells gassey as well as my oil which i changed and it like maybe the carb is flooding it out a little not sure im not really good with these things any advice? the carb does leak a little and the idle is messed up idles hi with choke off and low with choke on but dies after 15-20 seconds with choke off idk also one of the valve cover bolts are loose and i cant seem to get it to catch thread and tighten up although it doesnt leak oil any thoughts or ideas?

[01boneless]

totaly off topic but staakej do you want to sell the dg bumper ?

[mineralgrey01gt]

Originally posted by knott89
ya i seen this posted on craigslist before u got it i also was considering it and sorry to say this but glad it was you and not me buddy i picked one up around the same time for 600 and it runs and rides great but smokes after wheelie or idiling around yard and smells gassey as well as my oil which i changed and it like maybe the carb is flooding it out a little not sure im not really good with these things any advice? the carb does leak a little and the idle is messed up idles hi with choke off and low with choke on but dies after 15-20 seconds with choke off idk also one of the valve cover bolts are loose and i cant seem to get it to catch thread and tighten up although it doesnt leak oil any thoughts or ideas?

WTF are you trying to say? learn to use punctuation please.

To the OP. I know how that goes with projects like that. Glad you got it at a cheap price. I say do something like a burnt orange and black theme.

[staakej]

Originally posted by 01boneless
totaly off topic but staakej do you want to sell the dg bumper ?

I dont plan on using the bumper but it is tweaked some not bad but I cant tell you its in perfect shape. I do 20 bucks plus shipping if your interested

[01boneless]

pmed

[staakej]

got some parts back from sand blasting the other day. Should have some color on stuff soon

[staakej]

I got a question I have this 39mm fcr that cam off a yfz laying around. I ended up with it cause the tps was broke on it was thing about putting on this 400ex since I wont need the tps sensor. The side that mounts on the motor is to large to go on the stock 400ex intake boot. i'm not sure about the air cleaner side havent looked at it yet. just wondering if any one has done this or has any ideas.

[400man]

Ive got a yfz carb on mine and its one of the best mods ive done. the throttle is SO much snappier and the thumb throttle is even alot lighter to push than with the stock carb. theres a little trick that you do with a small ziptie with the accelerator pump to make it run right. you cant really use the choke when its all mounted up but all you do is pump the gas a couple times and it starts up fine when you get the jetting fairly close. you take a hair dryer and heat up the intake boot on the motor side to make it stretch then make the carb fit and leave it in for a few hours so it kinda stretches and holds its shape. the airbox side takes a little bit of custom work if you still want to run the airbox. heres some pics of my setup.

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/400exfcrcarb004.jpg

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/400exfcrcarb003.jpg

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/400ex450r011.jpg

[400man]

there will be like a 2 inch gap between the airbox boot and the carb so you will have to come up with a way to extend the airbox boot. I went to Lowes and in the plumbing section found this rubber pipe coupler that happened to be almost the correct size and shape. I dont remember the exact measurements but I had to use some black electrical tape around the carb clamp area to make the rubber pipe coupler fit tight on the carb. then I found a small piece of car exhaust pipe to put inside the rubber coupler where the stock airbox boot slides over it so that I get a good solid clamp surface.

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/400ex450r010.jpg

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/400ex450r009.jpg

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/400ex450r008.jpg

[staakej]

thanks for the info. Its got me thinking and 06 and up 450R uses that fcr carb I wonder how close a 06 and up 450R air box and intake tube would be to a direct bolt up.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 400man

[B]there will be like a 2 inch gap between the airbox boot and the carb so you will have to come up with a way to extend the airbox boot. I went to Lowes and in the plumbing section found this rubber pipe coupler that happened to be almost the correct size and shape. I dont remember the exact measurements but I had to use some black electrical tape around the carb clamp area to make the rubber pipe coupler fit tight on the carb. then I found a small piece of car exhaust pipe to put inside the rubber coupler where the stock airbox boot slides over it so that I get a good solid clamp surface.

