What would make it surge the one tire? King Quad 300 "97

[Chucksta]

So.. it a weird one.. The quad surges as you go down the road. By the looks of my tracks, it's one wheel only. High range, low range, 2 wd , 4 wd.. It just doesn't matter.. 

You can see in the pictures the marks it leaves. That was in a straight line, with hardly any acceleration. 

Any ideas?

[Mech]

Jack it up and put a block of wood near the tyre so there is a small gap, then rotate the wheel looking for a bulge in the tyre, or a buckle in the rim. Use the block under and to the side of the wheel looking for either of the faults.

Then rotate the wheel by hand feeling for any play or roughness or grabbing.

[Gwbarm]

It looks like low pressure in that tire but im sure you checked that. The other thought, not knowing the history of the tires, it might have set with low pressure for a while and developed a flat spot, or as Mech suggested a bulge in the tire.

[Chucksta]

Thanks to you both for the quick replies. Mainly, I want to make sure that it's not something fatal in the drive train. It's amazing how much money a "free" ATV can eat 🙂

Would just going for a long ride sort it out, if it's just a matter of it having sat with no air in the tire?? 

[Gwbarm]

If those are the original tires, probably not, but its worth a try. You might try over inflating it a bit and see if that helps, maybe let it sit overinflated for a couple of days, spray some tire foam on it to help rejuvinate the rubber. Does it feel ok or does it seem to bounce on that side?

[Chucksta]

It feels like riding over small speed bumps, or ruts in the road. Obvious most on hard flat surfaces, like in the pictures. 

Could you define " over inflating a bit".  Take the tire to how many P.S.I.? For how long? Ride it while over inflated, or just let it sit for a couple of days?

 

Thanks.

[Mech]

That scuffing is fifty percent of every wheel rotation. It looks too much to be a small bulge or a flat spot really. I'd check the axles and wheel bearings unless there is an obvious bulge or as Gw suggests, a flat spot.

The tyres are only meant to be about four to six pounds pressure, so eight pounds should be plenty to minimise a flat, or show up a bulge really well.

[Gwbarm]

Good observation Mech, that would also correspond to what i was calling a flat spot, which is the part of the tire that was touching the ground with no air in it, my thought was if you inflate it to 10psi and let it sit for a couple of days it may pull some of that back out, even ride it and see if it still makes the same pattern in the gravel, i wouldnt ride it hard overinflated ,but  enough to see if it makes a difference. It would also be a good idea to jack it up and check the bearings and final drive and roll the tire so you can look at it better for roundness.

[Mech]

Your idea of a flat spot is more likely than my bulge..  haha. I've been caught out by the "surge", both as a customer description, and my own test driving, and thinking it was an engine problem, only to eventually realise it was a tyre. That was a bulge though and the surge was very slight and only at light throttle.

This scuffing up of the road is a lot more severe I suspect. A bad flat spot, or a bad cv joint or possibly a really bad wheel bearing.

[Gwbarm]

I revisited the photos it is very severe , a photo or video of the actual tire doing this would be helpful in diagnosing the problem.

[Snick]

Free boats are the most expensive, let's hope the free ATV/Quads are not the same I would check chain and get it on a jack and see what is going on.

Edited September 16 by Snick

[Chucksta]

Thanks to all for the help and advice. (pics, and if I can, video ,to follow).. Might take a day or two to clear out the "honey do" list and get a chance to have a boo at it.  

First thing ( job #1 ), is find the oil leak that is piddling out some VERY expensive Amsoil onto my garage floor. It's leaked a drop or two, here and there, but this is new, and, obviously serious. Both to "Suzie", and my wallet. 

 It's under the rear of the bike, but seems to be coming down from the other side of the skid pan. I can't see the source .... yet.. Girlfriend says it's from switching from Dino oil to a high end synthetic..  I washed the crud out of wherever it was that stopped it from leaking..  CRAP!!  No matter what the cause, it's a PITA!!

There should be a thread ... " So...  how much did the "free" ATV cost you, before you were happy with it?".

[Mech]

There's nothing under the engine that should leak. The oil filter and all the shaft seals and oil pipes are visible from above. The crash pan can sometimes hold a little oil if it got spilt onto it during an oil or filter change. A wash down might fix it..

Edited September 16 by Mech

[Chucksta]

Definitely not a was down situation..   It's only leaked a few drops in 10 months.. Suddenly it's flooding the garage.. Like get out the kitty litter oil..  

I can see a drop on the skid pan, near the sight glass for oil level, but I'll do better with pics and vids of the issues in a a day or two.. 

[Mech]

The filter shouldn't suddenly start leaking real bad, but one of the oil hoses going to the cooler might be old and have cracked so it leaks.. They run right past there.

I have had to fit a new case to one before because the bike had landed on a rock and put a hole in the crancase... despite the crash pan !

