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, Rev, XP, and XM chassis. Does not fit the new 850 in the G4.
OEM Shortcomings
Due to the issues with OEM plastic recoil housing assemblies failing so frequently, we are offering these kits to address these shortcomings. The recoil sets right next to the exhaust can, and the heat soaks into the OEM plastic housing, softening it and making it too weak to do its job.
Also the OEM pawl dates back decades to much smaller displacement motors and is taxed heavily 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 dimensions as OEM, and are anodized. 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.
Doo to the fact that these are made 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 warm.
The pawls are made from a high dollar 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 dimension 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 particles 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
$250 for US orders shipped UPS Ground, or USPS Flat Rate.
$265 USF for Canadian orders, shipped US Post.
Prices include shipping costs.
Rush orders shipped UPS Red as needed and priced accordingly.
Assembly Notes
The O-ring should be installed into the tab first, and then that assembly is to be slid onto the post. This is the only way that the ring will ever actually install "inside" the tab counter bore properly. The O-ring is to be tight in the tab's counter bore. This tightness is what will produce the required friction and torque to engage the pawl when you first pull the rope.
If assembled properly, there should be no pressure from the tab up against the clip at all.
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) socket head cap screw (allen headed bolt) to replace the 6mm OEM screws. Doo not tap it out. Just run it in and let the bolt form it's own thread. Do not over tighten. You will see in the picture that I have included a set of plastic 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 do 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 elsewhere in the assembly will hinder free movement of your parts to slide 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. The only place that I might put any grease at all would be at the interface of the rope spool to the housing post, but I personally don't even put any there either.
Make sure to test the rewind tension before tying the knot in the end of your rope.
Disclaimer
These pawls are still a wear item as they do contact moving parts. They should last much longer than the OEM and hopefully outlast the sled, but they are still plastic and are not bullet proof.
Testimonials
Due 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
Kits are in stock and ready to ship!