[staakej]

well its been slow going but I did get the bottom end together found a good used crank from a buddy installed a DID cam chain. hope to have some powder on some parts real soon

[staakej]

pic2

[staakej]

The clutch seemed to be in really good shape I'd say its fairly new but the basket was groved real bad. I dont know how many bikes Ive worked on where the owner installed a new clutch and the didnt fix the problem. you can file down the basket so the fiber disk dont catch and get some more life out of the stock basket dont spend big bucks on a aftermarket basket. just be sure you run your file at the same angle as the basket. maybe everone know about this but I though it might say someone a couple of bucks some day. I would say this is a one time fix but even at one time it will double the life of your clutch basket

[staakej]

after

[staakej]

Well i'm real excited about this I found a tc pipe on ebay gave 75 bucks for it. These are getting super hard to find and for that price i couldnt pass it up. Its going to set this bike off no better way to draw attention to bad ***** ex with a big brapp braaapppp.

[staakej]

Got the side covers on the bottom end powder coated went with more of a textured flat black. may be it wont scuff up as bad as a gloss black.

[staakej]

I had to order a lock washer for the nut on the crank on the clutch side as soon as i get it I can button up the clutch cover and the bottom end will be done

[throttle_out14]

Looks like the build is coming along well. You really know your stuff, I have a question for you. Hope you don't mind. I have a 2001 400ex and I am having 2nd gear issues with it. It keeps slipping in and out of 2nd when I try to engage it, and it won't engage. I have replaced the shift forks and all the gears, this has had no effect on the problem. I was wondering what your thoughts on this might be? Could it be the star shift detent being loose or bad causing the shift drum to move around? Idk, I'm lost on this, hoping you can swing me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Throttle_out14

[Fix29]

Holy thread jack Batman!

On topic, the side covers look friggin' awsome man!

[staakej]

Originally posted by throttle_out14
Looks like the build is coming along well. You really know your stuff, I have a question for you. Hope you don't mind. I have a 2001 400ex and I am having 2nd gear issues with it. It keeps slipping in and out of 2nd when I try to engage it, and it won't engage. I have replaced the shift forks and all the gears, this has had no effect on the problem. I was wondering what your thoughts on this might be? Could it be the star shift detent being loose or bad causing the shift drum to move around? Idk, I'm lost on this, hoping you can swing me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Throttle_out14
my guess would be the dogs on your gears are worn. On one side of the gear it will have three tabs the stick out on it and you will notice when your shift fork slides that gear in 2nd gear "in your case" those three tabs will meet tabs on the gear next to it. if those "dogs" or "tabs" should have a perfect 90 degree angle if there worn just a little bit on the edge if will cause for missed shift. had the same problem on my 07 450R.this is why alot of race motor have the tranny gears back cut. other guesses could be you have your forks outa of order i'm not sure if this would cause that problem or not but i would check it out while you have it apart. IF you dont find any of these problems just sit down with the service manual and make sure every thing is in place.

[throttle_out14]

Awesome, thanks so much for your advice. I will have to find time to tear it down again now. I wasn't going to tear it down until I had an idea as to what it was or what to look for, now I do. Thanks agian

[staakej]

Originally posted by throttle_out14
Awesome, thanks so much for your advice. I will have to find time to tear it down again now. I wasn't going to tear it down until I had an idea as to what it was or what to look for, now I do. Thanks agian

maybe you i would get that detnet spring and replace those parts on the shift star those parts would be cheap and would cancel that out. check the shifter shaft also it could be bent. now that i'm thinking about had a 450R with same promblem once and it was a bent shift shaft. and if you said you had a hard wreck it may of been bent and it wont take much to not let that engage in gear all the way

[PrideRider]

i seen this quad for sale guy wanted 700 for it doesnt look like a bad bike. sucks tht you have to rebuild it i aas well had to rebuild my 400 due to the previous owner ran it without oil for awhile. looks like you know what you are doing i live in Augusta IL not too far from you! Hope everything goes smooth for ya.