[Chucksta]

Well ... So here we go.. As promised, pics and video.  To be honest, I pumped up the left rear tire to probably 20 P.S.I. three days ago.. The ride still isn't perfect. but it way, way better than before. I'm not leaving marks the way it was before. The oil leak is two patches, about two days for each one. Up until now, it was maybe a drop a week.. Which I didn.t worry about.

If you listen to the audio on the video, you can hear a bit of he whoot, whoot whoot .

2nd video to follow, and I'll pick it up and crawl under and see what I can see..

[Chucksta]

[Chucksta]

1st of 2 videos..  Houston.... we have a problem!!

[Chucksta]

1st of 2 videos..  Houston.... we have a problem!!

[Chucksta]

I'd load another video file, but it says max size 38.75 MB  ???

[Mech]

Ask the admin or mod about the video Chucksta. They're super helpful.

People post big videos quite often I thought..

https://www.quadcrazy.com/profile/4-ajmboy/

[Gwbarm]

I usually take videos with my phone and downsize it to 420 it still looks good and i havent had any problems posting it.

[Chucksta]

The site first said that uploads were limited to 120 MB ( ish)  

Now it says max size is 38.75 MB... The file I wanted to upload is only 80 ish MB.. ???

Also.. Not being able to load a video might be the least of my worries..  What causes the excessive play in the left rear?

Got the skid pan off. gonna take a couple of pictures ( I know they are small enough to load) .. Hose it down with brake cleaner, and take some more... 

 

 

[Chucksta]

 

 

[Gwbarm]

The first couple of photos looked dry and the rest are oily looking, i did see the video and it looked oily also, was that after you sprayed it down, it appeared really oily around the u joint connection, is that where the leak is, it even appears to have a crack in the housing but it may be dirt couldnt really tell.

[Chucksta]

Sigh...  SMFH..  They showed up in almost the exact opposite order that I loaded them in...

 

Here's the cheat sheet.. 

 

Top picture..  After half a can of brake cleaner. Blown off with compressed air.. Dry as a bone... That lasted a whopping 2 minutes.

Second picture down. WTF is that hanging from the casing? Does that indicate that at some point, it's been worked on?

Third pic and ( fourth pic /short video ). Wet and messy. Hadn't properly cleaned it yet.. Anyways.. what does that thing do, anyways??

Fifth  pic..  how much oil it pissed out in three hours.

Sixth pic.. pre cleaning.

Seventh pic... another pre cleaning pic.

Beside seventh pic.. The (empty ) sight glass for oil level.  Gee.. it seems a bit empty, doesn't it?  Suzie, ( as I call her) is rapidly pissing out some very, very expensive Amsoil lubrication.. 

 

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen..   The winner of our contest for pictures that look like they'll impact my financial future...

The last picture!!  It clearly indicates that the oil is coming from behind that ring where the front (?) drive shaft enters the transmission.. 

 

Damn it!!  That looks expensive, and labour intensive.

It  would also seem that I will also need a left rear bearing and seal.. Hopefully, not a U-Joint too.

Depending on the cost of parts.... "Suzie" might get sold as a "Donor "  bike.. 

 

On my screen, it shows that I'm down to 21 MB of upload .... If that changes.. I'll upload the video that I still have..  

[Gwbarm]

Thanks for the detailed explanation! I did see your videos. Your girlfiend may be right, the amasol cleaned up your engine so well it made the bad seal show its ugly face. Amosol is great oil but for these older machines i have been sticking to Dino oil just because thats what was recommended. All that aside the seal was bad and was going to show up sooner or later.

Labor intensive, a little, expense not that much, machine would definately be worth the repair, it runs and sounds good. You have to pull the drive shaft the connection at the engine pulls off of a splined shaft then you can get to the seal, the wheel bearing no biggy there just pull the wheel and you can get to that. The tire rolls fairly true so i think the bearing is your problem

[davefrombc]

That looks like the seal for  the output shaft is  bad; and  your Amsoil.... Does it happen to be much lighter ( thinner) than the recommended oil  for that case?.  That could be the problem  with the speed of the leak.leak 

Edited September 18 by davefrombc

[Mech]

To get the front driveshaft out of the engine/trans you have to dismantle the universal joint in place, which is quite a mongrel of a job, and then you undo a nut holding the yoke onto a shaft in the engine and pull the yoke off, then you change the seal with the special suzuki seal , refit the yoke, install a new U.J. in place, and it's all good again for years.

[Chucksta]

12 hours ago, davefrombc said:

That looks like the seal for  the output shaft is  bad; and  your Amsoil.... Does it happen to be much lighter ( thinner) than the recommended oil  for that case?.  That could be the problem  with the speed of the leak.leak 

The Amsoil was specific to ATVs' ..At least according to the packaging and the (supposedly) knowledgeable sales staff.  There was no immediate leaking since added almost a year ago, it would drop it's obligatory drop every know and then, but that was it. the leak went from minorly annoying to WTF happened here, virtually over night. It went from the odd drip to a fountain.