2004 ranger 500 4x4. Bought at auction in September 2015. Changed oil, spark plug, belt, fluids, carburetor slide and cleaned carburetor. Everything seemed to work great for about 3 days and 50 miles. Then had a belt burn up and disintegrate. Since then I have replaced primary clutch (niche brand) using Polaris blue/green spring and stock weights. Rebuild the shift gears and replaced shift shaft. Replaced and adjusted shifter cable. Trans goes through the gears fine with engine off. Engine running it will go in gear but will not come back out of gear. Cleaned driven clutch and replaced ramp buttons. Had 2 spacers behind clutch and 2 shims between the sheaves. Had too much belt deflection, removed 1 shim and recheck. Shaft to shaft is 10 inches. Removed spacers and added spacers behind clutch. Have 5 spacers now. With old worn out belt it does work better, new belt will not release. Put in gear or stop driven clutch from spinning and the engine dies. It seems like the primary clutch doesn't open enough to let the belt slip? Don't know what my next move should be. Help!

 

This can happen with miss matched clutches although the Niche looks similar to oem.Plus don't over look separated/weak engine mounts than can cause clutch alignment to get off. I'd replace the internal shim you removed from the rear clutch as it still sounds belt is too tight if you can shift gears. Plus if you're running an aftermarket belt that can cause fitment problems also. Most are too wide. Oem belts are expensive,but the best way to go. Plus may just need to get out and drive it at varying speeds. May help break in that new clutch.

 

Put the extra shim back in between the sheaves and still barely tolerable with old belt. Goes in gear, wont come back out of gear. New belt that burned up was Polaris belt 3211077, new belt I have now is Polaris 3211077. Old belt is Gates and the only reason it sorta works is because its worn down on the sides. With 2 shims between the sheaves it has LOTS of belt deflection, afraid it would get into the cover if I put it back on. When its in gear it wont release tension on the sides of the belt, even after I stop the engine. I have to rock the vehicle to get it out of gear when I shut the engine off. Is there a shim or spacer in the primary clutch that may have the sheaves too close together? Or maybe needs to wear in?

 

On the oem drive clutch there are two shims.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse Not sure on the Niche clutch.. Only way to tell is to remove the spider. If it does you could possibly remove one and see how it does then.