How to buy a used snowmobile, arm yourself with these simple rules for buying a used sled and you won't get ripped off - or at the least you will be informed!
Amazing video! I Learned lots Louie - even for older 2-smoke sleds the same mechanical principals apply. Really appreciated this vid brother. Cheers...oh, and let it friggin' snow! LOL
haha same, think I just got talked out of it. Reminds me of dealing with dealership if it is not brand new it needs to be replaced, but then he is like it is good sled. I'm like but you made it sound like needs 4k in work.
Just go look at the cost a new decent sled and you won't have to worry about the issues her points out in the video. You will walk away because of the COST of the new sled and won't want to take the chance on a used one. Have a friend in upstate NY who spent 14 GRAND on a sled 3 years ago and has hardly been able to use it due to the lack of snow. Get a jet ski or small used boat, there is always water :)
I definitely like all the videos you put out and appreciate all the hard work you guys do. That being said a lot of what you point out to be wrong with the machine can just be wear and tear from age and usage. It’s why a used machine is $2500. If everything was in perfect condition then it would be much more expensive. I don’t mean to criticize because I know the intent of the video, I’m just saying in that price point these are the things your going to find. And not a deduction in actual value. Keep up the good work guys
My son and I bought two 2006 Ski Doo gsx 500 ss's the past few months. Mine 4800 miles, my son's 1600. This was a super helpful video. Owner of my sled was firm on price, then I noticed the runners were completely gone and battery was low. Took $200 off because the runners were non existent. I wouldn't have known to ask. My son's sled was original owner with only 1600 miles, the carb boots were torn. I got him $300 off the price for that one. Both are in super condition, but I still put $500 into mine just for things I wanted, new belts, bearings, tunnel bag, oil case change, adds up. This video was spot on.
Man I love the intro video it’s great‼️😆 Hello Loui I’m Fred… my wife and I live in Florida and visited Alaska in March of ‘23 … we loved it so much that we plan to move there hopefully by end of this year ‘24? We went on a Snowmobile tour and had a blast! so I’ve been looking at sleds ever since… I’m 61 and a former Small Engine Mechanic however it’s obvious that I have never worked on sleds and have a ton to learn. Your video is a very helpful buying and maintenance guide that I will rewatch again many times. Thank you for your time in making this video. Frederick Tanner 👍😎👍
Thanks a lot guys, this was super helpful. Some notes for other people: How to pick between brand and models $2.4-4k Ski-doo 2004 800 MXC rev (plain) You’re likely going to spend $1.2-1.4k on repairs and upgraders Skis and carbites, might be flat and need new ones that have an edge. $100ea. Need 2 Ski rubbers on skis: $20 ea. Movement in the ski could be caused by loose rod ends. Lower and upper rodes Shocks: is they’re original they’re likely shot. Are they springy? If they don’t rebound fast they’re old and need to be replaced. None: bracket mounted to the shock, impact can bend it, will effect belts, can blow them. If you can’t get your finger in the tie rod and shock then the non is belt, space should be the same space. Panels on top should have the same fit, if not then bent you have a belt nun. Tie rod boot, rubber boot that keeps snow and moisture out. Exhaust: check if it’s belt from an impact. Motor: is it clean? Belt, is it broken, does it have an extra? $400ea. Maybe $200 after market. Don’t have them warm it up, you want to do it to see if the ignition has any issues. Clutch, is it clean, does it wobble? Motor mounts, is there play? Does it feel secure, are any cracked? Reed boots and reeds - connections on the engine block. Flat metal on bottom, is it bent? Could be caused by impact from rocks underneath Track rollers / idlers, are they loose, do the wheels wobble, then they’re loose or broken bearings. Back shock, how are the mounts, if it’s loose then the mounts might be broken. Track: $600-1.6k - does it have cracks, tears, holes? Seat condition: $160 for cover Sliders, rails that the belt slides on, wears a lot, if you’re taking the suspension out they should be replaced. Coolant levels, if theres black in there could be mixed with other liquids. Chain case: if it’s never been replaced, they’ll need to be. Battery, is it good, $110 replacement battery. Brakes, is there good pressure. Do the cables need to be replaced? Compression for the engine can be found online, 135-145 pressure. Get a compression tester, maybe there’s 2 and they should be equal. Pull the start rope, even if it’s electric, the rope should be inside. Only buy from the owner. Get a picture of them with their license. Miles, how many and how many can is life for? Some need pistons need to replaced after 2.5miles
Thanks for the information. I'm a vintage guy with older snowmobiles, pre 2004 sleds. I'm starting to like the way the older sleds were designed - simple designs and low budget DIY sleds. But, eventually I'm going to have to buy the newer sleds, and it seems scary to think of the kind of money and time required to fix up the newer sleds. The best bet is to avoid the trashed out sleds with the hidden issues. I agree, wait for the good deals and check the sleds out good first - all great suggestions!
