I am going to look at a 2005 LTZ 400 that guy says the motor locked while riding for like 5 minutes. He says it locked up while in first gear. He claims after it locked he realized it had no oil.
Question is...when I go look at it is there a way to quickly diagnose the problem? Like somehow determine if we are dealing with a piston/ring that just seized and a relatively easy fix. Or much larger problems with more extensive top end or bottom end work. Any input about what to do while checking it out is much appreciated.
Thanks

 

Assuming it is air cooled (I never work on 400LTZs) it will probably have seized on the gudgeon pin (wrist pin) and/or piston in bore. Water cooled engines often seize on the cam journals. No mater what, the head is going to have to come off, so do it and find out.

 

The LTZ 400 is a water-cooled engine. So it sounds like maybe cam journals. Or perhaps wrist pin.
Anything else you think would possibly need replacing or be broken due to that?
I know these are impossible questions to answer and "need to open it up" to find out is ultimately what needs to be done. But I am just wondering if there is any way of quickly doing something (like look in cylinder, pop a cover off real quick, try to turn something) to give more insight. That way I could haggle appropriately about a price in light of potential repair.
Thanks

 

No, taking the cam cover off will show you if the cam journals are seized but you are not too far from taking the head and cylinder off by the time you get to that. Once the cylinder is off you can check the gudgeon pin, piston etc. You can't tell until that moment if the bottom end needs to be split due to bits of piston having dropped in, or if the big end or mains have seized. Only way is to tell owner how much it will cost to strip it that far and that final cost depends on what you find, phone him once you know, with an estimate of how much it will then cost to put it right.

 

I kind of figured that would be the answer. Realistically no way of knowing until it is pulled apart.
Seller says another person is now ahead of me to look at it somehow, so I might not even get the chance. But this is good info either way.
Also found out that it was bored to a 440, so not sure if that makes a difference. Maybe it had a bad gasket or low-quality kit installed? I guess if I actually get the chance to go look then I can ask more questions.

Any opinions on a fair price for something like this? Plastics are good, tires look good, big gun exhaust, supposedly everything else works, and it has no extras like nerf bars etc. Guy is asking $1500. I'm thinking less than that because could be $200-$500 just in parts depending on what is broken inside. It is a 2005 LTZ 400.

 

So you were thinking of buying it. That is a different matter, buying price is normal selling price for that machine minus the cost of a total engine rebuild. No more, if you can do a rebuild yourself then it is the cost of the parts. If you find it doesn't need a total rebuild you are a winner, if it does need one, you have factored that in. Be realistic about parts prices. I rebuilt a 450 King quad engine, owner had seized the cam from lack of oil, cost of new head and cam, close on $1000. Luckily for the owner, I found a scrapper that had died of frame collapse and a minor engine fault, and used head and cam from that.

 

That is kind of what I was thinking...maybe pay $1k. I figure repair could cost anywhere from $200-$1200. So worst would be $2200. Not a massive bargain at that point....but if it is a $200 repair (plus my time) then would be very much worth it.