Pull that motor

GEM Forum
1

Hey,
I thought I would once more share something with you I learned, maybe you know, but you have to pull that motor often, and clean the splines, as well as the female splines on the transaxle input, you must then replace the rubber bumper (they don’t last long) at the bot of the female transaxle input, then re-grease the splines with a VERY high , repeat VERY HIGH moly grease, I think “HONDA” makes one, MAYBE a high Teflon grease ?

Put the grease on both sets of splines, but more in the female.

GEM SEZ use VERY little, I found use enough ! OK ?

In a few hundred miles they will go dry, anyone who has owned a boat with a sterndrive knows about greasing the splines !

IF you don’t it gets very expensive, very fast. The splines wear like “knife Edges” and you get a clicking sound at low speed and a really funny noise at high speed when you release the throttle.

Then you have to buy a new motor output drive spline, AFTER you determine which one you have, yes there are two different ! Not by year either !

THEN the old one has to be “Machined OFF” the motor shaft, and the new one heated and pressed on, THEN you have to replace the transaxle input female splines, and they are machined onto the input gear of the transaxle, as well as install a new seal !

This is going to set you back about $3-400. in parts, PLUS the machine shop costs, you can install the gear in the transaxle yourself very easy, but most will have to have the drive splines machined off by a shop as well as the new one pressed on.

Hope this tip saves you some coin ! PULL THAT MOTOR !

2

Do you have instructions for pulling the motor? If can you share?
thanks
Terry

3

[quote=AZGem;25732]Do you have instructions for pulling the motor? If can you share?
thanks
Terry[/quote]
I bought a new motor from Ride-4-Fun and their instructions for removing the motor are:

A. Turn off the main power switch.
B. Removal of the front tires will provide easier access for motor removal and installation.

  1. From the passenger side, disconnect the speedometer by opening the male/female 3 pin connector.
  2. From the passenger side, on 03’ or later models, disconnect the overheat sensor which is a flat 2-pin plug.
  3. From the passenger side, remove all electrical connections from the old motor. This includes: armature 1 & 2, and Field 1 & 2 (as labeled on wires and motor).
  4. From the drivers side, remove the 3 bolts (7/16") that hold the motor to the transaxel.
  5. Take notice of the position of the terminals, as the new motor will need to be installed in the similar position.
  6. Slide the motor back an Inch and it can be removed from the vehicle. Use caution, as the motor is heavy.

They also told me to use Red Loctite on the bolts when reinstalling the motor.

4

[quote=Dirk;25394]Hey,
I thought I would once more share something with you I learned, maybe you know, but you have to pull that motor often, and clean the splines, as well as the female splines on the transaxle input, you must then replace the rubber bumper (they don’t last long) at the bot of the female transaxle input, then re-grease the splines with a VERY high , repeat VERY HIGH moly grease, I think “HONDA” makes one, MAYBE a high Teflon grease ?

Put the grease on both sets of splines, but more in the female.

GEM SEZ use VERY little, I found use enough ! OK ?

In a few hundred miles they will go dry, anyone who has owned a boat with a sterndrive knows about greasing the splines !

IF you don’t it gets very expensive, very fast. The splines wear like “knife Edges” and you get a clicking sound at low speed and a really funny noise at high speed when you release the throttle.

Then you have to buy a new motor output drive spline, AFTER you determine which one you have, yes there are two different ! Not by year either !

THEN the old one has to be “Machined OFF” the motor shaft, and the new one heated and pressed on, THEN you have to replace the transaxle input female splines, and they are machined onto the input gear of the transaxle, as well as install a new seal !

This is going to set you back about $3-400. in parts, PLUS the machine shop costs, you can install the gear in the transaxle yourself very easy, but most will have to have the drive splines machined off by a shop as well as the new one pressed on.

Hope this tip saves you some coin ! PULL THAT MOTOR ![/quote]

When I bought the new motor from Ride-4-Fun they said to use Never Seez on the splines. Amazon has it. I needed some today and my local Auto Zone did not have that brand. I bought Permatex Aluminum Anti-Seize Lubricant. It is a high temperature grease that seems to have similar specs to the Never Seez. Fingers crossed that it is suitable for this application.

5

Rviguet,
Thank you, I tried those and ran into a few problems. The motor wouldn’t clear the shock obsorber on my vintage 1999 Gem. So I found it a bit easier to remove the 2 batteries and plastic battery pan. Then removed the top bolt from the shock which gave me enough clearance to slide the motor out. Also that way didn’t have to remove the wheels.
Realigning the splines was a bit of challenge. I finally inserted some long bolts to hold the motor close and horizontal and then I could see the splines and align them.
The bad news, replacing the rubber bumper didn’t solve my problem.
Are you happy with the motor and controller from Fide-4-fun? what size motor did you buy?
Terry AZGem

[quote=rviguet;25752]I bought a new motor from Ride-4-Fun and their instructions for removing the motor are:

A. Turn off the main power switch.
B. Removal of the front tires will provide easier access for motor removal and installation.