[Stickman400]

Damn, those side covers are SEEEEXY. I want to do mine now, lol

[staakej]

Originally posted by Stickman400
Damn, those side covers are SEEEEXY. I want to do mine now, lol

thinking about doing the valve cover also. going to do the oil tank and motor mounts same color. going to the frame and sub frame white. and maybe the swinger and a arms red i dont know i'll just make it up as i go along

[Stickman400]

Someone on here did a really nice Black/White build. Here's some pics of it, credit goes out to the guy that created/posted this beast in the photo thread that is buried around here somewhere.
http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/Stickman400/Random%20Pics/003-1.jpg
http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/Stickman400/Random%20Pics/021-1.jpg
http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/Stickman400/Random%20Pics/003-3.jpg
http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/Stickman400/Random%20Pics/011-1.jpg
http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/Stickman400/Random%20Pics/014-2.jpg

[TheAwesomehonda]

WOW!!! thats alot a white and alot of black kinda like it but its very stock and the exhaust and motor shouldn't have to be painted/powdercoated.

[Drfat400ex]

Originally posted by Stickman400
Someone on here did a really nice Black/White build. Here's some pics of it, credit goes out to the guy that created/posted this beast in the photo thread that is buried around here somewhere.
omg I think I have to go change my underdrawrs... That thing is beast!!! You should definatly go with something like that!

[staakej]

very clean build but to much of a good thing for my taste i'm going to try to use 3 colors maybe 4.

[throttle_out14]

That black and white looks killer!!! Different and has a very clean look!!! SEXY

[CJM]

You guys dont ride your stuff to much lol, theres no way my quad could ever look so clean after all of the hours I log on it, even after washing and detailing its still somewhat dirty.

[TheAwesomehonda]

Originally posted by CJM
You guys dont ride your stuff to much lol, theres no way my quad could ever look so clean after all of the hours I log on it, even after washing and detailing its still somewhat dirty. U put logs with your 400ex?

[CJM]

Originally posted by TheAwesomehonda
U put logs with your 400ex?

Very funny.

I mean I ride it ALOT. By alot I mean on average I ride at least 6-8 hours every weekend if not more and I go out almost always unless its raining, very heavy snow or freezing.

[Stickman400]

I'll agree with ya there CJM. The only reason I'm making mine look so damn sexy is because I'm going to take ALOT of pictures of it before I ride it for the first time. Then rip on it just like before. I like my stuff to look good if I take some time and wash it up, but then be a monster when I ride it.

[CJM]

Way back when I cleaned my plastics perfectly and polished'em up, then I took some gray paint and spray bombed the frame (believe it or not I did it freehand and with everything on the bike and it turned out about 90% nice), etc, etc.

After 2 solid years of riding an avg of at least 500 or more hours a year it doesnt hold up and I gave up to a degree. PC would hold up better but thats money that can be better spent elsewhere right now.

Maybe Ill break it down next winter for fun and do it all.

But man yours does look nice, I want to do the same gloss black.

[quadmanw]

that black and white 400 is probably the sickest one I have ever seen! I really wish I could find the guy that has it because he has Fullflight A arms and he seems to have them adjusted right... I KNOW mine are adjusted wrong... lol

[staakej]

got some more work done today cleaned the oil tank up and it was full of sand. this poor bike has been abused. the screen in the tank was clogged. prob another reason the motor seized up.

[staakej]

pic

[staakej]

got some more powder coating done today going to do the frame tomorrow i hope then we can start putting some of these parts together and see what shes gona look like

[staakej]

oil tank

[Stickman400]

Damn, that is terrible. I just checked mine (oil tank filter) a couple weeks ago and it looked almost brand new, just a few specks on it. I don't see how you could get so much sand in your oil.

