Andystoy19

My first quad was a Kawasaki 400 when quads first came out after the trikes. Since than I have owned Can Am quads and now the Can Am defender XT Cab HD10 and they have all been very reliable and none of them went back to the dealer for warranty. I trail ride in the foothills so the quads have all had larger tires for clearance and floatation in the muskeg but none were modified with snorkels etc. I go around the muskeg or mud holes as a first choice and through them if no choice. I have ridden with Honda quads on these trips and they performed well and had no mechanical problems but lacked power and suspension, the Polaris quads had to be towed a number of times. My Outlanders were winched or towed out of mud holes but none had a mechanical failure on trips that were offroad for 60 miles or more. The Defender XMR is a serious mud machine and comes with taller factory tires, relocated rad (to keep it above the mud) snorkels to keep the engine and CVT breather out of the water, arched front A arms for more clearance, a lower low gear for more power for the taller and heavier tires, good engine power and performs well in the deep environment. If you plan to play in this environment than the XMR is my choice. As far as reliability and warranty should be good. Keep in mind that reliability in most cases goes back to the user and how the machine is utimately used. If the machine will be used in deep mud and water where it may get water into the intake or CVT breathers than that will cause problems. The brakes, boots etc. will wear more rapidly in this case as well and are considered wear items. The Can ams use a belt driven CVT, I am not sure what Honda uses? As far as the Honda I have not been to a Honda showroom for close to 40 years, since the first 350 Honda quads came out, I found the sales people to be very arrogant about the quality without really keeping up to date on what others offered. My brother inlaw on the other hand has always owned Honda. The Honda brand has had a good reputation for reliabilty for their quads and SxS but these have been built more for trail and farm or utility use. I have no idea how they will perform off trail? I hope my comments give you some info that you can use to ask questions etc. before you make your final decision. In the end, you work hard for your money and choose the one you think best suits your needs.😉

I checked again and the flywheel is different 2020 is 420685704 vs 2019 420685649 and the price of the flywheel is $684 cdn so if both are required that is about $1044 which is pricey $US would be $730 and maybe less with a dealer discount? A good parts person should be able to get the info from Can am for the total upgrade? The 850 watt upgrade should provide an additional 15-16 amps of charge capability at 4000 RPM and above? The can am manual shows both the flywheel and the stator together and calls the combination a magneto.😉

The defender limited is advertised as having the 850 watt electrical system vs the 650 watt that the rest of us have. The part number for the stator plate is different in the 2020 Defender parts catalogue than for the 2019. It is 420685638 and just says stator plate whereas the 2019 420685632 says 650 watt, If someone is interested in the new stator they can try and order the new stator plate from the dealer even though it is listed as n/a at this time. If it is the 850 plate is anything else required for the conversion; if not about $360 Cdn is the cost of the 650 watt plate? 🤔

Can am part # 219100834😉

Try taking the rear most set of tires off, that should be a lot easier than disconnecting the axles? If your 6x6 has the electric rear diff lock make sure that it is in the unlock position?

Can am has an online and hard copy accessories catalogue for the defender that will fit your machine. Everything from tool boxes, head ache racks, light bars etc. If you look in the builds section you will see many posts with Can am parts and some with aftermarket parts.😉

My dealer suggested locking the OEM doors for transport to prevent them from accidentally opening, it takes a minute to do both sides?😉

The 2020 are advertised as being much quieter in the cab; due to better noise insulation, CVT cover insulation and different exhaust system. I checked the numbers on the CVT cover and the muffler and they are different than the 2019 HD10 XT. I am not aware of any mufflers that would be quieter from the after market. I haven't had a chance to see if the CVT cover is insulated or thicker and have not heard what the muffler difference would be without a side by side comparison. The 2020 has 10 more horsepower so that may also play a part in the different muffler?🤔

I would suggest that you ask your dealer to give you a copy of the wiring diagram for your Defender Max basic unit. If he says he doesn't have one ask him to copy the page(s) from the 2020 Shop manual as well take a picture of the dash of the same vehicle that has all the options. This should give you a better idea of what extra wiring you may have. It may be that you have a wiring harness that includes wiring for dash control of the winch, the wiring for the eco/work/normal modes etc. You may also ask for and order the shop manual and supplement if there is one for the machine which would be most helpful. Yes they cost money but are a great investment.😉

I don't know if you read my post in the builds section on wiring the two light bars on my defender. I had two light switches and they had to be wired differently. Check the switches you bought to see if they include a wiring schematic if not and you have the rest of the wiring figured out you will need to connect the terminal (bottom right ?) to a positive that is hot when the key is on or to a positive that is hot when you turn the driving lights on? The only way you can determine which is hot is to use a voltmeter and than connect to the proper terminal. You can use a jumper wire to do the same by touching the terminal but if you touch the wrong one you will blow a fuse so have some extras? FYI🤔

Nice rig with a pretty good load, Canam has a center mount inside mirror for your unit, I have the Canam outside mirrors that fit on each door but I am not sure they would fit your half doors, you can check the accessory catalogue on line at Canam Canada. Welcome to the forum, check out the builds section for more ideas.