Yeah, well the -91 doo sled i bought for 50€ had 8K km and well known history. Old, little driven, but maintenance was lacking as well, but nothing expensive so it probably will last what i'm driving it on my life time. Its sad that quality had dropped so much over the couple decades. Then again making your own simple sled is made pretty easy these days if you are not going anywhere that tough. Trashed out sled is not big issue, long as the price is right.
Love your video's man, my dad taught me alot about buying machines and i think you're spot on VERY informative. And if you've ever bought a lemon, i think you'd agree! 😁
I just buy them cheap and ride them. I'm not looking for perfection. I warm them up before i ride them and i don't ride the shit out of them all the time. I just want to have some fun in this great Canadian winter wonderland!
Warming them up is so important,people will warm their cars for 20min.,but start their sled and jump right on it at -20 and wonder why it blows to pieces.
Couldn’t say it better myself this is how I feel about sleds. I don’t get out often so I don’t need a crazy sled just something to rip on for winter. I enjoy my quad and sxs a lot more
Wow thank you so much for putting this on here I’ve learned a lot just in half of the video. I’m 30 years old but I’ve only had two sleds in my life grew up riding but never had the money to really get one I have no idea really had to work on one I’m familiar with cars so I’m sure I could do it once I got going but I just don’t know a lot very informational
I'm about to buy an 04 rmk 800 for 900 bucks - it has been sitting in a trailer for years, under 1000 miles. Awesome "barn find" if you will. This video was very helpful. Thanks!
Thank you for putting this video together. I started riding last year and bought 2 sleds already. This video educated me on what to look for in the future. Happy riding!
You should look at the tool kit as well make sure everything is there. I also take a look inside the air box to see if there is anything laying in the bottom.
thank you! you just reminded me of the HEADACHES of having a sled! LOL! I sold mine YEARS ago and almost pulled the trigger on one lol thanks again I will stick to snowboarding skiing and my ATV..
Looking at a damaged sled. Don't know if I want to dig into a total rebuild but If compression is good and nun is not needing replacement you have inspired me to have at it.
I recently got a 96 550 arctic cat cougar mountain cat, picked it up for 700$ but I spent over 700$ into in trying to get it ready for the season. Love your content Loui! Keep it up
You think that's bad? I bought a 1995 Vmax 600 DX, running and riding for $400 in the summer. I took it to our friendly backyard mechanic and he just kept finding stupid little details to fix and I just said do what you have to... $400 in the rear skid bushings alone, $350 track, new strut tower canisters at $160. Long story short I had about $2200 invested in a sled that I bought for $400. It was mint but it was just an old Vmax. I learned my lesson on not fixing every little detail.
Bought that same sled 2003 model two years ago.learned some things .went over mine as u did video.all good except the nun issue. 1/4 inch difference in the doors .and A frame to spring 1/16 to almost 1/8 difference. Dosent have the rear delete.wish did.could cary extra gas. Its got 3200 mi on it. Runs good. Thanks for the info.
Just bought a 03 mxz rev 600 with a new rebuilt engine from a doo dealer in the kawartha area all the paperwork to back it 12,000km on the body but watching this really helped me with everything else I think this video helped me get a good clean sled for its age almost 18 years later im just leary ive heard odometer issues with these sleds
I just traded my mini bike for a 1998 articat panther snowmobile with an upgraded motor from a 550 to a 580 it's my first snowmobile. And now I watched this video and I could've checked it all but I had to go to work that morning so I just did the trade and he said I have to pour gas down the spark plug hole I did that it will run for 15 seconds and I Rev it up and a few seconds later it shuts down even at half throttle the sled didn't want to move I got it to move 20 feet 1 time what could be the reason it doesn't want to run or move?
I watched an episode on belts, the only reason they put the arrow on the belt is so that if you remove it, and go to place it back on it is so you know which way to put it back on. A drive belt is equal either direction per the belt company.
