speedo quit

[minneman]

After some great riding this weekend im on my way home and suddenly hear a buzzing sound that eventualy quit (30 sec.) then a bit later notice that the speedo wasnt working. cable break? 02 570 panther (fan) just over 1000 mi. any other ideas?

[ChuckN]

The speedometer is set up with the speedo cable from the drive shaft/speedo drive to the speedometer.

Under the secondary clutch is the speedo drive. Unscrew the cable from the drive and inspect. Disconnect the cable from the speedometer. I like to take a power drill and attach it to the end of the cable and run the drill to see if the speedometer cable moves. If the other end of the cable doesn't move, the cable broke.

If the cable moves with every movement, connect back to the speedometer and run the drill to see if the speedometer works. If not, speedometer broke.

If the cable is fine, and speedo works, your problem is inside the drive shaft/speedo drive. There is a speedometer key that attachs the drive shaft to the speedo drive assembly.

If the speedometer key broke, you likely have issues with the bearings...something is wrong.

I just had this problem. The small key broke indicating a problem....it turned out the drive bearings failed. It's a fun job too!

With 1,000 miles I doubt it, but you never know.

I wish you the best.

[MN Mike]

Sounds to me like your bearing went like Chuckn said. If you heard something while you were driving, more than likely that was the last dying gasp of the bearing. We had a '02 Mtn Cat lose one at under 1200 miles. I replace mine religiously every 3 or 4 years, I just do it, no questions asked, I've had plenty of them go out on me.

1" flange bearings and 1 locking collar from a implement dealer work just fine and are alot cheaper, that is if you plan on doing it yourself.

Mike

[311Hemi]

I would also recommend bringing the sled into a heated garage and letting it thaw out a bit. If the speedo cable is working fine as previously suggested and you find that is the speedo/shaft pin that has been sheared off blow some air through the speedo cable to see if you get any moisture/water to come out.

I had this problem a few weeks ago on my Pro X. I ended up blowing a bunch of water out of my speedo cable and I also think that the speedometer angle drive that the cable plugs into froze causing the pin to shear. I checked the bearing and it was fine on mine.

As stated though many times this is a tell tale sign of bearing failure....although not every time as I would fortunate to experince. It's a bit of a job to change...but not overly spendy. The buzz sound you heard might have been that bearing.