I was bored a couple of weeks ago at -30C and realized that this was probably a slow time in the reflash business so I decided to remove the ECM and send it away for a reflash. The ECM sits in a pocket behind the starter solenoid in the battery compartment and is difficult to see until you remove some parts in front of it. First remove the battery cover below the passenger seat in the cab. Remove the negative and positive leads from the battery and I decided to remove the bracket (2 bolts) in front of the battery and the bracket on top of the battery to make more room to get at the wiring. Take the battery out and now you can see the 2-32 pin plugs that plug into the ECM which is in a pocket parallel to the back of the compartment. Cut the plastic wire tie next to the ECM at the top, remove the silver hex head screw that is on the far left and halfway down(left of the starter solenoid), it is the only screw holding the ECM in place. I removed the second silver hex head which holds the starter solenoid to the back so that I could move the wiring out of the way. I put an electric heater into the cab to warm up the wiring etc so that I wouldn't get any brittle insulation failures. STOP and take a picture or visualize where the two cables are routed and which goes to the bottom plug "A" and where the second one goes to "B". My ECM had a blue marker across the connector and pin on A so that gave me a reference which cable went to A. They do not interchange and you don't want to damage the pins by forcing anything. Carefully move the clip on B up and back and this releases the connector, carefully wiggle the cable free and move it to the side. Cable A has the same clip so move it up and back and remove the connector and set it aside. The ECM can now be removed by holding the wiring and cables out of the way and jiggling the ECM as you pull to your right. Note that the flat side of the ECM is towards the front and the heat sink is on the back side where it exposed to cooling air. Note also that the ECM has a screw hole in the center left that protrudes into the cab and is held in place by the single silver hex head screw. Place the ECM in a small well protected box and ship to Monster FI (or tuner of choice) along with the data sheet that he has on his website for you to fill out and enclose. Shipping time by Canada Post 4-5 days with tracking, one day turnaround and 4-5 days for the return. To install the ECM first place it back in the pocket at the back and secure it in place with the silver hex head screw, install cable A at the bottom and carefully close the clip which moves the connector into place and locks it, so the same for cable B. Install the starter solenoid in place on the bracket with the other silver hex head screw. Loosely put in a new plastic tie wrap to replace the one you cut, install the battery top and front bracket. Install the positive and negative battery connections and pull the cable tie tight once you move the wiring back where it won't chafe on anything. Replace the battery cover and your done. Put the key in the ignition and start, it runs and no check engine lights or alarms. Next will be a clutch kit towards Spring. My Defender doesn't get used much in the winter because I have several sleds but I will get it out in March to further evaluate the tune and do some clutching, stay tuned. The monster flash cost $400 CDN. $350US and he has a US contact for our friends south of the border. There are way too many options to list that Steve can change to make the engine more responsive: timing for fuel, rev limiter, engine fan temperature etc. I filled in the data sheet with a minimum of info and let Steve do his thing based on his experience, so in summary I have a 91 Octane no methanol tune for 2000' and up elevation, I am not planning on any further engine mods such as air intake, exhaust or engine work. I would best describe the tune as increasing the area under the curve from off idle to 9000 RPM, not that I would expect to see 8000 RPM once I do my clutch work. I will try and clutch for about 7650 RPM so you can leave your Rev Limiter at 8000 RPM if you wish, the 9000 leaves you a bit of room if you need to stay on the power in"Low" in the steep and deep but for me that would be a rare occasion as I am not a dragster and hate getting wet and muddy. Steve does reply to his requests for info so if your interested in getting more info drop him a line, I have no ties to Steve other than the quest for more performance. In summary too much free time, too little money, retired but it had to be done.🤔 No pics as even the ones in the Canam shop maual don't show you anything recognizable.

One of our other members first mentioned this retrofit but I thought I would post my experience with all the info in one place. You can see a diagram of the parts on canam parts 2020 Defender XT/Brakes XT. It is the diagram that is off to the bottom left in a box. The parts you will need are 705601770 circlip, 1722 bushing, 1725 lever, 1729 spring and 2655 slip on rubber handle. For the last four parts make sure you use the 70560 prefix for each item. These are the Canam part numbers. There is no dissasembly required just a bunch of patience. Slip the rubber handle onto the lever and press the bushing into the hole in the lever handle; be careful not to break the bushing. Look under the dash on the left side of the brake pedal below the pivot, you will see two partial shafts, the top one is 3/8" and the bottom one is about 1/8". The top shaft is where the lever will pivot once you insert the bushing part over it and the small bottom one is where the brake lever rests when not in use. Put the spring onto the 3/8" shaft with the longer leg of the spring up, it will fit into a hole that is drilled in the original brake pedal (very hard to see but the end of the spring will show through once in place) , gently start the brake lever onto this shaft vertically (handle down), pay attention to the shorter leg of the spring and you will see where it will rest on the top of the lever in a slight recess. As soon as you have the shorter leg in the right spot slowly rotate the lever towards you making sure the spring doesn't slide off as you push the lever into place. The spring now holds the lever down against the 1/8" shaft that I mentioned earlier with just enough tension to prevent it from rattling. This part was easy. The lever is held in place with the circlip that fits onto the 3/8" shaft, looks easy but a real PITA for me. First try, lost the circlip while trying to get it into place and never did find it. Finally got a couple of new circlips and after many failed attempts got the circlip to the end of the shaft and popped it on. You will be working in a very tight space that requires a good light and you must be a bit of a contortionist that is where patience comes in. To engage the Park brake press down on the brake pedal with your foot and lift up on the lever handle until you will feel the ratchet engage the bottom of the dash. To release simply press the brake pedal and the lever will disengage at the ratchet and drop down to its resting position. FYI I tried several pictures but they don't show much as everything is black and difficult to make out what you are looking at?😉

