Diamond Drive removal and inspection tortural

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Step by step DD removal and inspection guide WITH PICS

NOTE PLEASE HOLD ALL POSTS/QUESTIONS UNTIL I AM DONE ENTIRE REMOVAL AND INSTULATION AGAIN I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP THIS AS SMOOTH AS POSSIBLE.

Well guys its that time of year again, we dust off the sleds and start doin some maintence. Now i have been noticing a lot of guys askin about Arctic cats diamond drive its a awesome system that is near full proof as long as it is maintained. So i will be showing you step by step what to do and what to look for this thread will also be very helpful for track replacement I am not replaceing my track at this time so i will try and take you as far as i can with pics then i will explain what needs to be done hopefully this helps.

My Sled is a 2006 M7 so this is the non-reverse model the newer DD's would have a very similiar process.

First lets start out with what you need.
-New DD oil (if yours is the non reverse model you will use the 3oz bottle for reverse you will use the larger one). Im a cat guy thru and thru so i only use cat oils.
-Silicone to seal the DD back up after tear down--I recomend red high temp.
-Blue thread lock.
-Socket set and Hex key set.
-Case of desired beer---optional---

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Step 1- Remove bolt from secondary clutch now i have the cat update/shift assist kit in so i dont have that stupid plastic nut if you dont have this update i sugest you pick it up ....belive it was under 30bean. You will notice the spacers in the body of the bolt.....Each sled will be a bit different you will have to add some or take some away depending on your set up.

Your 2ndary clutch will now come off with relitive ease, You will notice that i left the belt on i just find that this works easiest you can take belt off machine 1st thing if you like.

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Step 2- Lock your brake and use a 5/8 socket to now pull out the long bold from the other side of your machine....It will be located in the middle of your rotor.

Note the bolt is only threaded for the 1st inch or so so dont sit there all day spinning it ......You have to give it a good pull out after a bit of looseing.

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Step 3-You will now go back to the DD side and remove the 6 bolts that secure your DD to your bulk head. Now the cat engineers thought they would pull a fast one on us gear heads there is a hidden bolt behind a small rubber piece inbetween your DD and primary. SO undo those 2 torxs and pry that rubber peice off.

For some reason (dont know if its my sled or all) but there is 13mm bolts here a 1/2 fit but the 13mm fits better.

Another thing you will notice is that i loosened all the torx's dont take them all out but i find it easier to put pressure in them now. The DD doesnt sit flat on the work bench and this can make gettin a stubborn fastener even more of a pain in the butt to get out.

It helps if you use a flathead screwdriver and gently pry the DD off of the bulk head dont use excessive force here it shoud come with a bit of rocking.

TORX!!!! IMO these are the DUMMEST fastiner ever invented if you have a socket/torx set USE THEM you dont want to strip these either. The rachet allows you to focus more on keepin the bit in there and applying better pressure so nothing strips

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Re: Diamond Drive removal and inspection tutorial

Ok right on guys now were gettin somewhere. The DD is out and on the work bench

. A good idea would be to put down some paper towel we dont want any more dirt or contamination then we may already have.

Step 4
Remove all torx from DD lets open her up and have a look.

When you open the DD use the knotches in it for prying it makes like a touch easier. Use a flathead and try to open case evenly not all on one side.

When you do pry it apart, spend some time on cleaning everything up nicely.

Note- There is NO gasket to seal both sides of the DD, you must scrape the old silicon off. Take your time, get it all off, or the DD will leak and you'll be stuck back at square one.

Now, pull the gear cog off up, and out, of the backside of the DD (part number 1602-612) you will now be able to see your planetary gear set up. Notice the snap ring on the outside of the gear. This has to be removed, by using a flathead, and gently working it out of its prison.

Now pull your planetary gear directly up. Upon removal, check all bearings for play as you clean her up nicely, there shuld be none.
Note- The planetary does sit in the housing in a specific way, notice the spacing of the grooves, the large slot, fits in the large groove.

In my case i will be replacing part number 1602-745, which is a problematic part in these DD because its plactic. This is a retainer magnet, and if you have gone this far, i suggest spending the 15 dollars putting a newone in. 15 dollars seems a small price to pay for peace of mind. To remove this retainer peice, stick your trusty flathead in one of the holes and gently pry her up. Inspect the backside (magnetized side) for metal shavings, some is common as long as its not a large amount.
After you clean everything up, you can now put the new retainer in, do not force it in as its plastic and is easy to break. Put some oil on the plastic clips so it will slide in easier instead on binding up.
Now your ready to begin reassembly of the DD.

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Step 5

After you have reinstalled or replaced the retainer magnet we start at the planetary gear. Notice the knotches must line up. Dont force things here gears should all just slip in if theres some thing tight or binding up FIND OUT WHAT IT IS a "little bind up" can do a lot of damage at WOT.

Lineing up the planitary can be a bit tricky what i did was gently push on it while i turned the output shaft and it just slipped right in.

