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700 rev swap

6K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  oscartj 
#1 ·
Has anyone here done the 700 twin swap from a zx chassis into a rev chassis? As soon as I locate a donor sled for a fair price, I will be doing so. Just looking to see if anyone has any advise on the swap.
 
#4 ·
I don't need a chassis. My REV 600 SDI has blown up four times, and I don't want to put another one in it. The 700 has similar power, but with a more bullet proof engine. I just want the stupid thing to be reliable like it's supposed to be, and the 700 looks to be a fairly easy swap.

Oh well, it's on the back burner now. I picked up a new XP.
 
#5 ·
Let us know how you like the xp and what you bought. Sure sucks about going through 4 engines. How many miles on your sled? Mine has been good (knocks on wood). I had to re-ring it last year because of a reed failure, but has been good to me (~4500 miles, I think).
 
#7 ·
It is a 2004 renegade X 600 SDI. When I bought it, it had 2200 miles IIRC. It was just out of the Ski-doo dealer with a new ski-doo replacement engine. This engine lasted 400 miles, and the left cylinder had a wrist pin cir-clip fall out of the piston, and destroy the cylinder, piston, head, etc.

I ordered parts from "The Sea-Doo Clinic" in Coldwater. I ordered a cylinder, SPI pistons, a head, gaskets, ISO-FLEX, V-force reeds, etc. While waiting two days for the parts to show up, I tore down the bottom end to inspect the crank, crank seals, oil pump drive, etc. Everything checked out well within spec, and had the crank straightened from .03 out to .00x even though .03 was within spec.

When the parts showed up I assembled everything and it went together quite well. I inspected the Y-pipe, the expansion chamber, throttle bodies, sensors, etc, and found no damage or heavy wear on anything.

That engine ran well, and made it 600 miles, and the right side lower rod bearing and thrust washers decided to lock up and come to a screeching halt.

I was less than thrilled and did not want to put another 1500 bux in parts into it, so I purchased a 600 mile stock original engine via E-bay, craigslist, forum or something. I am very sure this was a stock engine, and condition wise it fit with the 600 mile claim.

This engine ran pretty smooth, but after putting almost exactly 1000 miles on it, 50 of it this season, a circlip again fell out and destroyed everything.


I know everyone claims the SDI is the best engine ski-doo has ever made and all this crap, which is why I searched for one when I was looking for a new sled. I don't buy it. The Circlip issue is well known, for both the SDI HO, and the carbed HO. Apparently the circlip grooves aren't deep enough to keep the clip contained when the piston gets hot faster than the clip. I think the midrange runs hotter on the SDI than the carbed version, because it is tuned right on, whereas carbs generally run rich in the midrange, and splash more cool fuel. This also explains why the SDI's have the glowing red muffler issue. (when run very hard with lots of accel/decel, (tight twisty trails) the muffler gets hot enough to glow red, and boil the nearby brake fluid)

If you ride like pussy, the SDI will likely serve you well for a long time, but if you ride it like an X-package sled was meant to be ridden, problems will be likely.

The 500SS is a great engine though. the 500SS, while really just the non "HO" 600, keeps the small block bottom end with Iron bores, proper circlip grooves, and a long term reliability record. The 700 twin in the ZX chassis is built the same as the 500ss, although on the big block bottom end, also used by the 600HO. I think a 700 REV would be ideal, with the power of a 600HO, a touch more torque, and solid reliability of iron bores.

Two days after it came apart this last time, I found a local dealer with the sled I was looking for. I picked it up that afternoon, and have been loving it since, although two days after picking it up, all the snow melted.

It is a 2010 Renegade X 600 E-tec, with the dealer swapped 1.75" track that the back country comes with. It had a thousand miles on it, but being a dealer sled, Ski-doo considers it a new sled and allowed me to purchase an additional three year warranty. :rock::rock::rock::rock::rock:

CC- I would certainly recommend a 500SS. I would have been happy with one when I bought my SDI, but I need an X-package sled and not having one is not really an option for me, so the SS was out.
 
#8 · (Edited)
You picked up a great XP. I have a 09 Renegade X 800R, wish I had the 1.75 track. Do yourself a favor, I ride mainly off trail and upgraded to the Pilot 6.9's with a set of shaper bars and disconnect my sway-bar. Really helps the front end float! Also I went with a Skinz float plate, it's alot bigger/more coverage then the BRP skid plate.
 
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