I took my p700 in for the same thing. The second time they tore it apart and said they found something wrong with the pinion gear. They are putting it back together today.I'll let you know.

 

Just talked to my dealer. He said bring it back up there and they would take another look. I told him I would go for them swapping a new rearend into it or tearing mine down and inspecting it, but I did not want them to disassemble the engine. He is geniunely concerned that I am satisfied. I drop a lot of cash in there and we live in a small town where word of mouth and rumors can make you or break you.

Also, I started the conversation by telling him I wanted a new machine just to get that thought in his head as one of my options. He told me that in all the years that he has been a Kawi dealer (over 25 years) that he has only seen once instance where Kawasaki gave someone a new machine over it being a "lemon". He did however say that if he called them up and used the word "lawsuit", it's amazing how fast it might get resolved.

Anyway, I will keep you guys posted on how this all works out.

 

Well, I have bad news for me:-( I took the bike up to the dealership yesterday and rode it a mile or so to get it warmed up and making the noise really obvious. They drained the fluid from the rear differential and it looked great. No metal particles at all. They drained the engine oil and it also looked great with no metal particles. They jacked up the rear of the machine and ran it in gear and it was making the horrible noise. We tried it with and without some drag from the rear brake. It was worse under load and seemed to be coming from the back of the engine/driven pulley area. We removed the belt cover so we could see what was going on. Everything looked normal with the belt and pulleys. We ran it on the jack again with the cover off and the noise still seemd to be coming from the rear of the engine. We then determined that it doesn't do it in reverse, nuetral, or low range. This eliminates the rearend since it is perfectly normal in low range. It also seems to eliminate the belt/pulley system since it is perfectly quiet while spinning up in nuetral, though in nuetral it has no load on it.

Anyway, they think it is something in the transmission and want to pulll the engine and split the cases to see whats going on. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen to my machine with 40 miles on it. I called Kawasaki yesterday and told them I would like to have the machine replaced. I got nowhere with the little di#%head that I talked to. I am going to continue that battle today.

Anybody have any ideas on what this might be besides the transmission?

 

on the right side of the engine where the speed sensor is there is also a small ring gear you could check that as well

 

i'm sorry it is on the left side where you put the oil in ....

 

Well, I just left the dealership. I went up there to look at my engine....the left half and the right half. 40 miles on the bike and my engine is now completely disassembled. None of us can find ANYTHING wrong. No metal residue in the engine oil or the differential oil. Wear and contact area on the gears look normal. The mechanics and myself are both at a loss. Kawasaki said that it was just the backlash in the transmission, don't worry about it. I swear this thing sounds like it is eating itself from the inside when you first start to move. Only forward. Only in high range. It couldn't be something stupid like a slick spot on the belt or a pulley that would cause it to chatter really loud, could it? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Even if you have a suggestion that sounds crazy, I will take ANY help I can get. Thanks.

 

If its only in high range then it has to be something with the tranny. If it was the belt it would cause it in reverse and low range. I don't know whats inside the Praire so I can't give any help on that. If it looks good inside and the mechanic can't find anything wrong with it, then either exchange the quad or swap out another motor.

 

It would still be an idea to swap rear ends and see if it follows. Not many people have the ability to swap pieces and see what happens, although it is time consuming and probably expensive. I suspect the dealer is getting to the point where they aren't going to want to put much more work into it until something obvious happens.

Extended warranty would be a Very Good Idea at this point. Try some leverage to get the warranty at a reduced rate, since they can't resolve the problem.

Kawasaki is looking at it from the standpoint that if it destroys itself, it won't cost them anymore to fix it after than before. Which doesn't do your peace of mind any good when you want to take it for a weekend in the backcountry and wonder if it'll get you home.

If you can't find anything, ride it as much as you can while the warranty lasts, if it's something serious it'll destroy itself, hell of a way to troubleshoot something, I know.

 

If you look back around Jan 5 in this form I has a Post called something like, Prairie 700 owners must read defect?? I have about 700 miles on my Prairie700 when The left side aarm snapped off. I never hit anything the part simply failed. When I called Kawasaki corp. they didn't seen super helpful and also would NOT give me the phone number of the eastcoast sales manager for corporate, Because believe me YOU will need to get who ever you can involved. You'll need to get your areas Kawasaki Corporate Man involved! At first they give me SO many reasons why it wouldn't be covered then just covering it. I think calling the area rep was very beneficial and even those its taken almost two months now Kawasaki is covering the quad under warranty. I was told by the dealer where I took it that If I would have bought it from them, They would have taken care of me. but because the quad was bought out of state they had to leave it up to Kawasaki. I have a very good friend who works for the industry and he said a Good Dealer whos value's you as a customer? Can and Do give new quads! if they have a really bad problem and then just deal with corporate them self's for another unit. Something to think about if you give them a lot of Business?


www.MarylandATV.com

 

That's the way I look at it. We performed a trade. I gave them my $7,000. I expected them to give me a functional quad. While technically it does function, it is kind of embarrassing to have people come up to you every time you ride and ask "what the he#$ is wrong with that thing?". I really do wish they would replace it though I doubt that they do. If I had more free time and energy, I would fight them on this until I got a new one. But I don't. I work too much, play too hard, and have a 6 month old little girl on top of that. I just want the thing fixed at this point.

I guy at work told me I should get a chain and hook my Dodge pick-up behind the quad. Pull the truck until whatever is wrong with the quad hangs out the side of it, load it in the back of the truck, and take it back to them. Kinda humurous, but then again......

I love these 700's. In my opinion they are the best quad out there right now. I just happened to get one that evidently has an "undiagnosable" problem! You would think I wasn't livin' right!!!