I am not sure how you would have "higher speed cruise capability" with stock clutching and 32" tires? I have 30" on mine and stock clutching and can only reach 58 mph corrected at 6650 RPM, a big loss from stock tires. Mine definitely needs a clutch kit as it is obvious the stock clutching does not allow the engine to get enough RPM throughout the shift range which would improve performance and belt heat. I haven't found a clutch kit yet but have been looking at the options and will post in the builds section once I purchase and install it.🤔

Put the vehicle in Park, Turn ignition to on but do not start the vehicle, using mode select vehicle total mileage, press and hold the mode button and switch between Hi and Low beam 3 times quickly, release the mode button and turn off the ignition, do not turn the ignition back on until the multifunction guage turns off. This may require more than one try because some of these changes are time dependent. I haven't done mine yet but will be resetting it once spring gets here.😉

Yes the mirrors on my build are a stock or order Canam item. I have driven some trails with willows etc. and you can fold them back against the cab or they will fold themselves if something strikes them. A bit on the small side but no problem with durability other that a bit pricey.☺️

I agree that doing a first service earlier rather than later is a good thing as it removes alot of solids that come in a new engine as well as some that are generated at break in. Changing the gearbox and differential fluids at the same time gives you an early picture of any potential issues such as water contamination (leaky seals) or high initial wear rates. If you see something that concerns you take a picture and save a sample of the oil that you can show the dealer if a problem occurs later. Make a written record of the date, mileage, hrs. etc. in your owners manual in case they ask for service records. Canam follows similar recommendations on their other product lines that recommend similar long first change oil intervals. Its a marketing thing to reassure the new owner that you can buy a machine and enjoy it for the whole season without having to bring it in for service. As far as Canam customer service: a lot of that depends on your dealer and your relationship with them. Some dealers are into multiple lines of equipment and do not know what is covered or how they can go about recovering warranted items unless you go through the whole shop procedure. Others have people in service who are very customer oriented and know more about Canam warranty. It takes time and effort to complete the paperwork for small items that might be covered under warranty and it is easier to sell you a product at retail and maybe recover the warranty later?🤔

I haven't run the pedalmax but it looks like it modifies the throttle response. Depending on the model of machine you have; Canam has already provided you with a similar function called ITC (intelligent throttle control). My model the 2019 Defender XT Cab HD10 came with the switch on the dash that says eco/normal/work and can be switched between functions on the fly. I believe the different programs are explained in your operators manual. I have read that other models of Defender without the switch on the dash already have the wiring installed and all you need to buy is the switch from your dealer. Install the switch in the dash and connect the wiring. The switch does change the sensitivity of the throttle somewhat and how much you use it will depend on your driving style and the conditions that you use your machine in. FYI🤔

I will be installing the Dalton DBMT-1000-2 clutch kit, in the spring to bring my RPM back up to where it should be. The kit is pricey (not bad in $US) and includes a helix, spring and clutch arms. You can see my build in the builds section.🤔

Have you checked the coolant level in the bottle, if its low you may have had an air bubble in the system that has now worked itself out?🤔

That looks good, nice and high where it won't interfere with the hitch if you need to use it and won't drag if you are in the deep stuff.😉

On my machine shown in the build section I have 30x10x14 in the front and 30x11x14 in the rear with no spacers on stock rims. No rub when turning or compressing the suspension. The tires will seat on the bead no problem, I am not sure why you would want to go 10" on the back when stock are 11", you will lose flotation in the wet stuff? The fender flares keep the mud off the sides of the machine quite well.🤔

I haven't put on too many miles but so far so good. On the level I use Hi range and in the rougher stuff I use Low range. Where you notice the tire weight the most is on top end on the road, I only reached 58 mph corrected top end. In the spring I will probably install the Dalton clutch kit which includes helix, primary and secondary spring and clutch arms DBMT-1000-2. 🤔

Parts have been ordered, thanks again, Happy Holidays.😊

That's good news, can you post the link to the write up please that will be on my Christmas shopping list for sure. If the parts list is separate please post it as well, thanks.😊