2017 Massimo MSU 500 oil leak that I'm not sure how to fix.

[Jerrys500]

I wouldn't say that after a year of owning this thing, that I would go out and buy one again. Certainly one that was used and abused, but at the time I needed something and this was in my price range. I could tell that it would need some work. I however didn't know the half of it. This was my second UTV. The first one was and older American Sportsworks Carbide 7150 that was a total piece of junk. I got it for next to nothing and was a project piece. I got it running and rode it for a bit but it was way not what i needed and it finally burned up and was set aside. Anyways, so I bought this one from a farmer. I'm not positive of the exact model but it originally came from Tractor Supply. per the stickers on the bed and its a camo color. Upon first inspection when I got it home, it was a mess.

1. Had a water leak - The leak was in two hoses one of which was a short one that came from the rear of the engine and I literally ended up cutting it off. Well getting another one on there took hours and was simply horrible.

2. Had an oil leak - This is my concern today as I was never able to figure out for sure what it was going to take to fix it. More on that in a min once you have a full account of where i've been in this thing.

3. Had a bad clutch - Replacing the entirety of the clutch system wasn't all that bad except its a tight space to work in to do this repair. was a pain to figure out the angle that I needed to get the cover off and then back on again but figured it out the second day and got it done.

4. Had bad Universal Joints - this was a nightmare because they originally put 18mm ujoints in the thing which I was not aware of so when my parts came in of course I had the 20mm that they started putting in, from what I can understand, was the very next year. Finding the 18mm ones was all but impossible so I bit the bullet and did the full conversion to the 20's.

5. Had bad Tie Rods.  - Tie rods were not a problem. However while in there I noticed that it was a little low on brake fluid. The fluid that was in there looked fresh. Sure enough there was a line leak there so i had to get new lines for it. I almost just ordered the master cylinder at that time but had seen the  fluid coming from the other end and thought yeah it should  be ok. That was a stupid decision. Yet another parts order to get one. Once delivered it was not a prob just replace, fill, bleed and good to go.

6. This was about the time the panic set in. I needed to check the other oils and the final gear oil was mostly empty and what was in there I'm still not was sure was gear lube. Luckily after clearing it out and refilling it, there didn't seem to be any issues with the final gear. So far that is.

7. So at this point I figured that it was ready for my first trek with it to the  gold claim and off  we went. This was a 14 day venture in the middle of nowhere over 300 miles from home. I had tested it over the course of 5 days and except for the oil leak it looked like all was good with the exception of blowing a little smoke. Day two in the sticks it decided to just die on us out of the blue. I checked the spark and it wasn't there anymore. The plug wire had come apart. I made one that worked until I could get a replacement. It still wouldn't start but I was getting spark. ended having to remove the fuel pump and clean it up. I then had to pull the fuel injector. I don't know why it ran when it did. It took over 4 hours of running brake parts cleaner and air through it before I could get any fuel to go through it. Luckily after that most of a day delay, I'm glad to report that it did its job rather nicely for the remainder of the trip.

8. After that ordeal and in the neighborhood of about $800 or so for parts and oils and all it looked a little brighter. I did still have not only the oil leak to fix, it started blowing more and more smoke. I keep the oil up but it uses quite a bit. if used in a whole day I'm adding at least a half quart. Its made three trips now in this described state. The only new things are that it has gotten very difficult to shift which is likely that pair of shifting gears, the blowing of smoke that is almost for sure a sign that I have to rebuild the top end including the top end kit and do the valves at the same time. Now the oil leak. 

So this leak I don't quite know the part names but it is coming out from around the shaft coming from the front of the engine. My diagram does not seem to show that there is a bearing in there but I would think there has to be. So I can't order a part that doesn't seem to exist. Now the part I still can't figure out is am I going to have to pull the motor and split the case to do this repair or with the four bolts in the housing will this pop out into my hand and be a simple replacement? Of course after removing that shaft which of its own was no fun because of the requirement of almost having to remove the entire differential to get it out.

Sorry for the lengthy story but I think that it shows some of the pain of these things. I grew up riding dirt bikes, motorcycles, and three and four wheelers and I can say that none of them were ever as difficult to fix stuff as this Massimo is. Heck have done motorcycles from the frame up with modifications and it wasn't this difficult. Let me  qualify that statement, I'm speaking of Kawasaki, Honda, and Suzuki motorcycles only once did ever work on a Harley and thinking about it that was horrific as well.

 

Thanks for any words of wisdom besides junk this crap for a 17k to 30k upgrade. Only cause I'm 5'9 and my wife of 40 plus years is 6'1 and told me that i can't have the Kawasaki Teryx 1000 that I drool over. Getting old has really curbed her desire to deal with my toys over these four decades....

Thanks for listening I look forward to and replies... Jerry

 

[Joe Breaux]

Having purchased a Massimo in 2018 from Tractor SUPRISE, I FEEL YOUR PAIN ! brother. nightmare is what they should name these. Maybe now you can use it.

[klm]

 

Doubt this will help but  you have a pretty much typical Massimo.  I don't understand why Tractor Supply, Lowes and others continue to carry them.

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[Joe Breaux]

Because they make money off unsuspecting buyers and have no responsibility to warranty them.. The TS I bought mine from did not even know who serviced them..turned out, no one would.Massimo never pays the shops so they refuse to work on them .