Nice vid good tips. Nicks on main body of Float do not cause air leaks though. Air seal is on shaft bearing cap inside. Outer seal on airsleeve is mostly a scraper and Moisture seal.
thats why I like the really old machines (late 60's to mid 70's), simple, fairly robust and easy to fix. No, they won't jump a 30' canyon, but they'll get you to where you want to go and back. Carry a spare belt or 2, a screwdriver, and a carb kit. :)
Good thing i came across this video, i almost both a 2003 zrt 600 for $800,i couldn't test it because the track got stuck in the track, i tought ok no big deal for the price cause he was strap for cash but after viewing this im like hum.. yea i would of bean way over my head in repair. You saved me having a big headache with that sled because im trying to get my first sled, i had no clue they require lots of maintenance :( i will keep looking at your vids for guidance.
Super helpful! I wanna buy another snowmobile to take my buddy out on the weekends and I was gonna buy the cheapest arctic f6/f7 i could but i think im gonna spend a few extra thousand and get a newer solid sled than one thats been jumping for the past 15 years for only 1800 bucks lol
Bought a sled once that did a lot of trail riding had a grooved spot on both the primary and secondary cluch from just maintaining a single speed for so long always hesitated every time the belt passed it
Money pits. I am so glad I got out of snowmobiles a few years ago. I wrenched on them as a hobby and had my own shop. I made plenty of money fixing snowmobiles. I had Cancer and the surgery to remove it ruined me from ever riding again. I am glad now I am out of them. Prices have gotten just plain stupid on them. I am now into RC planes and other RC stuff. I still do small engine repair, but mainly lawn equipment. Snowmobiles were always a money pit but I learned to fix them and turn a dime doing it. I restored many vintage sleds, saving them from the scrapper. I would still be doing it I guess. Good video. I never paid dealer price for any of my sleds or parts. I visited sled bone yards and got after market parts. I told everyone snowmobiles have A lot of high wear items, thats normal. Skags, slides, tracks, idlers , belts, it all adds up eventually. Plan on spending the first season replacing stuff on a used sled. Compression is the MOST IMPORTANT indicator of engine condition. I carriedcmy compression testor with me wherever I went. I could test them on the trail and tell a guy if his engine was gone. Spark plugs are the number one way to tell how a sled runs. If it has new plugs, dont trust it.
@@Rumblefan Time? Yes. Then again time can be invested into anything. If your hobby is fixing broken lawn mowers and reselling them( its what I do) Then you can say the time was well spent and when you sell the lawn mower, it can earn you money. How much time you spent on a hobby shouldn't really count against you. If you said" I spent my time at work saving the company money". Then you just benifitted the company. As far as what you gained from it? Nothing. If that time was wasted and it costs you money, then I guess you can look at it in two ways. Kind of like fishing. If you go fishing and catch none, was that a waste of time, or a better way of spending time than saving your company money you will NEVER see anyways. No Hobbys shouldnt be compaired to work. Apples to oranges. I would rather burn up a few hours fixing a mower than saving the boss money. Some how it just doesnt give me that same warm fuzzy feeling.
You think sleds are bad.... you should see personal watercraft. Ive had a few..... to say the least. If buying used and its over 10 years old...... its worth nothing.
@@banshee8989 I saw, I learned enough about PWC to STAY AWAY. Those and boat motors. Pure headache. Those things have tons of seals to prevent water from getting in Yet they still need air to operate. Yeah right! Boat motors require specialty tools for every brand. You eather make them, or pay for them. Unless you work on them all the time, you spent money that will require you to fix 10 more like it to pay for it. I had different clutch tools for every brand. I sold them all for almost nothing when I got out of it.Technology has pretty much made working on this stuff too expencive. I started out restoring older snowmobiles and worked my way up to the newer models. Eventually I was competing with the dealers to properly fix new snowmobiles because the damn dealers couldnt even fix the manufacters issues. A guy doesnt give a RATS REAR about warrenty when even the dealer cannot fix a factory defect. I used my head and modified things. The guy left my shop happy as hell and I got to rub it in the dealers face .
I bought a cheap rev 600sdi in July as my first sled, this video has me in the garage checking all kinds of things I didn't know to check lol A lot more in depth than the other videos I've seen.
