I havent seen any complaints on the forum, will brakes improve after breakin? A.C. says to burnish. Only 7 miles so far ( weather). Info & suggestions please & thank you.

 

My 400 stops on a dime even when it was new. My 500 is going to the dealer soon because it feels very spongy. My master cylinder is a clear/white one that I've never seen befor on an artic cat. usually they are black with a little sight glass. I think that's the problem. Not enough volume.

 

The white one was the OLD design. I was surprised to still see that in your video/pictures.

You need to burnish you brakes. What you do is explained in the owners manual. All you have to do is HEAT them up very good, then let them cool totally. Do this about 10 times. What I would do is ride in 3rd gear with the brakes slightly pulled for about 50 ft then try to dunk them in water. Then do it again.

 

I burnished them like crazy. The problem is that I have to pump the lever to get them to grap. If I leave the brake lever locked during transport it soften up and releases. Very strange. I don't have any leaks so the dealer said he would bleed them for me and try that first. I would prefer the new design on my 2001 quad! I'll talk to him again. Thanks for the good info.

 

If I remember right, the owners manual recommends driving at something like 30 mph, then stopping hard, and repeating the process for something like 20-30 times. It was really exhausting (boring), but after doing so, my breaks work awesome. If you're not careful and are forced to break hard from speed, they will grab hard enough to lift the rear end off the ground! Also, for maximum stopping power, use the hand break at the same time as the foot break.

I have the old style clear/white master cylinder on my '00 'Cat, and don't see any problems with it at all. I do like the new '01 design better though, as it is black, and steel. My Dad's machine has been rolled several times, and the only thing to happen was the handle bars bent down to the gas tank, and the speedo cover broke off. The master cylinder is still in great shape, can't even tell it as rolled, except for the speedo cover.

Best of luck,

Mike

 

i have a small problem with my brakes. my hand lever will not fully rebound and, thus, causes my brakes to squeak. when i manually return it to its unengaged position the squeak stops. could it be dirt in the caliper causing the problem or maybe the master cylinder?

texascat

 

Has to be the master, caliper would not be affected

 

Remove brake lever from M.C. Check that brake light switch plunger is operating freely, spray plunger with WD40. Clean brake lever, Check top & bottom as well as pivot hole for burrs, lube lever (I prefer heavy oil as grease tends to dry out) reassemble & check for free movement. I hope this will cure your problem. If not trouble may be in M.C. piston or O-rings. Good luck

 

Good to hear from you again texascat. Mine was doing the same thing along with the other stuff I explained earlier. My girlfriend took it to the dealer yesterday and they rode it. Everything seemed fine untill he noticed the same thing you just mentioned along with the brakes getting spongy with use. They replaced the master cylinder and the lever/locking clip with a different lever and a new white master cylinder. The white master cylinder is actually an aftermarket peice made by Willwood Brakes the dealer said. I know they make brakes for race cars and stuff like that. They work much better now. The dealer also said not to fill up the master cylinder all the way but to only about half way just above the minimum mark. I don't know but it works. Dealer fixed it in about 40 minutes she said while she played on some of their tractors for sale! Thanks for all the good info guys. Mark another one up for the pride.

 

Wilwood is not the aftermarket brake company they are the brake company, mid year 2000 AC went away from Wilwood (who makes all their snowmobile brakes) to another company those being the die casted metal master cylinders and other components. So being you have a mid 2000 or older you actually have the better brake system. At the same time they also changed the rear axle going from a Suzuki to a AC brand rear end.