I’ve only got three wheel drive and I can’t figure out why. The left front is not working. I’ve got it apart and can’t see anything wrong. The magnet is working, the gap is right, the hillard clutch looks good. It was working up until this past weekend.

I’ve never had good luck with these. When I bought this machine a few years ago it needed a new front CV joint on the right side. I bought a new axle and put it in. I must not have had the washer lined up right and wrecked the clutch and washer. I bought a used one and when I put that in. I couldn’t get that to work either. After everything checking out good I swapped the hillard clutches side to side and they have both worked ever since.





I’ve got a 500 and my wife has a 400 and they are both starting to show their age. Ball joints are next. I’m thinking you guys are going to see more of me!

 

Here's what some have been doing on them also when awd becomes erratic,even after the mechanical system has been checked out ok.

 

Thanks, I'll try that.

 

Well that didn't work. I tried the new ground, didn't work. Tried switching the wires at the plug side to side, didn't work. Switched the hillard and armature from side to side and still the same side doesn't work.
Any other ideas?

 

If you have power to both hub coils and good grounds along with proper working roll cage and armature plate,one thing a lot of people over look is a worn hub strut seal sleeve,plus clearance between the face of the the sleeve and face of the strut casting must be flush or no more than.001 clearance or there may not be enough magnetic pull to slow down the armature plate so the awd can kick in. Another is the strut casting itself.This is the second spot that pulls on the armature plate. Look on the back of the plate and you can see two wear ring areas. One from the sleeve,one from the strut casting. If worn down,not thin where the coil slips over,the strut assembly itself may have to be replaced.I've had to do this several times especially on abused,damaged struts.If the roll cage was damage earlier possible the strut or sleeve was too.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

try switching the hub from side to side. If it follows the hub, the sleeve inside the hub where the hilliard grabs may be spinning. Sounds bizzare but i went through this last year. The one we fixed you could actually turn the sleeve inside the hub by hand. So the 4x4 engages on the sleeve. but wont turn the hub. We chased this for days.

 

How strong should the magnet be? That is one thing I didn't check from one side to the other.


Thanks for the help.

 

I'll check that but I don't think so. The hub spins to freely.

 

Magnetic strength should be enough to pull the plate from your hand about 1/4" inch away and hold the plate securely against the seal sleeve and inner strut casting.Wear ring marks on armature plate is normal. Sleeve is item#13 on the breakdown list. Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse
Plus check hub coil resistance if one side feels weaker than the other on holding the armature plate.Should be around 25 ohms.Plus simple things like hub nut torque should be 12 foot pounds max.

 

The sleeve looks fine. I’ll check for magnet strength next. It’ll be a few days, going away for the weekend! You might have to walk me through how to check the coil resistance. The manual doesn`t go into that much detail.