Destroyed my motor

[400man]

I was able to get in about half a lap, going across a wooped out field section about 3rd gear hard on the gas, and BAM! motor makes a bad clunk/pop sound and my wheels locked up. looked down and seen a bunch of oil in my frame skid plate, then this:

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06211732_zpsff5764f7.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06211732_zpsff5764f7.jpg.html)

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06211610_zpsce9a43c9.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06211610_zpsce9a43c9.jpg.html)

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06211607_zps9ef39936.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06211607_zps9ef39936.jpg.html)

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06211607_1_zps2217b50a.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06211607_1_zps2217b50a.jpg.html)

[CJM]

That sucks.

[JOHNDOE83]

man that REALLY sucks!!!

Atleast now you can either look for a inexpensive dirt bike and do a nice motor swap OR you can look for a newer lower end.

Motor swap would help greatly if you like MX racing, the 400ex motor weighs 100lbs with the battery, my cr250 motor weighs 45lbs and has alot more HP.

Sometimes you can find crf450s for 1500, I found my cr250 for 600 and havent rebuilt or done anything to it and still have the fastest atv time at my drag strip.

[DragonGunner]

Wow......thanks for posting pictures. I keep waiting for my 99' to do the same someday....may be awhile now, its just got retired from racing last week again when my son bought a 08' TRX450ER, he's probably going to beat me the next race now. So are you going to get a cheap 400EX motor of ebay, part it out and go with a 450R......or invest in some JB Weld...? Glad it didn't throw you off the quad by the way.

[KKiowaTJ]

All that time and prep, Fixing etc and the fo hundred did you like that! Like mentioned at least you didn't get hurt. If it were me, Just find another 400 and yank and build the motor and drop it in your chassis unless a hybrid would be easier. All the time and trouble to make this race and boom!

[jcs003]

did the connecting rod break?

john

[400man]

it egged out the front motor mount holes on the frame
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06221308_zps0faf46b3.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06221308_zps0faf46b3.jpg.html)

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06221321_1_zpsd077ba07.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06221321_1_zpsd077ba07.jpg.html)

it bent the starter motor shaft and broke the mount tabs on the starter
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06221229_zps8619bd7a.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06221229_zps8619bd7a.jpg.html)

and yea.....the connecting rod snapped in half
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06221404_zps87c06813.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06221404_zps87c06813.jpg.html)
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06221323_zpsaf8a4da9.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06221323_zpsaf8a4da9.jpg.html)

[400man]

I still have my spare/stock 400ex that I have been trying to sell forever it seems like. I think im gonna end up turning it into my main trail/race bike. its a 03 and a really clean bike and should last for along time. this bottom end here lasted 14 years lol, and apart from the few years ive owned it, theres no telling what previous owners even put it through.

and as for this one, I may just get it all back running again eventually and sell it cheap or something, who knows really?

[JOHNDOE83]

interested in some parts if your thinking of parting it out, I need a swingarm and bearing carrier for my cr80/400ex hybid I have hanging in the shed.

Let me know if you wanna part out, might want the frame to.....?

[400man]

nah I doubt I am gonna part anything out.

I do have a question though. would bottoming out my suspension a lot during a race have anything to do with this happening? cause it blew as I was going across a field right as my rear shock bottomed kinda hard in a wooped out section.

[MtnEX]

Nah it is usually the loading that makes them let go.... The high RPM and heavy loading.

Often something else goes wrong in the same situation that causes the failure. A friend of mine had a similar catastrophic failure... rod broke and kung fu frailed the cases part way down a field section. Cracked her open and found an exhaust valve petal snapped off and fell into the cylinder. Compressed it against the head twice and snapped the rod like a twig on the second time.

Sucks sucks sucks.

It does however make you wonder which came first in your case, the chicken or the egged out motor mounts? Hummm....

[400man]

oh the motor mounts were bent up from where the rod busted through the cases and pushed the mounts forward, that's what egged the holes out id say

[chronicsmoke]

Yikes! That looks rough I hope your luck picks up 400man

[Stickman400]

Damn that sucks. Haven't ever had a motor go on me like that. When I hit my friend head on and bent and cracked my frame I about puked, I saw everything that was wrong and thought I might aswell scrap it, but I didn't. Ended up re-building it and putting a new frame on it and building it into what it is now. Never know what can happen from really bad situations like this. Best of luck man!

[CJM]

I had something similar happen once, but it was on a suzuki lt230 sport. Thing always leaked oil and I would fill it. Well lent it to someone and musta forgot to fill with oil. They brought it back in about the same shape.

[400man]

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06231201_zpsaaac8eb4.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06231201_zpsaaac8eb4.jpg.html)

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06231200_zps326cd2c5.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06231200_zps326cd2c5.jpg.html)

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06231204_zps2042fed7.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06231204_zps2042fed7.jpg.html)

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/Photo06231201_1_zps131fdbbb.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/Photo06231201_1_zps131fdbbb.jpg.html)

took some of it apart today. a little bit of bad and good news. my clutch and everything is still good, and I think my transmission came very close to getting hit, but the gears all look fine and turn smoothly. I think they should be fine. my cylinder sleeve got damaged though, and my piston has a big chunk missing from the rod. and I have 2 bent valves, but I don't know yet if the valve guides got damaged or not. I noticed though my cam chain tensioner failed on me, so I guess it must have jumped time and the piston hit the valves and then the rod broke.