After all these years I finally get it why people who ride on long trips extended days always have the newest machines within a few years. If your riding an older machine that has not been maintained, a breakdown will REALLY piss off the guys you're riding with and you've wasted lots of money for nothing, they you have to rent a fan cooled slow ass machine and spend money on that and spend money on fixing your old junk. I stopped going on weekend rides anymore and financing 10-13 grand is not my priority at the moment.
This doesn't really relate to this video but maybe at some point. if you haven't in the past could you talk about fresh reeds vs pooped out reeds and the possible throttle response difference? I am very curious on what your actual take is on this issue. Thank you! Also love your videos they are very informational
Mostly minor problem regular maintenance really. I would have checked the primary and secondary a little better thou .. Everything else I agree 100% great video man.
Alright. I watched this video first before buying a 03 rev 600 for 1650 with 6800 miles. Gave it the shake down (should’ve wrote everything down honestly) body panels looked great, lined up pretty evenly. The nun wasn’t perfect but it was damn close via finger check. Compression was 125 on each that was my only concern. Track looked fine, bogies, clutches, motor mounts. Hope I did the right thing. Get to ride it tomorrow to see how it actually works. Seems back asswards but it is what it is
Love the ski Doo vid.. you really get to the details.. ppl getting rid of sleds because of the problems you pointed out. They absolutely HATE when a guy like yourself shows up. hahaha I have a 2006 GSX 600 looks identical to that 800 you have except the power.. the previous owner somehow sprung an oil leak behind the reservoir. The lines dry cracked or rotted. long as theirs oil in the tank the sled ran. I never took it out of the yard due to the fact but it started rite up.. pull or electric. Purred like a cat. Reverse works fine. No clunking or anything. 3200mi. any ideas on how to get at it or should I drop it off to a skidoo dealer.. Thanks, John
I know in MN, if it hasn't been registered in over 7 years, you can file for registration as a barn find and get it in your name. That is if the guy doesn't have paperwork and it has old tags. Will need a bill of sale. I always get barn finds, such fun restorations.
Don't forget that with a beaver delete kit you need to replace the heat exchanger with one from 2004 or the sled will overheat. The beavertail was only on the original 2003 rev and was integral in cooling the sled. When the beavertail is removed, the original heat exchanger is too short and will not cool the sled properly.
that's not entirely true if you have a proper snow flap it will assist in throwing snow up onto the heat exchanger and you can avoid an overheating problem
Also I know from Ski-doos I have had, sometimes they don't have the engine that is suppose too be in the frame, like this 2001 500cc MXZ I had, someone put a 95 type 462/470 Grand touring engine in it, and I was blowing clutch belts like crazy cause of the motor mounts not bolted down too the frame and not aligned with it, also I was always having too replace the springs in the recoil since it was a pull start, the spring tabs that catch the sheave would break
My first sled was and still is a 1968 evinrude skeeter 16 horse power in its hay days. I use them for fun and to hall the biggest otter sled ever made full of firewood mostly oak. Very little work to keep them running. Just got the seats recovered . Also have a 2 year old viper and new xt7000 cat. I prodably dont need more but l like fixing classics .
Have same sled. Did the finger thing by a frame.its not quite off as far as urs.hopeing can just ride it .not going to be jumping it.on purpose.lol. bought couple years ago.didnt know about nun.its a snotty little sled. I know engine smoothes out 35-40 mph on trail riding. 3500 miles.dont ride lots.put 3 gallon extra spare gas can on the beaver delete i put on it.changed gear case oil. Only thing had to do was ring gear and starter. Bougt aftermarket starter was mistake.got one frim skidoo.works good. Goina look at things u pointed out.thanks
@25:56 I don't mean to put words in Louise's mouth but he meant "Sit Tight" and/or "Hang Tight". I think. :-) Great advise Louis. You know your Snowmobiles. Thanks for all your projects and input.
Thank you for the tips. My son is having fun wrenching on an old sled. I expect he will pay more to get it going than what he paid for it (which wasn't much). Wrenching and hunting for used parts to him is half the fun it seems. However I think if the skis don't fall off and it kinda moves forwardish he would be happy. Me however ? I think I would hit the dealer after seeing this.
I have a 2019 sled and I'm 14. I work all summer just so I can have fun and rip in the winter. I baby my stuff because I spend a great amount of money I make on it. I'm not reckless. I don't beat the heck out of it. There's a lot of younger people like me who have high performance sleds. Don't assume that just because were young that the sled isn't going to be as good.
