250-500cc WR300 Tranny Shavings

Seems to me there's a point where fine shavings become chunks of metal. Have a look at the pieces that were stuck to the magnet of the drain plug in my WR300 at 10 hours. It sure didn't look this when I changed it at 5 hours.



This can't be normal...

I'd have to agree. My 300 has gone about 18 hours with 5 oil changes and all I've seen on the magnet is about a tweezer full of dust.

Thank god for magnets eh ....
imagine if that stuff was still in there floating around!
guess you'd find out if any thing was wrong a whole lot sooner!!

I am guessing that's a piece of clutch steel plate that broke off and passed through the gears. Hopefully a one time deal. I have pulled the clutch cover off, but that's as far as I got last night.

That's a good guess. They look to thin to be gear teeth or anything else in the lower end for that matter.

Please update when you find out what it is.


I've got 25hrs on my 300 and no issues. Except I cant get a damn throttle cable

No problems found with the clutch. I give up. Put it back together and will do another 5 hours and see what it looks like. Then the dealer can chase it.

are the both/either type clutch plates of the husky magnetic? because most all are not.

thrust washers?bearing cage? fastener that went through the gear grinder? (been there)

those pieces look scary, best of luck.

Did you ride it this weekend?,...how'd it do?,...still okay?

No riding this weekend, or the next weekend in fact as my pipe is on its way to Oregon for repair. I just happened to change the oil at ten hours while dealing with some unrelated issues from a get-off in some rocky terrain a few days ago. That John Denver really wasn't full of shit. I'll take my collection of shrapnel to the dealer's service manager and see what he says. I did buy an extended warranty that covers the major components.

Good deal. I never got offered any kind of extended warranty.

Maybe those are just Husky Coffee Grounds. Got any mechanic friends that can take the drain plug out and look up inside the center cases with a scope? What you don't want is to have pieces jamb in between the gears because the can crack the cases inside or bend your gear shafts. Also go get a flexible magnet and see if there are more things in the bottom of your cases.

Keep us posted!

typpyt!

That's good advice. The other night I pulled the clutch cover, pressure plate and all the steels and frictions out of the basket. I figured I'd find one plate with a snapped ear or something, but nope. Everything from the basket out is intact, so it must be inside.


23-Sep edit
Now that my pipe is back from Pacific Crest, I took the bike to the dealer. They are going to be pulling the transmission. Will update once I have an update from them, but for now, it's in their hands.

Dealer called today. Now that the cases have been split, it has been determined that a washer fell out due to an assembly problem and took a trip through the gears. Good news is I'll have $0 out of pocket, but bad news is the parts will have to be ordered. Oh well, it's nearly mid-october and it was 20 degrees and snowing this morning.

Good deal,...and yeah you're right, it coulda been a lot worse,...it coulda waited 'til spring to do that!

Did they say what that washer fell off of?

main shaft

BikeSdp,

This is the perfect opportunity to have them find and replace your tranny with a 6 speed If you don't want that at least put in a true wide ratio 5 speed. The one I tried in my WR250 was a good compromise although the 250 is a little short on low end to pull the 4th to 5th jump when short shifting. The 300 would pull that easily. The WR tranny has the exact same first as yours and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are each microscopically taller with 5th being overdriven. Your top end will be about 85mph which more than anything allows you to cruise at 65 mph all day. That would be gearing down to a 13T cs sprocket. With the stock 14T topend is well over 90 mph.

Walt

That thought had occurred to me. That would be sweet considering I'm going to try and plate it. The dealer says there's nothing wrong with the tranny, so they're just replacing the washer and some gasket. So what other model's tranny would work? Maybe I can keep my eye open for a salvage TE250?

BikeSDP,

For the WR 5 speed, you need to find one out of a 99-01 WR250. This tranny is a direct swap for your current tranny. You re-use all your current parts and just switch out the gears and shafts. You can actually re-use your shafts too although I like to keep matched trannies together if possible. For the 6 speed you need to find a 91-98 WR 250 or a 91-02 WR 360. To make this switch you will need the bottom end as you will need to change out everything between the cases as well as the shifter shaft and detent assy.

I bought the WR 5 speed with the intent of putting it in my 00 WR360 and using the 6 speed out of the 360 in my WR 250. If there ever was a bike that didn't need the extra gear it is the 360. The crank on the 360 is large enough to create a problem getting the WR 5 speed's over driven 5th to fit. Rather than try removing an 1/8" of material from the cases between the tranny and the crank, I just left the 6 speed in the 360 and swapped out the 5 speed in my 06 WR250 for the WR 5 speed. Ran it that way for a year until I found a complete bottom end out of an 02 WR360 which I was able to use in the WR250. I really had no problems with the WR 5 speed in the 250.

I still have the WR 5 speed which is in flawless condition. I sold my WR 250 so I will never have a use for it so if you have any interest send me PM. I will make you a smoking deal to see it go to a good cause.

Walt

Well, after many moons, a handful of snowstorms, numerous ski resort openings, numerous seasonal gate closures, a round of layoffs, the balloon boy, a turkey dinner and a chilly morning at my house where it was -.8F this morning, I got word that my 300 can be picked up as soon as tomorrow! I started this thread on September 10th and if all goes well, I'll have the bike back to pretty much sit in my garage until spring.

Glad you're getting it back, but sheesh,....ya gotta question the turnover at that service dept.,...or the parts system,...or something.
You've lost the whole fall to this, through no fault of your own.