After you reinstall any gear it is wise check for smoothness << very important could save you a lot of money in the long run. There should also not be any sounds no clickin or anything maybe just a faint sound of gears spinning.

Now we will use red heat temp silicone and apply a even coat all around the DD case (dont get any silicone in any gears) take you time here and do a good job the silicone is all there is to seal the 2 halves together and it doesnt take much to leak 3oz of oil and POOF there goes your DD.

When you sandwich the 2 sides together there should be a even coat of silicone that is being squished out this is a good thing it means you have silicone in there and you should get a great seal. Make sure to wipe off excess silicone while its still wet.

Now we can start bolting the DD back together.....Try and tighten in a criss cross fashion this allows everything to tighten evenly (like you would a wheel on a car). As for torque spec im sry i dont have that all i did was snug it up and go about half a turn more. I also didnt bother with thread lock the excess silicone on the DD should be suficant for this job.....You dont need these tight to the point where u cant get them off again.

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Well boys and girls that about raps it up now all you have to do is fill DD with oil and bolt everything back up. Now i am going to wait until tomorrow to fill my DD its a good idea to let the silicone sit for 24 hours and seal up really nice b4 you fill it up with oil.

All you have to do after the DD has oil in it is bolt the DD back to the bulk head. Now for this i tip my sled on the side that way i get a better view about whats goin on and lineing everything back up.

NOTE--- dont forget to reinstall that small wire back in the DD this is for your speedo and if you forget this you will be kickin yourself.---

Once DD is bolted up (use blue thread lock on the 6 bolts) place that pesky rubber piece back in place----this covers that hidden bolt again---- and Torx the 2 fasteners back up.

Go around to your brake side and reinstall that long bolt with a touch of blue lock tite as well

Then mount your 2ndary back on the DD (also with some blue thread lock).

And WALA!!! your sled is back together and ready for another season or trouble free riding.

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Now i realize that the models with reverse are a bit different and yes on 08 and up you will need a long extenstion to get to the bolt that holds your dd to your drivers but this should help you out for the most part this may also help with changing your track. For this all you would have to do is loosing your rear wheels un bolt the skid from the tunnel and the skid will come right out and the drivers will also slide out with the DD out. So i hope this gives some of you the confidence out there to do this on your own insted of paying just under the 200 mark at the shop for the same job.

Mare · Nov 4, 2010

THANKS.... Many people will appreciate this. Great job. :d

Polarblu · Nov 4, 2010

i have resieved a pm saying that adding to and or correcting anything in this post isnt allowed and 2 of my posts have been removed. This young man has done a great job on this. I think people would like to know the subtle differences between that drive and newer models but this isnt allowed.

Thanks sledbunny

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Polarblu said:
i have resieved a pm saying that adding to and or correcting anything in this post isnt allowed and 2 of my posts have been removed. This young man has done a great job on this. I think people would like to know the subtle differences between that drive and newer models but this isnt allowed.

Thanks sledbunny

I just asked him to move your posts to after mine so all mine are in a row so its smooth. Turns out he cant move them only delete them. Sry i just wanted all the instructions in a row feel free to repost your comments :d:d

Polarblu · Nov 4, 2010

dezmitchell said:
I just asked him to move your posts to after mine so all mine are in a row so its smooth. Turns out he cant move them only delete them. Sry i just wanted all the instructions in a row feel free to repost your comments :d:d

Im sorry about this man. I didnt read your first post and this is totally cool. Completely my bad!!

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

Polarblu said:
Im sorry about this man. I didnt read your first post and this is totally cool. Completely my bad!!

n/p thanks

BOONDOCKINDAWG · Nov 4, 2010

thanks a million dez! im atempting a track swap for the first time on saturday. and this has answered all the questions i had. the pics were great also! Thaks again!!!

woodym7 · Nov 4, 2010

thanks !!!!! again!!!!

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

BOONDOCKINDAWG said:
thanks a million dez! im atempting a track swap for the first time on saturday. and this has answered all the questions i had. the pics were great also! Thaks again!!!

Right on buddy glad to hear feel free to fire me a PM if you buys get stumped.

dezmitchell · Nov 4, 2010

woodym7 said:
thanks !!!!! again!!!!

I may have saved you a bit of stress if i did this a few days ago eh??? lol hope i was able to be somewhat helpful.

Did you find out what was makin that noise in you DD?

Catman10 · Nov 5, 2010

Hey great post, I was going to do the same thing and are my fingers glad that you did it. There are only a few differences with the newer diamond drives, people will figure it out. I love to do the work myself and have the confidence in knowing my own sled, good job!

Pistonbroke · Nov 5, 2010

Great post.

Just curious....did you mean to spell "tutorial" the way you did? :d

ZRrrr · Nov 5, 2010

Where did you hear that P?N 1602-745 can be problematic. I have had my 06 DD apart many, many times and never found any issues other than bearings wearing and needing replacing (only once though).

A tip for the rubber bump stop is to spray it lightly with WD or equivalent before replaicing. Slides in a little easier.

Good write up.

Diamond Drive removal and inspection tortural

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