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All I can say is, Charlesyou aremuch better man than I >>>> for I would have DONE torched that machine. And I am not making a joke about it >>>>> I am dead serious ~~~</p>
I worried with a damn riding mower one time for two months, engine run great, but something in the tranny kept fouling up. I would bring it to the shop, they would send it back stateing it was fixed. B.S. >>>> went threw that three times until I had my fill >>>> next time I loaded it up, it went to the Mississippi River !!!! Don't have time for anything around me that don't work !!!!</p>
Charles, you sound like a good man. Bring to a professional and MAKE him fix it. Don't let it drive you crazy, for machinery will .......There is a simple answer to your problem, just got to find it. For the way it is now, it ain't worth two cents to anybody from what you are stateing about the RTV ....</p>
I've been around RTV's now for 2 1/2 years. Never seen your problem show up. ALL the RTV's I have delt with has been strong as a ox, and will work there ass off !!!! </p>
Hope everything works out OK for you. If worst comes to worst, trade it in on something that will please you and do the work a utility vehicle suppose to do ~~~~</p>
............... two guns </p>
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Well, the thing is, I went to the dealer at first, about the broken CV shaft. Actually, it wasn't "broken" (the machine wasn't even in 4wd when it shot out) the lack of a steering stop would let the tires revert and hyperextend the CV, spitting it apart at the joint and letting it flop out on the ground. Did this once on a new shaft, and twice more on used shafts before I decided to either make my own stops or get rid of the thing. Anyway, when I went to the dealer I maintained a cool and collected attitude when I asked about the situation with the steering stops, and if others were having similar issues. He said they used to replace them fairly often, but that it didn't seem as bad now as it used to be. He figured it might just be people not trying to "Do what it wasn't made for". And while I knew that pulling over a small limb wasn't too much to ask, I couldn't speak for the other people who had whitnessed a failure, so I didn't push the matter. After the "good" price I got of just over 400 dollars all said and done for the shaft, then spending time tearing the front end apart and swapping it out I have to say I was a bit less than enthused about the vehicle anymore. Plus, knowing what I WASN'T doing when it broke, I was honestly scared to even take it out anymore. It did a LOT of sitting after that. I refused to let anyone drive it anywhere after that. Cause I knew that just turning around in the barnyard, or the pasture was plenty of cause for concern, as that is literally ALL it would take to pop one out again (ruining it) if you hit a slight bump, or a log, rock, anything. At some point, I think it was on my next service, I was back at the dealer getting filters oil and all that and while he was pulling the parts I went outside to look at the new 1100 models. In the process I just couldn't help but look to see if they had fixed the steering geometry issue on them, and when I looked down..... right before my eyes were the steering stops I had YEARNED for. I then walked down a couple machines and looked under an RTV900 and low and behold..... there they were, on ALL OF THEM. So, needless to say, I was a bit less than happy about that, given the conversation I had had with the parts guy merely a month or so previously asking if there was ANY kind of stop that I might be missing....</p>
Was there a recall? Some kind of program to provide them to early RTV owners at a severely reduced cost..... considering that they never CAME with something so crucial? Um.... no. Nothing. Just a part number and a price (slaps forehead). Not to MENTION..... that nobody felt it appropriate to SAY something about that little change when myself, and anyone else, came in to replace the broken CV caused BY that...</p>
Now I'm not coming down on the dealer completely. They seem like damn good guys, and in fact, there should have been a TSB on it, and a RECALL. That would have put it out of their hands, and the problem could have been resolved as it should have been.</p>
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But that just seems to be the way this thing has gone for me.... Crappy steering (it still stuffs the tires in pathetic situations) but at least because I now have stops it doesn't actually pop the CV's out anymore. You can just see the tire flopping all around when the steering geometry gets past its usefull range.</p>
The machine COULD be something great. And I think that might be what's so frustrating. You've got a diesel, power steering power dump 4x4 machine...... yet it can't pull the hat off your head. If I didn't think it would cost half as much as I payed for it I would let a dealer do whatever they wanted to it. But I can see it potentially needing a revised shift fork....... revised hydros/plate and such...... maybe some fixes on the steering...... the thing with the floppy 4wd shaft..... it really needs a lower reverse ratio, although I doubt there's anything to be done with it now...</p>
Basically a mind-numbing bill if I had to guess. If a CV shaft and steering stops caused by poor design cost me over $400, I can't imagine what a dealer "tune up" would run me.</p>
So as it stands, if any of you know the specifics, I could check the prices for said parts and choose certain things over others and do the work myself. </p>
For instance, if I could figure out why I can't get anymore fuel out of it, I could then add a turbocharger and certainly increase power 50% or so without much issue. Then again, the trans that struggles to hold the power it has now would be even worse off then.</p>
It's a circle of somewhat small issues, that together seriously detract from the vehicle's worth.</p>
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Little help with the specifics (other than.... "take it to the dealer") and I might be able to justify the fixes. The fuel and the trans would make the thing 300% better off alone. The steering I can deal with. Just can't forget and get to doing something and not realize I've got it full lock and bump into anything, like a hill, or a limb or anything. But that kind of thing I can deal with a lot better than the immobility issues. Especially if it were the only real issue. Floppy front drive shaft? No big deal. Wouldn't bother me a bit. I'm not asking for much. Just basic functionality.</p>
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