Hi, my '00 Scrambler 4x4 is making a repeating noise while accelerating and also if it's pulled along while the engine's shut off and trans is in neutral-I found this out when I ran it out of gas and a buddy had to pull me along to get it refilled, lol. When it makes this repeating noise it feels like it's binding up somewhere in the drivetrain. I don't notice it when it's decelerating or lightly accelerating. Seems to make this noise more so after riding it for a while and it gets a bit louder & louder if I keep riding it. I've adjusted the rear chain several times to see if it quiets down, no change. Also the rear arm bushings seem tight, no side to side movement I can detect. Like I said it's a repeating noise that seems to repeat very regularly and causes the machine to "bind up". I want to say it's the kind of noise that can be related to a chain, but I'm not sure. Any ideas?

 

do you have stock size tires? can you narrow down the area it's coming from? did it start at once or has it always done it?
maybe you've got a hub that's locking in when it's not supposed to. If it's been a while since you changed the hub fluid then change it out it can cause a hub to lock up. this probably isn't the problem but it is a good idea to keep fresh hub fluid in there. use the polaris brand or mobil1 synthetic ATF, nothing else. Remember your going to get some drive line noise even in nuetral since the entire drive line is still moving it's just not connected to the engine through the tranny. Make sure to check all your U-joints for excessie movement. there's one on each front shaft and 2 on your prop shaft. Check those cv-joins also, they usually click when you turn if they are bad but if you can get any up and down or side to side play in your cv-joint or u-joint they need replaced. I'm not sure this would be causing the noise either but these are things you need check. It's five years old now and is subjuct to wear. on a similar note I had to be towed yesterday and heard plenty of driveline noise which was normal.

 

Thanks for the info. Yeah I've changed all the fluids this year, including the hubs, all Polaris oils and also greased all the zerks in the driveline/suspension. The CVs seem quiet, no pulling to the left or right or anything.
Well I found out that the max 20 pin chain stretch measurement should be no more than 12 7/8", mine measured 13 1/8", so I'd say the chain is way gone. I'm gonna replace the chain and the front & rear sprockets and see what happens...anyone have any experience with replacing the sprockets? Does the front one come off easy once the clip is removed? The rear one looks like a pain...