I have a 1996 Magnum 425 4x4 that will not deliver power to the front left wheel. The other three wheels do operate with full power going to them. My first thought is to disassemble the hub and inspect it for issues. Is there anything in particular I should be looking for that might be a common failure for this type of problem? Also, how does the 4x4 switch on the handle bars control the hubs? Do they actuate a solenoid that make the hubs lock?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

it's works with a sort of magnet, so it's electric... you shold make a test with a ohmsmeter to see if the electric wire that enter in your hub isn't broken inside the plastic shell.


just an idea

 

Have you checked the fluid?Put clean mobil 1 in it?

Did you check the wire,that was my problem.
Of course I dident find out until AFTER I opened the hub up and got a new coil.duh[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

The wire was pinched where it wraped around the strut
If thats not it ,follow the wires up to the harness and see if one came unpluged.(not likely but youll have to get in there anyway)

The switch gives juice to the coil(Magnet),that sucks the armature plate to the magnet which locks the cage(clutch )in
The armature plate should lock to the coil when you turn the switch on.
It is also normal to have 1 or 2 minor wear rings on the plate.
The spring around the roll cage should not be pinched.

 

Like 500 DUSE said check the wires first and change the fluid any type of tranmision oil will work(I use the polaris stuff)If you find nothing there pull it apart but make sure you set it out the way it goes.And dont be surprised if the total parts is in the $100s.When mine did this it had the whole hub messed up because the bearings scattered and took the CV joint and everything with it.Cost me around $550 to fix every thing.That was just parts.

 

I disassembled the front hub and could not find anything wrong. The oil was very clean, bearings look good, nothing stripped or broken (that I could tell). The only thing that I thought could be wrong was the strength of the coil. I checked it on an ohm meter and it measured the appropriate 24 ohms. Also, I found that it was getting 12 volts to the coil. It would magnetize, but did not seem to feel as strong as the other side (I had taken that side apart for comparison). So I decided to buy a new coil and that did not change anything. Also switched the armature plate from the otherside and that did not fix it. So, after all that I am back to square one.

Any other thoughts as to what could be happening?

Anybody have a good picture of mpeg of how that hub locks ?

 

did you check your data ( ohms and volt ) on the side that works fine... if they're different you'll now have to find why !!!

 

sorry i've just got that line '' measured the appropriate 24 ohms ''


so is everything's moving freely in that hub ?

i don't know what to tell you my friend... did you talked with your dealer ?



sorry i can't help anymore

 

Have not talked to the dealer yet, but I would rather not since I don't have much faith in them.

I have seen in other posts about adjusting the strut sleeve so that the distance between the armature plate and the coil is a certain amount, but I don't know how all that plays out.

I think I could figure out what is wrong if I understood how these hubs work. I see that the coil turns into a magnet when voltage is applied. This in turn looks like it makes the armature plate stick to it. From there, I do not see how the hub locks to the driveshaft and wheel. Obviously the cams and the splines on the shaft play into it, but I don't see how the locking acutally occurs from just the magnet grabbing the armature plate.

Is this magnet supposed to be super strong, or just so-so... like enough to feel a slight pull on a screw driver?

 

AWD overview
With the AWD activated the bike operates in 2 WD untill rear tires lose traction.
When the rear wheels lose tracion the front wheels rotational speed will decrease,causeing the front drive axle speed to exceed front wheel speed. Restricting the rotation of the drive clutch roller cage,whitch will cause the rollers to climb the ramps of the cam,and become squeezed between the ramps and the ring in the hub
When the hub clutch assembly,wheel hub,and drive axle are engaged, the front wheeles will drive and stay engaged until rear wheel traction is regained ,the front wheele will over ride thehub clutch,pushing the clutch rollers towards the lower part of the cam,disingaging the clutch.

Another important step is the torque of the spindle nut.
I dont have a book for the magnum so I used the SP book,
and it worked fine

1. Torque spindle nut 160-170 in lbs. while rotating hub continuosly
2. Back off nut 1/2 turn.
3. rotate axle several revoiutions by raising rear of machine and
rotating wheels with machine in gear.
4. Re-torque hub to 108-144 in lbs

And also
The tabs on the armature MUST remain engaged with the slots in the cage.
After the hub is installed Any outward movement with the hub
can cause the arm plate to disingage


(typed at a blazing speed of 8 words per minute[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img])

 

500Duse - thanks so much for that reply. That totally makes sense now. Let me see if I can apply some of that new info and get that wheel to finally lock up.

Thanks again