Finally got a chance to work on my 250 Trail Boss. The starter felt weird, it would kick in, but immediately go into a free spin. OK, time to change it.

As we all know, the starter has two bolt in the front and two bolts in the back (attached to a bracket which is attached to the cylinder). Previous genius, decided that the bracket was not needed - it he did not reinstall it - completely missing! My starter was held in place by only front two bolt. I mean, I worked for a while, but image the torque... OK that got fixed.

Meanwhile, looking at the primary clutch, the "X"s which indicate proper location of the clutch parts do not line up. However, there is a paint mark that does line up. I would guess that someone took the primary clutch apart and reassembled it incorrectly. Then the next time someone took it apart, they marked alignment with a paint mark. Should I keep the 'X's misaligned or should I realign them?

Now, the reverse does not work. It actually did work a couple of times, but that's about it. Selector works, Drive is fine, Neutral is OK, just the reverse. Linkage seems tight and correct. Tried it with pliers, still no reverse. If it's the shift dogs or the shift fork - how hard is it to check/correct the snap ring? Any instructions?

Thanks for help / suggestions,

Vlad

 

Just to verify, are you talking about a 2003 325 Trail Boss, or a 1999 or earlier 250 Trail Boss.

 

Sorry, I believe it's a 2003 Trail Blazer 250 .... 2WD, 2 cycle, 1 forward gear (no Low/High split)

checked on line, and it looks like it's not hard to pull the tranny to check for wear, check silent chain, check shift fork, ... plan to do that over the weekend.

If I need to get parts, any suggestions where?

Vlad

 

Think mine was a bent shift for on that exact same year/model.

OPT will probably give a better detailed answer to this. And he's the one that worked on mine.

 

Reverse is gear to gear. Either sllde gear dogs are worn not allowing engagement,shift fork damage or circlip may have jumped the shaft.U can tell when you split the case.You have to go by the marks on the clutch the po made if there aren't two X marks to align. From the 2003 manual."Using a permanent marker, mark the cover,
spider, moveable and stationary sheaves, and
steel post to the stationary sheave for reference.
The X’s may not have been in alignment before
disassembly.

 

Lifted rear wheel off the ground. Put the ATX (via pliers) into forward gear - spun the secondary clutch - perfect - wheel spin as they should.

Moved the selector to RESERVE - spun the secondary clutch - nothing...

Tranny is coming out tomorrow (or tonight). What do people think of spot welding the shifter fork to the grove? If that a good modification?

 

Wouln't spot weld anything as long as there are parts still available which in the case of the 2003 Trail Blazer most of the gear case parts are still available if needed.

 

Took the tranny apart. The dogs look perfect, the fork look good. The chain was very loose. The bearings look fine, spin freely and don't make noise. The seal also looks good, and there was no leakage prior to taking it apart. So, should I replace the bearings and the seal as well, since it's already all taken apart?

 

Gotta be some reason for it not to engage in reverse as it's a simple gear to gear lock up with the sliding dog gear. I'd check the inner slots of the reverse gear also along with making sure the dog gear lugs aren't ground down at an angle. Always replace the silent chain no matter what along with the seals. Bearings if rough feeling,replace them.Better than having to tear back into a gear case.

 

ordered the silent chain, the seals, the bearings - should be here by the end of the week.

I'm not mechanically inclined (i.e. software engineer), but after redoing the piston and re-boring the cylinder, after removing all of the gears (primary and secondary clutch, flywheel), after taking apart the tranny, after rebuilding the carb, and after redoing the fuel delivery system, I feel that I'm only afraid of a differential .... wait ... I have a solid axle ...