sorry, i bought the 96 scrambler for $850. i was talking to some of you about. the guy said the top end needed rebuilt. so the first thing i did when i got home was pull the cylinder off. the piston is smooth except for two grooves maybe 1/16 of an inch deep and about 1 inch long. I was looking for it to be in pieces. i didnt find any metal shavings or pieces anywhere. would this be enough to keep it from running? sorry, if i ask stupid questions but this is my first time at working on one. thanks again and any additional help you could suggest would be greatly appreciated.

 

BUY YOU A SERVICE MANUAL BEFORE YOU GO TOO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

where, from the dealer??

 

Sounds like something is going to a machine shop for serious repairs, or you need new head and if it was me, a complete re-build. If there are grooves on the piston, then there are grooves in the cylinder head-metal to metal contact. Somewhere there are metal shavings inside this motor from metal to metal grinding-has to be. A 1/16" does not sound or seem like a lot, but it is! Think of it this way, 1/16" is .0625 thousands of an inch! That is alot! Therefore, the cylinder walls will need cleand up at least that much depending on what they look like, mybe not that much if you are lucky. However, now you are going to push some serious HP because of higher compression and so on.

It should run. Did you buy it w/out running? I wouldn't have. Why would you buy something, anything that did not run? Have you done compression check? Have you done a leak down? Did you at least take it to a dealer and have it checked out before buying it? If you don't know what you are doing, STOP! It will end up costing you more in the long run, especially if you are taking things apart and don't know what is going on. Mechanics love that. They just grin and add the $$$ when you tell them, "I've tried fixing it, but can't and I can't figure it out."

Not trying to be negative or bust your butt, just honest. I'm sorry to hear about your report. You are going to spend some $$$ now.

 

i was planning on spending some money to get it fixed. i am going to take it to the dealer. i just wanted to take the cylinder off to see what the piston looked like. i was expecting it to be in pieces. even if i have to get a complete rebuild it will still cost less than a new one, right?? it was only $850. so i was not expecting much.

 

You can get a service manual from your dealer. Are you planing on just replacing or upgrading? What are you looking for out of the motor? Sounds like the cylinder willl have to be bored. Go with a Wiesco piston while you are at it. It probably wouldn't hurt to replace the crankshaft bearings in the motor as well. You can check the crankshaft too at that time. The head MAY have to be replaced at that time too. But you mine as well get a billet head from HPD. You would want to check the reeds too. There are really good after market reeds available. The carb should probably be rebuilt or at least cleaned. But, like I said, if you want more power out of it, look into replacing the parts with high performance parts first. Remember, this machine is 7 years old. It wouldn't hurt to go over everything while you are in there

 

yeah, i would like to get more power out of it. i was thinking about buying a new 2003 trailblazer 400. but i know i would want to do some mods after about month. When i saw this for sale i figured it was perfect since i would be replacing alot of the parts anyway. thanks for your help.

 

Well, how much more power do you want? HPD has a trail mod kit good for around 60 hp. Or you can step it up to a race mod for around 72hp or a Powermaxx kit for around 80hp. I would check into these kits and give HPD a call before you start replacing parts. What kinda riding do you do. Cuz the Trail mod kit seems to be the best all-around kit out there, while still aloowing you to run on pump gas. So keep that in mind. Also, remember, this machine is almost 8 years old. Go over everything on it. You chains, (is it a 2wd or 4wd) sprockets, bearings, swing arm bushings, motor mounts, clutch condition, ball joints, and so on. These are common wear and tear parts. While the previous owner may have replaced some of them, others may need replacing

 

Good advice Big Bad Scrambler. Remember there are metal shavings in this motor whether you see them or not. There has to be from metal to metal contact. Those shavings have to be removed or else another tear down!