Special Tools; Fabricating Tools; Mechanic's Tips; Removing Frozen Nuts And Screws - Polaris 1999 Sportsman 400 Service Manual

GENERAL INFORMATION
measur ement requires that the ammeter be spliced
into the circ uit in a series connection. A lways usc an
ammeter that can read higher that the ant icipat ed
current flow to prevent damage to the meter. Con-
nect the red lead of the am meter to the elec trical
source and the black lead to the electrical load .
SPEC IAL TOOLS
A
series of
special tools arc requi red to serv ice the
dr ive and dri ven pulleys of the Polar is Variabl e
Transmissio n (PVT). Th ese too ls are requ ired to re-
move, disassem ble, assembl e and insta ll these co m-
pon ent s onto the engine and tran smi ssion. Th e
spec ia l too ls shown in F igure 34 are avai lab le from
Victor Specialty Tools (VS T). They may be ord ered
directl y from Victor Specialty Too ls or through a
Polari s dea lership . The part num bers for eac h spc-
c ia! tool is listed along with each spec ifi c service
proe edure in Chapter Eight.
FABRICATING TOOLS
Som e of'thc proce d ures in this man ual require
lIS-
ing spec ial tool s. The resourcefu l mechani c can, in
many cases,
think of acceptab le
subst itutes lo r
spe-
cial 1001s. This can be as simple as usin g a few
pieces of threaded rod, washers and nu ts to rem o ve
o r insta ll a bearing or as comp lica ted as fa bri catin g
a tool from serap material. If the spec ial tool can be
desi gned and safe ly made but requ ires some type of
mach ine work ,
co ntac t
a local com m unity
co lleg e
o r h
ig
h school that has
a
machine shop curriculum.
Som e shop teachers welco me o utside work that ca n
be use d as practica l shop app licati on fo r advanced
students .
25
MECHANICS TI PS
Removing Frozen Nuts and Screws
I
I' a
faste ner rust s and cannot be removed, several
meth ods ma y be used to loosen it. First, app ly pene-
trating oi l suc h as Liqui d Wrench or WD-40 (avail-
ab le at ha rdware o r auto supply store s). Apply it
liberally and let it penet rate fo r 10- I5 minutes. Rap
the faste ne r severa l
times
wi th
a small hammer; do
no t hit it hard en oug h to ca use damage. Reapply the
pen etrati ng
oil
if necessa ry.
For fro ze n screws, ap ply pene tratin g oil as de-
scr ibed, then insert a screwd river in the slot and rap
the top of the screwd rive r with a hammer. Th is loos-
ens the rust so the
screw
can
be
removed
in
the no r-
mal way.
I f
the screw head is too damaged to use
this method, gr ip the head w ith locking pliers and
twist the screw out.
Avoid appl yin g heat unless spec ifically in-
struct ed to do so, as it may melt , warp or remove the
temper from par ts,
Removing IIroken Screws or Bolts
If the head breaks off a screw or bolt, several
method s are avai lab le for remov ing the rema ining
portion . If a large portion of the remainder projects
o ut, try gr ipping it wit h locking pliers. If the pro-
jecti ng port ion is too sma ll, file it to fit a wrench or
cut a slot in it to
fit
a screw driver.
If the head breaks off flush, use a screw extractor.
To do this, eenterpunch the exact cent er of the re-
maining portion of thc screw or bo lt. Drill a sma ll
hole in the screw and tap the extractor into the hole .
Back the screw out
with
a w rench on the extractor
(Figure 35 ).
Remedying Stripped Th reads
Occas iona lly, thr ead s
ar e s
tripped through care-
lessness or imp ac t damage.
Often the
thread s can be
clea ned up by run ning a tap (for internal threads on
nuts) or die (for external thread s on bolts) thro ugh
the threa ds. To clea n or repa ir spark plug threads, a
spark plug tap ca n be used.
Ir an internal thread is damaged, it may be nec es-
sary to insta ll a Hclicoil or so me other type of thread
insert. Follow the manufacturer 's instructi on s w hen
insta llin g their inse rt.