295/S Chaincase Fail

[Matt]

So last weekend Harleysportster, his girl, and I were up in NH for the Museum show events. We went for a short ride on a smooth, straight trail. I took the 295/S for a spin because I got it running this year after letting it sit for several years, and wanted to stretch it out a little. We got down the trail, I turned around, and when I take off again, the drivetrain is slipping. It's not the belt, as the secondary is spinning. So we hook up the tow strap and head back to the show.




When we got back I popped the top plug of the chaincase and could see pieces of one of the tensioners, so I figured that was the only problem. I went to replace the tensioner today, and found that the chain had jumped out of place on the bottom sprocket, and had stripped most of the cogs off. The one whole row is gone, and half of the other row is worn off.



I've worked on a bunch of mid-mount JDs, but never seen anything like this. I'm guessing the tensioner shattered first, which loosened the chain just enough to jump and strip the sprocket. There was a piece of the tensioner jammed in the sprocket, so that may have contributed to the chain jumping out of place.

[iajdsledhead]

I would check your front driver bearing on the chaincase side.In my experience on the midmount sleds that is by far the most common reason for the chain coming off and wiping out the lower sporcket.

[lwb140]

something was out of alignment causing the lower to ware goofy i agree upper bearing out etc you really ,really need to not hold the throttle wide open any more while jumping road approaches like you have been , remember ... if there is a crowd there or especially an ambulance you need to start slowing down for those big jumps like that ...just sayin wade

[buck43]

Matt do you have the parts to repair it? I have alot of 00 chaincase parts if they are the same your welcome to them. Shannon Garver

[400brian]

FYI
The nylon tensioners are still a good part number. You can get new ones straight from JD, less than $10 ea.

[Matt]

I do need a 39 tooth lower sprocket if anyone has one.

[buck43]

Matt ill check my pile of 00 parts for a sprocket 39 tooth Shannon

[buck43]

Matt I found a 39 tooth sprocket if you still need it I will send you pics to make sure its the same. Shannon Garver

[Matt]

Shannon, yes I still need it!

Brian, thanks for the tip on the tensioners, didn't know that.

[JoeRainville]

Hi Matt,

Glad to see I am not the only one to kill a racer this winter:>) If Shannon's gear is not right, I should have one burried up in the barn somewhere.

Brian, I didn't know those tensioners were current either, thanks for posting that. Funny how a few parts have stayed current since 84, like taillights, tank grommets, those tensionser, the recoil sticker on a Dator, the suspension cross bolt that goes from center idler to center idler on the 80's LF. We might need to update the FAQ on that topic...

-Rainville

[400brian]

Actually the tensioners are already listed in the FAQs, I looked, as I was going to add them. They were added 4 or 5 years ago. There has gotten to be so much info here we can't remember it all.

[buck43]

Ok ill take pics and send them to you sunday.