On take off, got to noticing a new rattle that continually got worse. Pulled the driven sheave apart and found the bushings in the movable plate worn out. This allows the sheave to wobble causing excessive belt wear, much noise, etc. As far as I can find out noone offers a replacement set of bushings so I'll have to order some material and make them myself because I refuse to pay $300+ for a new assy. The idea of a bushing is to have a wearable part that can be replaced without replacing a complete unit.

I would love to know of someone who offers these bushings if anyone has been down this road before please let me know as they are a pain to make. Thanks!

This is on an '02 Prairie 650

 

kaw sells the bushings they are called shoes and they are about 9.50 a piece and it takes 8 of them.i had to replace mine also .

 

A guy on this forum from Quebec bought a new bushing and pressed it in. Do a search and something should turn up; he had the dimensions listed also.

 

let us know what you find.

 

prariedog

The shoes are on the drive sheave not the driven. You can get the shoes for less then $6 at Ron Ayers.


Dangerous

I know I've heard NYROC talk about replaceing that bushing. Have you looked on his site? Good luck and let us know what you find out.

 

Prairiedog, you don't understand. There are 2 bushings inside the movable sheave of the driven clutch. These bushings are made of a mild steel and ride on the hardened center drive of the nonmovable sheave. As I learned over the weekend these bushings wearing prematurely have been the cause of a lot of belt and sheave replacements due to the fact that Kaw does not offer replacement bushings alone.

The original bushings are of a split design and noone offers a direct replacement. As I don't have a running lathe right now I called on a friend in a local machine shop to make and fit new bushings. I asked for no favors and he charged me the same as he would anyone else for this service. I would think anyone would be happier to pay a local machine shop $40 for a like new sheave as opposed to $389 to a dealer for a replacement clutch assy. Now guess what? The tranny is quieter now than it has been for a long time due to the closer tolerances causing less vibration.

In the process of this repair I acquired 2 sheaves from the dealer with no problems but worn bushings. As soon as I get my lathe motor repaired I'll refit these and put them on the shelf for future use along with the used belt I was given that is still in spec also.

Just a little note. If these bushings are worn when you try to measure belt deflection your measurments won't mean a thing. This is why a lot of belts are being unnecessarily replaced. The problem isn't so much with the belt being of poor quality as it is with the sheaves beating the belt to death due to improper fit of these bushings. My original belt has 2400mi. right now and is still within spec. With the clutch repair I should get 2400 more without replacement. Of coarse this is only my educated opinion. Time will tell the tail.

 

Kawasaki actually calls them oil seals, and they are not replaceable on the 02's, however they are replaceable on the 03's, I replaced my 02 driven clutch with the 03 and bought an extra set of oil seals. They are not all steel either, they have a rubber gasket which is the actual seal, and the rubber wears and causes the wobble you are talking about.

 

Swoopman you are correct in the fact that there are 2 oil seals present in the movable sheave but, the seals do nothing for supporting the sheave. Just inside the seals lies the bushings and they are what support the sheave, not the seals. The seals are of compound composition as are most seals but the bushings are mild steal on par with cold roll.

 

When i had my belt adjusted last, it was noticed that my bushings were getting bad. I have an extended warranty and i am going to see if i can get the sheave replaced. Should i be looking at getting a 03 sheave instead of an 02? also is it possible to get these bushings from someone?
thanks

 

Fireman650, let me know if you get it replaced under warranty. I asked my dealer, but he said it was a wear item and it was considered maintenance.