Doo Recoil Housings and Pawls
Midwest Production Machining Inc
10484 State Route 191
PO Box 464
West Unity, Ohio 43570
419-924-5616
Made to fit the 1999 and newer Ski-Doo Series III 2 stroke motors in Zx and newer sleds.
OEM Shortcommings
Doo to the issues with OEM plastic recoil housing assemblies failing so frequently, we are offering these kits to address these shortcommings. The OEM plastic housings get soft from heat from the exhaust can that they set right next to - soaking into the housing and making it too weak to doo it's job.
Also the OEM pawl dates back decades to much smaller displacement motors and is taxed heavilly on the larger and much higher output motors of today. Add to that - higher compression modifications and/or pulling over in cold temps, and you are only accelerating the wear on the contact tip. And in some cases the tip or the drive dog will completely break off.
To fix, or just replace?
If you have had recoil troubles you have two choices.
1) Replace with another stock unit - and hope for better results this time. ???
2) Or "fix" the problem with an upgrade.
These housings are made from solid aluminum, made to same dimmensions as OEM, and are annodized. Only real change here is that we have an E-clip that is removable/replaceable many times over and with no special tools, as opposed to the star washer/retainer that OEM uses. If you like - you could replace the E-clip with a snap ring just the same. Doo to the fact that these are out of aluminum, they can take the heat from the can much better, and not allow the stem to bend out of position as the OEM housings can as they get hot.
The pawls are made from a high $ grade of plastic that can not only take the heat much better, but also has a very good rating for not being so brittle at -40* when the motor turns over the hardest. These are also much thicker at every dimmension possible. As well, they engage the cage on the flywheel an extra 1/16". Not only are these made from a much better material, but they have 33% more material in them to begin with!
Also note that since these pawls are made from plastic, that they will not flake off metal particals and get into - and short out - your stator.
What you get
What you get here is an aluminum housing, a new heavy duty plastic pawl, E-clip, and a set of washers. You need to transfer the rest of the guts from your unit to this one.
What you give
$225 for US orders shipped USPS Flat Rate.
$240 USF for Canadian orders, also shipped USPS Flat rate.
Prices include shipping costs.
Rush orders shipped UPS as needed and priced accordingly.
We accept Visa, Master Card, or Discover.
Disclaimer
These pawls are still a wear item as they doo contact moving parts. They should wear much longer than the OEM and hopefully outlast the sled, but in some conditions - they still could wear out.
Assembly notes
Doo recoils also seem to be plagued with weak threads in the part that the recoil housing mounts to on the motor. If your threads have been worn or pulled too much it can be difficult to keep the screws from working out on their own. The original screws are "thread forming screws", and thus are tight in the bore and resist backing out under vibration. If you have removed and replaced these screws a couple of times, or over-tightened them even once, they will be prone to backing out on their own.
If the threads on your mating housing are stripped or worn, I have had decent luck by getting a 1/4-20 (standard course thread) bolt to replace the 6mm OEM. Doo not tap it out. Just run it in and let the bolt form it's own thread. Doo not overighten. You will see in the pic that I have included a set of teflon washers to add a little bit of "squish" to the assembly to help as well.
Also - I recommend using Loctite on these screws regardless of whether it is my recoil that you replace your bad one with, or if you go OEM on this! Either way, the screws have been removed and will never seat quite as good as when new. If you are using Blue Loctite (242) cover it well. If using red (271) you may want to use a little less.
I doo not recommend adding a bunch of grease to this assembly. The O-ring is designed to have drag on it. This should NOT be greased up! Also - a bunch of heavy grease will not allow your parts to spin against each other with much ease when it is cold out. All moving parts here are plastic, and generally don't require much, if any lube.
Make sure to test the rewind tension before tieing the knot in the end of your rope.
Testimonials
Do to breaking two stock pawls in two rides I bought some of these heavy duty pawls from Midwest Production Machining Inc. My sled had 220psi and Midwest pawls held up to 30-40 pulls at that 220psi, 20-30 pulls at 185psi, and 20-30 pulls at 170psi. I finally got the compression down to 150psi with the proper head and am still running that pawl today. I highly recommend the housing and pawl set up offered here.
David Chitwood
Updated with the new 16 hole bolt pattern to fit any year or model sled
