WHAT AN EXPLORER!!!!!!!

i just though of this now, it's easier to jack a chain driven quad way up, because the chain angle doesn't matter (unlike a drive shaft), but i see it still needed different (longer) A-ARMS, tie rods, chain tensioner....but i bet it will mud with the best of 'em?

 

TrailHog,
After reading your input in the thread about how to disable the engine braking and re-reading your posts here, I'm pretty convinced that the KEBC (hopefully just the fuse or contacts) is the problem. I just remembered that I didn't hear any of the normal whirring noises that come from the engine braking actuator when I turned the quad off after not being able to get it into 4WD. I wish I could get to the machine to have a look, but I guess it'll have to wait.

 

The machine goes into 4WD upon activation of the switch. However, there is a delay for the instrument panel to register the change. What causes this delay is a question. However, be assured that you are in 4WD.

 

Dickieboy, when you flip that 4wd switch and it still reads 2wd you just think it's 4wd, it's kinda in but not far enough in to read 4wd yet, if you're not in a strain it feels like the 4wd is in ok even though it reads 2wd, you put it in a strain and the front diff will snap, crackle and pop until it engages fully enough for it to trip the 4wd sensor going to the instrument cluster. You will get into one of those mud holes and get stuck and flip the switch, now you can't move far enough for the 4wd to light up, you move forward and think hey it is in, then BANG POP CLUNK JERK, opps what happened?? Then let off the gas and think about it, then presto you have the 4wd signal in front of you, taking off slowwly because you don't want to hear all those sounds again, then it starts moving, no popping, you take a deep breath and think, Ahhhh, it just wasn't locked into 4wd yet.

 

TrailHog: I haven't had the experience yet of getting stuck in a mud hole and then engaging the 4WD and hearing the noises you described. My machine is still very new and I've always engaged the 4WD before hitting the mud pits. The Kawasaki dealer told me that the 4WD engages upon activation of the switch, but I have no personal experience to test his claim. Thanks for your post.

 

Once you flip the switch to 4wd, it does not go directly in........unless you're moving. The speed sensor has to register that the bike is indeed moving before it will try to engage the front end. To test this, turn your engine off, put the bike in neutral, make sure the key is on. Flip the switch to 4wd. Notice that nothing happens. Roll it forward or backward until it registers 1mph on the speedo, and you will hear the 4wd actuator put the bike in 4wd.

Waylan

 

Does Kawi really want motor oil in the front diff???

I haven't see the innards of one of these yet. but would imagine that there must be some internal "alignment" necessary before it engages.

Is thie actuator mechanical like a servo motor, or did they use the same style as the older Chev IFS trucks which heats a gas and expands?

 

You can see the mechanicals on the diagrams posted on Kawasaki's Vehicle Information Website. It uses a three posted shifter/coupler arrangement slid in and out of engagement by the servo assembly. The servo applies the sliding force but the parts must line up to engage fully. In a tough spot you can get it to engage by slowly spinning the rear wheels while the front are stopped.

 

In the service manual for the 650 there is a "timing/function diagram" for the 4WD actuation circuitry and the machine will not even attempt to operate the actuator until speed is registered on the speed sensor. A couple of people posted one mile per hour but if I remember it is 3mph. I could be wrong about the actual speed but not about needing to roll before it will engage.

 

I have the same problem with mine. I have found that if you are rolling along about 15kmh and put it in 4wd, it pops in no prob. Make sure you aren't gassin on it when you put it in 4wd. Occasionally, I have a problem with the engagement, but most of the time it works great. To the guy who posted about seeing filings in his front end oil, I think everybody gets those in there as they are coming off the clutches that lock up your front diff. Every time I have changed my oil, there have been specks in there.

Fourstrokefan, the whirring noises you are hearing are coming from the KEBC actuator, not the 4wd actuator. The noise is from the servo backing off the actuator for your engine braking.