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Rebuilding my motor

7K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  PBallistic 
#1 ·
Sorry about my last post. The long one got lost due to my phone so that thread can be deleted... But here is my story

In June of 2014 I got my brand new wildcat x from Prime Powersports in Shawno WI. The promotion at the time was cash back or a 2 year extended warranty. Of course I wanted the warranty. I did all the paperwork, got the man paid and he told me that my extended warranty paperwork was going to be coming in the mail from cat care in a couple weeks. That was about as long as I thought about that paperwork.

In September or October of 2014 I woke up to my machine lighting up the whole neighborhood and thinking "I cant believe I was stupid enough to leave my keys in that thing and now someone is stealing it". I threw on my boots and headed out the door to see two cops pulling up to inform me the neighbors called me in for my lights shining in their windows. I went to the machine and the keys were not in it. The dash was lit up and the lights were all on and it was flashing an error code. I did not have time to deal with it so I pulled the battery and went to work. It ended up snowing so I decided to throw it in storage and wait till spring. After all I got a 2 year warranty so why bother now?

In March of 2015 I took my wildcat into the dealer I purchased it from and told them it would not start and what had happened. They said the computer was shot and it would be 300 plus labor to replace it. I asked why so much since I had the warranty on it. They informed me that my warranty had ran out in December 2014 and it was not under warranty any more. After I spent a week on the phone with arctic cat trying to work this all out I found out that the way it works is arctic cat pays the dealer 1500 bucks to send in for my extended warranty. They sent him a check for 1500 but he pocketed the money and never sent in for it. AC said they felt bad for me and since my machine only had 300 miles on it they gave me a new computer for free. The dealer got mad and charged me 200 labor to remove 4 screws and swap the computer. When I got home I could not even start the machine to get it off my trailer. I pulled the battery and it was not the battery that I had in there. He swapped my battery with a dead one he had at the dealership... I called them back and the owner/salesman hung up. When I called back they said "Chris doesn't have time for your bs". I was pissed but what could I do? they told me since my factory 6 month warranty was up there was no way even if I wanted to pay out of pocket that I could have my warranty on it. Oh well life goes on.

Now its 2016. I did not ride my machine at all in 2015 except for bringing it alone on vacation and riding it a couple times in the mountains of Oregon and Montana. I am a disabled vet and my health just was not permitting me to ride it. I decided I was not going to let anything stop me this year. After all I got the machine to get out and enjoy the outdoors again... I got a couple hundred miles on it already this year and just actually broke 1000 miles. I just bought a new house right next to the trail so I can get out more often. My wife took it out Thursday with my son and and I jumped in it after work and decided to go for a quick spin while I waited for my wife to get to the house. I made it about a mile and it made a pop sound almost like it blew the belt. I got it pulled to the edge of the trail and i noticed it had shut down completely. I tried to start it and all I heard was a clunking when I tried to start it. I got out of the machine and didn't see any fluid anywhere but I knew it wasn't good.

After I got it pulled home I started to tear it apart yesterday and today. I got the plastic stripped off and valve covers pulled last night and that is when I discovered that I dropped a valve. It appears to me that the valve spring retainer clip broke, dropped the valve into the cylinder and the rest, well, yeah.... This is something that is 100% failure due to craftsmanship and should be covered under the warranty I got screwed out of.

Tonight I got the jug pulled off and the valve hit the piston, didn't break it but left a nice mark. The valve is bent pretty good and stuck in the head. The head has one small nick next to the valve but i don't know how the guide is until i get the head pulled apart.

I have not decided not what I am going to do for sure yet, but I have a couple ideas. I just cannot find places to source some of the parts that I need. Honestly, I don't know how I am going to pay for any of it at this time. Cash is very tight with buying this new house and having to sell my old one yet... The biggest reason why I got a new one with (or what I was told) included a 2 year warranty... I am a guy that needs power. Im not going to lie, the stock power on it bores me, A LOT. I drive a 620hp duramax with 1200 ft lbs of tq as my every day driver. So what I am looking to do is spend the least possible to get noticeable increases in performance. It is all stock right now. I did not mod anything yet in hopes that I could one day work it out to get my warranty.

1. I need to find a source for twin throttle bodies. I hear a lot of people saying they run the twins on their wildcats but where do you find the parts to do it?

2. Where do I find a intake that will work with twin throttle bodies? I do a little bit of everything and I don't really want to run just run filters right off them, I would like to put a snorkel on it.

3. Is there a cam upgrade for the wildcats that works well? I have heard mixed reviews on the cams that are out there and I dont want to spend the money on a cam upgrade if its not worth it...

Thanks guys for your help.
 
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#2 ·
WOW, some story, and a very shady dealer. First, thanks for your servive. Secondly, don't take this laying down. AC should make this all right, and disbarred this clown. At the bare minimum, you should file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, local news station that have some type of "help on your side", newspapers - tell them your story, maybe they will put it in their editorial column. Make this dealer eat as much bad press as possible. You definitely need to find a better dealer no matter what.

I'm sorry, I do have an answer for you on the throttle body, hopefully a member will.
 
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#3 ·
If you notify the Better Business Bureau then write a letter to the Attorney General's office of your state that dealer is Required by Law to reply with a written statement regarding their actions to the Attorney General. Now they can't be forced to do anything besides that, with enough complaints actions can be taken. It is a big thing.. Good luck...
 
#4 ·
As far as power, there was rumors of dual throttle bodies back in the beginning before the Wildcat came out but that never happened. I have not heard of anyone doing it and I don't really see a huge gain from it anyway. As for cams, you have the X motor already that has bigger cams and higher compression than the standard Wildcat. Aftermarket cams will only be a marginal gain. Talk to Speedwerx about cams and head work. If you really want power, the basic Silber Turbo setup is only around $2500. Since you hit the valve with the piston, you might as well put in low compression pistons while you are at it to get the most out of the turbo. Good luck
 
#5 ·
If you end up needing a head, I have a non-X motor that dropped a valve when the crankshaft broke, I think the other head is still ok and as far as I know the X and non-X heads are the same. That would need to be verified. You would just have to use your X cam in it. Which head did you damage? Front or rear? I don't think it matters but just want to be sure.
 
#6 ·
Heads are the same. Need to make sure the "valve cover" that retains the cam goes with it - they're machined in assembly.

Make sure to inspect cylinder walls and make sure nothing broke and shoved into them - when we broke a valve on my motor it went into the side of the cylinder.
 
#8 ·
I filed claims with the BBB, Federal Trade Commission, and Consumer Affairs. Arctic cat should be calling me after work today. I sent the dealer one last email asking for the msrp of a crate motor from cat. I don't expect to see 6k from him, but at least it's a starting point for negotiations...

I should know tonight if I need a head. It's the front head that has the valve stuck in it. I can get the parts to put it back to stock for around 500 bucks if the head is okay... I don't want to dump money into mods with no gain... I'm thinking about a big bore kit, but I don't want to do that way if I'm going to turbo it because I haven't seen a low compression big bore kit out there.
 

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#10 ·
I'd recommend you call speedwerx. They can set you up with their 105 kit for less than a new motor and might even have parts laying around if you want to just go back to stock. They helped me out and hooked me up big time when my motor took a crap (my fault) and they are an awesome company to work with.
 
#13 ·
You might try giving MLS a call.
 
#15 ·
fortune has speedwerx motor forsale. or atleast parts
 
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