This REALLY surprised me yesterday on our ride. I have not really heard of any known issues with the XP transmission. But mine let go. NO forward / reverse gears. GRINDS in any position. was able to put in neutral, and although made some noise was able to get a tow back to pavement about 10 miles. It appears to have blown one of the bearing races out the side cracking the case. I've had similar issues in my rock crawler and generally find it wastes most of the gears by the pieces going around and around during the tow. Found a used replacement on Ebay for $1000 versus a new one for around $2000.
Has anyone else had this problem? Or any known issues with certain years, etc? I haven't pulled apart yet to try and investigate the cause either. I never serviced the transmission, i.e. oil change either - didn't think that 1500 miles was that much yet.
December 2015 Updated Information:
Exploded parts view with associated bearing numbers. This is for a 2012, but I think all bearings are the same up through at least 2015.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all! Jeffco and I collaborated on this, and this is our Christmas gift to the RZR community.
Since I have blown the infamous trans bearing TWICE now, I felt there was something else going on besides just bearing quality. After looking at ALL the pictures posted of the bearing failures they ALL appear to show signs of heat. IMO heat wouldn't be an issue if the bearing was getting adequate oil. Oil is defined not only as a lubricant, but a coolant also!
So the quest was on to find a way to get more oil to this bearing. I even purchased a 12v gear oil pump, fittings, hose, etc. and was going to tap the bottom of the case and literally pump oil to "the" bearing. After pondering solutions for a couple weeks and a bunch of "head scratching" we devised a way to let the gears do their natural "pumping" or centrifugal oiling, but capture that oil higher in the case, in a "dam", and use gravity and an external passage to naturally do the work.
Now I welded a piece (dam) on the inside of the case half to aid in the capture of oil because my transmission was out and in pieces already. But Jeffco has completed this modification with the transmission in the car and without splitting the case. You only have to pull the passenger side axle to gain adequate access to drill and tap the case in the "reservoir" area. The "dam" surely supplies more oil, but some oil is better than none. I would definitely weld the "dam" in if you have the case apart for any reason, i.e. bearings, heat treat, etc. and for that added racer advantage.
THE BEST PART - ITS ABOUT $10.00 IN PLUMBING FITTINGS!!! You will need a drill extension if doing in the car and it will take the average mechanic about an hour to complete.
Disclosure: Due to winter conditions we have NOT fully tested this modification but feel the video speaks for itself. We just figured Santa doesn't bring new transmissions often and maybe you would like to do some preventive mods over the winter season. So do at your own discretion.
Here are a few close up pictures of the fittings and locations to drill in the case if you are doing the mod in the car.
This was taken after about 60 miles of driving, trans was up to temperature, and was about 60 degrees outside. You can't say that bearing isn't getting oil now.
Here is a video of the "oil mod" done on Jeffco's RZR XP900. It was up to temperature and I believe he's running a 90w gear oil. It was done IN THE CAR, WITHOUT SPLITTING THE CASE, AND NO OIL DAM WELDED IN. Just as effective IMO. For $10 in hardware parts and about an hour of time its well worth it.
Has anyone else had this problem? Or any known issues with certain years, etc? I haven't pulled apart yet to try and investigate the cause either. I never serviced the transmission, i.e. oil change either - didn't think that 1500 miles was that much yet.
December 2015 Updated Information:
Exploded parts view with associated bearing numbers. This is for a 2012, but I think all bearings are the same up through at least 2015.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all! Jeffco and I collaborated on this, and this is our Christmas gift to the RZR community.
Since I have blown the infamous trans bearing TWICE now, I felt there was something else going on besides just bearing quality. After looking at ALL the pictures posted of the bearing failures they ALL appear to show signs of heat. IMO heat wouldn't be an issue if the bearing was getting adequate oil. Oil is defined not only as a lubricant, but a coolant also!
So the quest was on to find a way to get more oil to this bearing. I even purchased a 12v gear oil pump, fittings, hose, etc. and was going to tap the bottom of the case and literally pump oil to "the" bearing. After pondering solutions for a couple weeks and a bunch of "head scratching" we devised a way to let the gears do their natural "pumping" or centrifugal oiling, but capture that oil higher in the case, in a "dam", and use gravity and an external passage to naturally do the work.
Now I welded a piece (dam) on the inside of the case half to aid in the capture of oil because my transmission was out and in pieces already. But Jeffco has completed this modification with the transmission in the car and without splitting the case. You only have to pull the passenger side axle to gain adequate access to drill and tap the case in the "reservoir" area. The "dam" surely supplies more oil, but some oil is better than none. I would definitely weld the "dam" in if you have the case apart for any reason, i.e. bearings, heat treat, etc. and for that added racer advantage.
THE BEST PART - ITS ABOUT $10.00 IN PLUMBING FITTINGS!!! You will need a drill extension if doing in the car and it will take the average mechanic about an hour to complete.
Disclosure: Due to winter conditions we have NOT fully tested this modification but feel the video speaks for itself. We just figured Santa doesn't bring new transmissions often and maybe you would like to do some preventive mods over the winter season. So do at your own discretion.
Here are a few close up pictures of the fittings and locations to drill in the case if you are doing the mod in the car.
This was taken after about 60 miles of driving, trans was up to temperature, and was about 60 degrees outside. You can't say that bearing isn't getting oil now.
Here is a video of the "oil mod" done on Jeffco's RZR XP900. It was up to temperature and I believe he's running a 90w gear oil. It was done IN THE CAR, WITHOUT SPLITTING THE CASE, AND NO OIL DAM WELDED IN. Just as effective IMO. For $10 in hardware parts and about an hour of time its well worth it.