[CJM]

I say you get a crf450r motor and go to town.

[400man]

I say you get a crf450r motor and go to town.

my brother has a yz250f motor that needs a crank. I test fitted it in the frame, and it would be pretty easy to make the mounts. and it weighs like half of what the 400ex motor weighs haha. only issue might be clearance for the kick start.

if I had to do a motor swap, id rather find me a trx 250r motor.

[Stickman400]

Just go for broke and shove a CR500 motor in there.:blah:

[JOHNDOE83]

my brother has a yz250f motor that needs a crank. I test fitted it in the frame, and it would be pretty easy to make the mounts. and it weighs like half of what the 400ex motor weighs haha. only issue might be clearance for the kick start.

if I had to do a motor swap, id rather find me a trx 250r motor.

Most of the time a dirtbike motors kickstart wont clear the frame, chop124 or whatever in the hybrid section sells crf kicker extenders I believe.

I made a kicker extender for my cr250/400ex out of 2 cr kick start knuckles and a piece of square tubing from home depot.

[dunatic]

I have a perfect bottom end with a Poweroll 3mm crank that has a lower rod bearing going out (not gone, but rattles). No clutch, no stator. cases not split.

$250.00, plus the ride and paypal fees

Call or text me at 503-936-0620 if interested

[jcs003]

my brother has a yz250f motor that needs a crank. I test fitted it in the frame, and it would be pretty easy to make the mounts. and it weighs like half of what the 400ex motor weighs haha. only issue might be clearance for the kick start.

if I had to do a motor swap, id rather find me a trx 250r motor.


i did the trx250r in a 400ex several years ago and i still ride it and it is an awesome machine. i have a build thread in the hybrid section.

john

[DragonGunner]

i did the trx250r in a 400ex several years ago and i still ride it and it is an awesome machine. i have a build thread in the hybrid section.

john



Knew a guy that put a dirt bike 250r in his, tad on the vibration side but he did good at the races. I threw a 02' KTM 520 dirt bike motor in mine, just raced it at a fair on horse race track, one guy had a built TRX450R he drag raced and a yfz set up for TT among other, at green light mine screamed to the hole shot, really got to open it up down the stretches, man it was fun around those corners, charge in at 4th and come out screaming in 5th, think I hit 6th a couple times, came in 1st, and took home 60 bucks. Man that was different and fun, more use to XC type.

[jcs003]

Knew a guy that put a dirt bike 250r in his, tad on the vibration side but he did good at the races. I threw a 02' KTM 520 dirt bike motor in mine, just raced it at a fair on horse race track, one guy had a built TRX450R he drag raced and a yfz set up for TT among other, at green light mine screamed to the hole shot, really got to open it up down the stretches, man it was fun around those corners, charge in at 4th and come out screaming in 5th, think I hit 6th a couple times, came in 1st, and took home 60 bucks. Man that was different and fun, more use to XC type.

here is the link: http://www.atvriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?395940-250r-400ex-hybrid&highlight=400ex%2F250r+hybrid

john

[DragonGunner]

here is the link: http://www.atvriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?395940-250r-400ex-hybrid&highlight=400ex%2F250r+hybrid

john

Nice build....Like the full bore plastic, I got white on my 06' build.

[Blodg]

I threw a 02' KTM 520 dirt bike motor in mine, just raced it at a fair on horse race track, one guy had a built TRX450R he drag raced and a yfz set up for TT among other, at green light mine screamed to the hole shot, really got to open it up down the stretches, man it was fun around those corners, charge in at 4th and come out screaming in 5th, think I hit 6th a couple times, came in 1st, and took home 60 bucks. Man that was different and fun, more use to XC type.
DragonGunner, that is awesome! I would not have been comfortable at those speeds, even when I was younger I never liked to go wide open. I have always enjoyed going "fast" on a track or in the woods where I may only going 30 mph but your story sounded like you had fun.

[MtnEX]

I myself miss the 2 strokes a LOT... and I think if I could get myself started into building one and get it finished up, I think I would likely be happy and keep rebuilding it forever and ever. It's the whole getting into the build though that is the problem. I can't do the fab work myself and so forth although it seems sorta minimal. But I have never learned to weld and such.

The other thing is, I have also grown to love some of today's over the boot pants and I am pretty sure that 250R pipe would cost me a pair of pants every time I rode it... lol. Burn'em up.

What I have wondered though aside from a 250R motor is... what about a KTM 300XC motor?


As for 4 strokes, about everything has been in these frames. The guy earlier that mentioned the 250 4-stroke bike motor... that is cool. I would say it is probably surprising. I bet it is good for any discipline but I'm thinking you would need to be light on body weight.