EDIT: Man those pieces look good. I'm deff. gunna have to do my motor sometime next winter.

[staakej]

powder coated the mid pipe and polished up the can turned out pretty good with no more time then i put in it

[staakej]

Originally posted by Stickman400
Damn, that is terrible. I just checked mine (oil tank filter) a couple weeks ago and it looked almost brand new, just a few specks on it. I don't see how you could get so much sand in your oil.

i'd say some one did some serious creek riding. I hate creek riding it to hard on machines atv are not made to run in 6 feet of water.

[staakej]

Originally posted by CJM
You guys dont ride your stuff to much lol, theres no way my quad could ever look so clean after all of the hours I log on it, even after washing and detailing its still somewhat dirty.

I put a fair amount of hours riding in there are tricks to keeping a bike looking good.

1st was your bike when your done ridding dont wait a week and let all the mud get baked on.

2nd get a decent pressure washer "the hose just dosent cut it" wet the bike down get a light degresser and spray it down give it a few mins to soak in and wash wash wash.

3rd and most important my bike still looks dingy after its clean you got to use a good finsh spay this will make your bike look like a million bucks and it will help mud from sticking to it the next time you ride.

my ktm has almost 60 hours on it and it still look new

[staakej]

purple power cleaner

[staakej]

motul shine and go clear coat

[staakej]

got the frame coated today. I sat the motor and oil tank in to get a feel of what its going to look like. I got a idea of what i want to do now I'm going to continue the white in the sub frame and the a arms going to go with a black stem and swing arm. then i'll add the red to a bunch of smaller parts and with red plastic it will bring a pretty good ballance to my colors

[staakej]

thinking about these graphics on red plastic. there just isnt very many kewl looking graphics left anymore for 400ex enless u want flames and skull graphics kits u see on ebay

[HondaRacing83]

Originally posted by staakej
thinking about these graphics on red plastic. there just isnt very many kewl looking graphics left anymore for 400ex enless u want flames and skull graphics kits u see on ebay thats cool, whered you get them?

[Stickman400]

Why do the center cases look so dirty now? Maybe it's just the lighting in the pic.

[staakej]

Originally posted by Stickman400
Why do the center cases look so dirty now? Maybe it's just the lighting in the pic.

I think it is just the lighting Ive just been using my phone to take pics not the best quality.

[Stickman400]

Looks pretty good though. That color scheme looks pretty sweet. Idk how well the red will look, but it's always cool seeing something different.

[CJM]

staakej, I see where your coming from int he cleaning dept and believe me I use a good electric pressure washer (the gas one would eat holes in the plastic and paint lol), scrub it down, use degreasers, etc. It just wont ever come that clean b/c while your KTM has 60 hours my quad will see that easily in 2-3 weekends. I ride on average about 350 or more hours a year easy.

By now stuff is permanently beat up. maybe Ill take it all apart and paint the frame up and polish stuff...course Im lazy too. Go is fine, but show..meh doesnt bother me.

[staakej]

Originally posted by CJM
staakej, I see where your coming from int he cleaning dept and believe me I use a good electric pressure washer (the gas one would eat holes in the plastic and paint lol), scrub it down, use degreasers, etc. It just wont ever come that clean b/c while your KTM has 60 hours my quad will see that easily in 2-3 weekends. I ride on average about 350 or more hours a year easy.

By now stuff is permanently beat up. maybe Ill take it all apart and paint the frame up and polish stuff...course Im lazy too. Go is fine, but show..meh doesnt bother me.

yeah that is a lot of hours to put on a bike and keep it looking good. I wish I had that kinda time. Thats the big reason I build nice bikes when I have most of my free time its to cold to ride so i work in the shop. and pretty much just go racing in the summer and that dosnt put many hours on a bike

[250xfreak]

I just picked up an 02 400ex last week for $600 as well and I am looking forward to see yours when its completed. Looks great so far.