  1. From the passenger side, disconnect the speedometer by opening the male/female 3 pin connector.
  2. From the passenger side, on 03’ or later models, disconnect the overheat sensor which is a flat 2-pin plug.
  3. From the passenger side, remove all electrical connections from the old motor. This includes: armature 1 & 2, and Field 1 & 2 (as labeled on wires and motor).
  4. From the drivers side, remove the 3 bolts (7/16") that hold the motor to the transaxel.
  5. Take notice of the position of the terminals, as the new motor will need to be installed in the similar position.
  6. Slide the motor back an Inch and it can be removed from the vehicle. Use caution, as the motor is heavy.

They also told me to use Red Loctite on the bolts when reinstalling the motor.[/quote]

6

DO NOT USE RED LOCTITE!!! Blue is ok. I dont use anything.

It;s tons easier if you pull the battery tray and work from overhead. I loop the strap around the motor and pick it up from the top and guide it in from the side with my left hand,

7

Hi , After reading the label on the red loctite, I agree. The only way to loosen it is 600 degrees!
Terry

8

[quote=AZGem;25757]Rviguet,
Thank you, I tried those and ran into a few problems. The motor wouldn’t clear the shock obsorber on my vintage 1999 Gem. So I found it a bit easier to remove the 2 batteries and plastic battery pan. Then removed the top bolt from the shock which gave me enough clearance to slide the motor out. Also that way didn’t have to remove the wheels.
Realigning the splines was a bit of challenge. I finally inserted some long bolts to hold the motor close and horizontal and then I could see the splines and align them.
The bad news, replacing the rubber bumper didn’t solve my problem.
Are you happy with the motor and controller from Fide-4-fun? what size motor did you buy?
Terry AZGem[/quote]
AZGem, I have not installed the motor yet. I am doing that tomorrow. Assuming it runs okay with the controller as is, I will then pull the controller and send it to Ride-4-Fun to reprogram. I am also going to upgrade the wheels/tires to 14"s so I am hoping to get 35+MPH out of it. We will see. The previous owner only got 17MPH due to the accelerator being installed so that it struck the rib to the left of it. I fixed that and can get 25 MPH with the stock motor.

9

[quote=AZGem;25757]Rviguet,
Thank you, I tried those and ran into a few problems. The motor wouldn’t clear the shock obsorber on my vintage 1999 Gem. So I found it a bit easier to remove the 2 batteries and plastic battery pan. Then removed the top bolt from the shock which gave me enough clearance to slide the motor out. Also that way didn’t have to remove the wheels.
Realigning the splines was a bit of challenge. I finally inserted some long bolts to hold the motor close and horizontal and then I could see the splines and align them.
The bad news, replacing the rubber bumper didn’t solve my problem.
Are you happy with the motor and controller from Fide-4-fun? what size motor did you buy?
Terry AZGem[/quote]

I pulled the front cowl, the batteries, the battery tray, the right front shock, and the black plastic splash guard behind the motor. It was really pretty easy to remove the motor once all that was done. Other than being heavy, the motor swap was not bad. I think I had everything removed and the motor swapped in under 2 hours.

I took the cart on a run once the motor was in, before pulling the controller for reprogramming, and there was quite a difference over the stock motor. The acceleration is better. Also, where the old motor took a pretty good run and would top out at 24-25, this motor got up to 29 pretty quickly (the previous owner had the controller reprogrammed for a top speed of 29 and the car felt like it was doing the regenerative braking when I kept it floored at 29 MPH).

10

The Honda grease is “Honda Moly 60 Paste”, which can be found at any Honda motorcycle dealer. This grease is also widely used by BMW motorcycle owners.

Daniel

11

Hi
have 5hp motor 2008 with bad splines
where to buy that input female splines ?

12

Polaris dealer comes as a kit with bearings and seal. Make sure you grease spline and replace rubber bumper in the end of the motor.

13

Has anyone thought of just using a retaining compound when there is play between the motor coupler and input shaft splines? I have a motor that has the coupler worn which still vibrates even with a new input shaft / bumper and would like to reuse it. I also happen to have a few bottles of loctite 638 retaining compound on hand as well.

14

I wonder if retaining compound is designed to fill such large gaps and still be strong. Also wondering how you’d pull the two apart later.

15

Hi
Spline Shaft Repair
hear are some info on that
http://appliedmaintenance.com/spline-shaft-repair.html

16

And you know that marking the spline and socket alignment is SUPER important. But that might make it tough to get right on our GEMs since I don’t think it’s easy to see much spline or socket when putting them together.