Has anyone heard of the trans case cracking around the output shaft area behind the chain sprocket on a 2003 400ex? Went out this weekend and was climming a hill in 2nd gear and the bike stopped on me. Was unable to get bike into neutral and roll it. Trans was locked up in gear. Had to remove the chain so it could be towed back to camp. Removed sprocket in front of the trans case and the case was cracked half way around the case about 1/2 inch from the outer seal. I don't know if something failed inside the trans or if it was physical damage due to a rock or somthing. I see no damage except for the crack in the case and it has oil in it. I have never seen this in the years that i have been riding bikes. Anyone heard of this? Thanks

 

sounds like the chain was set to tight. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

Were you running the case saver??? Was your chain kind of loose??? Sounds like a classic case of a kinked chain wedged in there. If you weren't running a case saver, you are the only one who is to blame!

 

What is a case saver?

 

He makes it sound like the chain was still attached to the rear sprocket, so im guessing it didnt kink up on him and crack the case. Maybe sickmojave is right.

 

The case saver is the little piece of metal above the chain where it wraps around the sprocket on the engine. It prevents a kinked chain from wedging in between the case and the sprocket. Some people remove them, and pay the price later.

 

Broken crank case: I have a 2003 400ex and had the samething happen. I also heard of another local kid with a 400ex 2003/2004? that had the samething happen. And I'm willing to bet alot of other people had the problem. The case broke as a result of bearing failure, if we are talking about the same spot(behind front drive gear). I was lucky enough to have it covered under warranty work, but i had to threaten to stop my monthly payment to get their attention. The dealer was a real _ _ _ hole. He wanted to waranty piece by piece. After waiting 2 months on the dealer contacting Honda warranty Reps and back and forth, I had finally had enough and called Honda customer service in Cailfornia. Turns out the stupid dealer didn't go through the proper chain of command to make a warranty claim. The story is a little longer than this, but to spare you the aggravation that I went through, I'll just tell you that I got a new motor when it was all said and done. If I wouldn't of asked them where they wanted to pick the thing up and refused to pay for it, I'm not sure how it would have went. I love the Quad and really would'nt trade it for anything but at the time I didn't want them to know it. The 400ex is a fine piece of equipment and I think they probably just got a bad batch of bearing from their vendor. Good Luck Dave W. from NJ