With all of the recent questions about water seeping into the front and rear Diffs. on the Suzuki LT 500's, I decided to check mine.
I have done some riding through rivers, ponds, almost drowned the machine when I broke through the ice, so, I thought this would be the most opportune time to have a look.
In the owners manual, they recommend using a lighter weight oil ( 80W instead of 90W ) in the winter, so I bought a litre of Bel-Ray 80W-90 gear oil.
Draining and changing the rear diff. is a breeze, 18mm socket for the fill plug, and a 21mm for the drain.
The front is a different story, draining was simple, but getting the fill plug out, required a 5/16 hex wrench. ( a long one, if you don't take the skid plate off ) Filling it was a huge pain in the @$$. I had to use a 1 1/2 foot piece of tubing to shove into the hole, and then pour the fluid into the other end. Big mess, oil everywhere, pour a little, check if theres enough, pour a little more check again. Wow, it sucked.
Next time, in the spring, I'll buy one of those Siphon/Pump Kits for automotive applications, and use that.
Anyway, after all of that, I will inform everyone, that there was'nt one drop of moisture in either if the cases.

[This message has been edited by r34 (edited 01-20-2000).]

 

Watch your axles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the price on what it would be to tear down the axles and change the seals in the front and rear of my Arctic Cat 500, which has basically the same axles. It would cost 800 bucks total, Thats with the $55.00 per hour for the mechanic.

P.S: They did a presure test on the axles and they hold pressure he says. Yet they let water in. How does that work? I think it might me the O-ring in the oil fill cap.

 

r34, I seen your pictures of your quad "trying to swim". Did you know how deep the water was when you went through? or just hopeing it wasnt deep! I hope I dont give my Suzuki 500 a swimming lesson like that!

 

Mark... It was my own fault, I should have been looking ahead. The creek was fed by an under ground spring, so, it does'nt matter how cold it is outside, the water is warmer coming out of the earth and therefore the ice cannot become as thick as it is further down stream.