RTV900 Muffler Maintenance Plug

lloyd123 · Oct 1, 2018

I used to post here quite a bit but haven't done so in about six years.

I have a 2004 RTV900W that I bought new that now has about about 500 hours on it - used mostly for snow plowing.

The maintenance schedule requires that a plug on the muffler be unscrewed and removed every 100 hours and the engine run at high rpm to blow it out. Not sure exactly what was getting blown out as I never noticed anything when I did this in the past.

I can no longer remove the plug as it's frozen and subsequently the hex bolt head is stripped so it's never coming out again.

Does anyone know what problem(s) will arise from not removing the plug and blowing out the muffler?

Will the muffler:

Eventually get blocked up with carbon/particulate causing a back pressure problem.

Was this maintenance required to prolong the life of the muffler from internal corrosion.

Was this maintenance done to reduce the chance of carbon/particulate building up and shooting out sparks and being a fire hazard. My RTV900 didn't come with a spark arrester but later had one added with a recall

Or a combination of all reasons above and/or possibly something else

ruffdog · Oct 1, 2018

Does your unit have the removable muffler outlet that has an internal screen (spark arrester)?

lloyd123 · Oct 1, 2018

Yes - the add on spark arrester that Kubota installed during a recall is just a small screen that's located at the end of the tailpipe.

diesel85 · Oct 1, 2018

I was reading around, it appears that you should do it so it doesn't get caked up with soot particulate on this particular model.

tjkubota93 · Oct 2, 2018

A turbo socket would remove it

Gary Fowler · Oct 2, 2018

That is the first thing I permanently removed from my RTV. Since I don't ever plan to use it in a national forest, there is no need for the spark arrestor. Yes it will carbon up in short order and could cause significant back pressure to the exhaust system.
If you don't plan to motor your RTV thru any national parks or forest, I suggest you permanently remove that little screen spark arrester.

lloyd123 · Oct 2, 2018

tjkubota93 said:
A turbo socket would remove it

I had to look up what a turbo socket does. I don't think it would help in this case as this isn't a bolt but a recessed hex fitting that an allen wrench needs to be inserted into. Also, it's been rounded off on the inside so an allen wrench just spins when inserted. Thanks for your reply anyway.

diesel85 · Oct 2, 2018

You'll need an easyout.

Gary Fowler · Oct 2, 2018

diesel85 said:
You'll need an easyout.

Or just take a drill bit and drill out the old bolt. It would be great if you could find a left handed drill bit but not really necessary. You can always put in a larger bolt if you want to reinstall the screen, but as I said earlier, just leave the screen out and no more maintenance on that item.