Mar 26 2008
MotorHeads 4 Ever
A fellow Mammoth 800 owner recently asked about “Service Advice”. I took a day to reflect on my years of messing with all kinds of different engines. I get really irked or pissed when someone brings a machine to the shop whether its an ATV or whatever and the oil is black and nasty. One of my phobias-I pull dipsticks first off and inspect the oil condition on the stick. I spent years in the remanufactured engine business. My father travelled the country calling on several very large accounts such as NAPA, American Parts, and many more large auto parts corporations and he was handling their remanufactured engine line-ups. I grew up with a man that changed his oil quite regularly. My roots can be traced to a Studebaker Dealership located in East St Louis in 1926.
My DNA has been programmed to change oil in engines. Therefore, most important step with any engine is giving it some clean, high quality engine oil to spin that crank in, bathe those cylinder walls in and protect those cam lobes when under load and HighRPMs.
My Mammoth is parked about 4 feet from the utility room door which contains the wood stove. Firewood is in the back of the Mammoth and I am feeding a fire to keep my toes warm tonight. I just changed the oil this past Sunday while banging around in my shop. I used 3 quarts of Valvoline SYNpower Full Synthetic 20w50 and a fresh K&N Gold Oil Filter. I like the K&N because of the large nut welded on the end of the filter that I can actually put a box-end wrench on it. I greased the u-joints and fittings also. I checked my air filter for signs of any dust leaking past the air-filter. I also changed my fuel filter. The kewl fuel filter to use on the Mammoth is one from the Suzuki Samurai, 86 model. If you have a new machine, I would recommend that you change the front diff, rear diff, and gear box oil. I use Bel-Ray Gear-Saver 80w90. It is red colored gear oil and when it no longer looks red, I will change it again. I inspected my CV boots on the front axles. My original boots are “purrfect”. Everybody said I would be changing them………….mine have been through swamps, brush piles, rock climbs, sand dunes and more. Not a hole or split to be found in those rubber spinning protective boots. My last recommendation is to remove the belt covers and inspect the belt and spray some “Brake-Kleen” on the primary clutch to clean it. Kazuma Factory assembles the primary with grease on the threads which can heat up, get sticky and cause performance problems. I removed a primary and secondary today to install a HD clutch kit for a customer, you need NO special tools to remove both clutches. My special tool is a rubber mallet or hammer. I need to make a video of this for ya’all. If you can’t service or clean the clutch (it is very simple actually), then have some one qualified to service your clutch BEFORE an important hunting trip or a ride deep into the wilderness. Another tip—–get a spare tire and wheel to carry with you and someway to jack-er up and change that flat when deep in the wilderness gumbo chasing wild hogs or wild coon-dogs. My Mamoth has an onboard air-compressor mounted under the hood. The kind you can plug into the power port. I did change my spark plugs to high quality NGKs also. I ride pretty wide open most of the time. Them old Studebakers were pretty fast weren’t they??
My favorite riding spot is under 8 feet of river flood water from the recent record rains in my area. I can’t wait to go muddin when the water recedes—-My Mammoth will be ready to go. Ride safe and have fun!
