please tell me my tranny's not shot

[takirb]

i've been hearing a weird noise lately while riding. it sounded kinda like metal slightly rubbing something, and making a high pitched "chirp". it would only do this sound in gear and under load. if i was in neutral, or had the clutch pulled in, it wouldn't make this sound when revving. so i'm out riding yesterday and the shifter's stuck in first. wouldn't shift up or down. so i limp it to a parking lot, the whole time it's making an awful grinding noise. i finally get it in neutral, and get the shifter to change through the gears, so i try to make it home. first gear would grind horrible when revved to at least midrange RPM's. the shifter was very hard to get to change gears. 2nd gear was an awful constant grind, so i had to get 1st gear revved enough to shift to 3rd and keep it bogged low so it wouldn't grind. i get home, and my chain is just LAYING on the swingarm. no broken links or anything, but there's at least 5-6 inches or so of freeplay.



i'm not sure if it's chain lube or what, but something has splattered all over the side of the rear wheel, on the back of my license plate, and the backside of the chain is alot more wet than the frontside. then i notice this hanging off my bike...



a friend told me this looked like a spring seal or something, but i wasn't sure if it would have anything to do with a sprocket or something from the driveline/tranny. what are the odds that my chain just popped off? does this sound like i killed my transmission or what? how difficult is it to get to the front sprocket? do i just remove the shifter lever and take off that plate? any help is appreciated!

[Mr. Clean]

Dude, that sounds bad. I would pull the sprocket cover and see if the chain is on the sprocket first. The fluid sounds like it is motor oil though. Drain the oil into some kind of butter tub or something you can get a good look at it, if there are big chunks of metal in it your tranny is toast. My best advice is to start looking for an entire new engine, 98+. If the tranny has gernaded on you there is a good chance that the oil carried parts up into the valve train and damaged the head and cams, not to mention possible scaring of the cylinder walls an pistons. If that has happened it will be a lot cheaper to replace the entire engine vs replacing EVERYTHING.

[takirb]

i'm gonna get that cover off and snap some pics, then drain the oil and see what's up, thanks for the advice man!

[Mr. Clean]

NP. If you find yourself looking for a new engine I happen to have a 2002 600 with 1700 miles on it.....

[ThAzKat]

Drain the oil and use a coffee filter and filter the oil and see what you find. I pray you don't have internal probs. That piece looks like part of the front gear to me. I could be wrong! Your front gear is about 2-3 in diameter so if it is completely gone it could cause a 5-6 inch slack in the chain. Good luck bro and post some more pics when you get the covers of.

[Range]

well... the good news is that you are close to Special K...because you just "lunched" your tranny

Sorry...but with everyone on here, you'll get it going again soon

[takirb]

well, got the cover off and the oil drained. here's how everything looks....

the chain's still on the sprocket....


the chain's still slack (note my foot showing the slack)...


i was looking at this "guck" for any metal shavings...


here's a close-up, i think i see a few in there but maybe just small pieces of "guck" glistening in the light...


this is a comparison of the seal i found, and the front sprocket. they're an exact match, down to the circular rivet things...



i didn't use a filter to drain the oil through 'cause i was having a hard enough time finding something to fit under the drain plug. my bike's been lowered, and i don't have a jack handy at the moment. not to mention the bike's stuck in gear and i couldn't roll it up a small ramp if i tried. i should've thought about that before i removed the shift pedal lol. anywho, i used a rubber-maid trashcan top slipped into a garbage bag. just enough depth to hold all the oil, and small enough to slip under a lowered bike i watched the oil drain, and didn't see any metal or anything out of the ordinary. i'm still going to strain it when i pour it into the oil container to make sure. when the bike was running, not under load, it sounded fine. even redlined fine in neutral. but as soon as it was in gear something was sounding awful. is transmission replacement the final verdict?

[Anonymous]

http://katriders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=64454#64454

[Mr. Clean]

I would say the tranny is toast with those symptoms. It's easier and cheaper to replace the whole unit vs repairing. That's just my $.02

[Range]

the guck is "throw-off" from the chain lube.

The slack concerns me...is there any side to side play on the sprocket? Looks terminal

[takirb]

what else can i use to strain the oil? a coffee filter is taking to long for the oil to seep through. when i drained the oil from the trashcan top, there were small metal shavings left in the residue on the bag. i went over the bag with a magnet, and it picked up tiny shavings. i poured the oil from the top into the old oil jug that i bought the oil in, so now i just need to strain it when i pour it out...

i didn't notice any side to side play, everything seemed pretty stuck in place other than the slacked chain. i put the cover back on and tightened it so i could hold the clutch in and get the bike to roll. now it's in the corner of the shed awaiting a diagnosis. my bike era was short lived

[ThAzKat]

Start with the clutch!!!! we will go from there, I am thinking it is a clutch prob.

[takirb]

here's the small shavings...

[ThAzKat]

Take the clutch out, you should find the plates are wornout

[SweetLou]

If you can't get the bike to roll, pull the chain off so you can at least roll the bike where you need it.

If it is the tranny, I have a engine sitting around. Special K was going to buy it from me, but if he is willing to live without it, then you can have it for the same price. Talk with Special K though, because he has dibs on it.

Oh yeah, the engine is a 99 750, and it is just about complete. The carbs need a rebuild, and it will need a altenator. It has the header, and I also have the stock can if needed. No Oil cooler though.

Like I said, its Special K's engine, so you would have to check with him if you really needed it.