I took a chance and bought a 97 wolverine for $200. Here is what I know is broken. Front driveshaft is gone, broken off. Front Brakes disconnected and doubtful to work even if they were. Carb Intake boot is cracked and has air leak.

So it will crank just will not stay running. The cracked boot seems to be the issue there and I am working on temporarily plugging that just to see if it will stay running long enough to actually test the running gear.

Quick question on this quad. It appears to be full time 4 wheel drive as I see no way of selecting just 2 wheel drive on it. Is this correct and will the rear drive work if the front drive shaft has been removed? Just need to know if I get it running and want to test some stuff without breaking something else.

Help me bring this thing back from the dead and make a runner out of it.

 

WOW, congrats, you're gonna have a good quad for pennies on the dollar! the cracked boot will be cheap to replace. better than electrical tape wrapped around it, i've seen that before. yeah, the vagabond/excess air can hurt the operation of the quad, but if i were you, i'd still pull the carb and clean it and the jets.
sorry i don't know about the 2wd/4wd, i've never messed with a wolverine. but i'm sure someone will chime right in to help you on that. from what i've seen across the internet, the driveshafts go for $120-150.

 

Update. Black electrical tape was exactly what I used to test that motor with the broken carb intake. After the patch motor fired and purred like a kitten. No smoke and throttle response was good. Still need to know about the 4WD running gear. I put it in gear while running and the missing front drive axle spun. You can feel it trying to engage the rear axle. I did not rev the motor and try to get it going since I don't know if that is going to cause damage or not. At least I know the gear case is shifting and hopefully not damaged.

Another question on the this quad. I see Reverse gear on the shifter and on a switch on the console. What is the trick to engage Reverse I tried to shift into it on the shifter, but nothing engaged? I suppose there is a sequence involving the console switch and the shifter. Hopefully that is not broken. Anyway waiting on a expert that knows about the missing drive shaft and running the quad without it.

 

It will work just fine without the front drive shaft,you will actually have more power to the back wheels and it will corner more like a sport quad, sliding the rear tires around in a powerslide. I have a Warn 424 front driveshaft disconnect, it is a cable operated coupler that you can use to engage and disengage the front end for better handling and sporty driving. Just keep the plastic cover in place so no fingers or anything get caught in the yoke that is spinning. For parts, i find eBay is great, lots of used and almost new parts, you should be able to find all the parts you need there, I know i do !! Shouldnt be too hard to get the front brakes working, are the lines torn off, or just disconnected? if the calipers have been exposed to the air for too long, I'm sure moisture has gotten in and rusted them all up, be better off replacing them, I have seen the entire front brake assembly, calipers, lines and master on eBay. Good luck, you got a good project at a killer price.
For reverse, you have to be in neutral or first gear, then turn the **** on the dash clockwise, then push down on the shifter until the red reverse light comes on, to come out of reverse, just click the shifter up, and it will go into neutral, or sometimes first if you really jam on it. A very simple set up, about the only thing to go wrong is the cable breaking or needing adjustment, it is threaded down by the engine case for taking out the slack. A manual would be a good investment, I got a manual on CD off eBay for 5 bucks !! print out the pages you need, no big bood to lug around.

 

I am far from an expert but have a small bit of knowledge about the bike of which you are speaking (I have a 95 wolvy 350). It is full time 4 wheel drive...if the front drive shaft is broken, it should still operate and move just from rear wheel drive. The quad should be a five speed...to get to reverse you need to be in nuetral...then turn the **** on console clockwise and downshift into reverse. That **** runs a cable that ends on the right side of the motor as you are sitting in the quad...about right beside your right leg...if the **** is not moving this lever, you can move it by hand! Just based upon how my rear brake works, you will want to get the front brakes working! Keep posting back with questions!!!
Mudslinger2

 

Thanks guys. I'm gonna unload it and test this evening. I figured you could run it without the front drive shaft. Just did not know if it might lead to failure down the line. I am on the lookout for a front drive shaft if anyone knows where one is, and also that carb intake boot.

 

Like I said in my previous post, eBay is the spot for good used parts, at a decent price, go check it out, I bet you can find parts to fix your entire quad.

 

Bad News. The shutter I thought was the rear drive engaging was just that, but it never engages just shutters more when you rev the engine. It appears some rear drive components have failed. You can hear some stuff rumbling around back there when in gear. Rear diff most likely or maybe the rear drive shaft or maybe both.

I can see the front drive shaft stub spinning when I put it in gear. It spins faster as I rev the motor so I assume the auto clutch is working correctly because of this. I was worried when that front drive stub was spinning at idle in gear. I assumed it would not if the rear drive was also engaged. Guess I need to hunt down service manual at start troubleshooting what parts are broken.

Dang it. Thought I picked up a sweet deal.

 

OK I downloaded service manual off ebay. I Definitely have a rear drive issue. I guess I need to get the rear end disassembled and see what parts are broken. My manual is not very detailed on what all has to come off to get the rear drive gear off. It's pretty detailed on what to do after you get it off and start breaking it down.

Anyone out there have the short step by step on pulling rear drive axel and gearbox from this quad and maybe know all the tricks.

 

I did a few searches on this site and a few others regarding the rear end probs with the early wolverine's. No wonder those parts are pricey and scarce on ebay. It appears yamaha under built those driveshafts and pinion gears in those early models and most have failed by now.
A good indication of this is you can find pretty much any other part for one of these qauds online dirt cheap except the rear end stuff. I guess everyone decided to part them out when the rear end failed instead of fixing them. I might join them. Pretty hard to justify a used ebay $250-$300 rear axle, $200 pinion gear, new $150 bearing set on my $200 acquisition.