This weekend I was blasting through powder drifts with my Praire 650, I was having a blast. The P650 goes through a ton of snow. I had one problem though, the snow dust keeps getting into the intake of the CVT and making my belt slip. This doesn't happen when driving through normal snow just the big drifts that are made out straight powder. Anyways my question is how do I stop the powder snow from entering my CVT intake? Thanks.

 

bbert,
I recently noticed a similar problem when I cross a shallow (1 foot deep) river at fast speeds. While I never have any belt slippage going slow through (relatively) deep water, I did notice belt slippage when racing a friend through the river. I quickly determined that the water was splashing up and into the CVT intake whenever I drove through the water a fast pace. Of course, the easy solution is to simply drive through the river at a normal pace (say 10 mph or less). A better solution might be to extend the snorkel to a higher location. Because the "great" state of TX is banning quads and Jeeps on most TX rivers beginning Jan 1, 04 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img], I am not going to bother installing a snorkel on my quad.

Another suggestion might be to install a thin screen that I've read about on this (and other forums). Apparently there is a type of screen that allows air to pass through, but not snow/water. I think I read about it on this forum and its supposedly used on the air or CVT intake for snow mobiles. Since I live in TX, I can honestly say I no nothing about those machines!

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I was told by my dealer to tie a stretched nylon with a rubber band around
the intake. Have'nt tried it yet; no snow yet. But it's comming .


__________________________


P 650 red
holeshot module
Dalton springs
ITP cast alum. rims
full equiped with everything

 

I'm just wondering if a filter on the intake will create a layer of ice after awhile, this would cause lots of problems I think. The heat would melt the snow powder ontop of the filter and create an ice layer after long periods of riding in powder snow.

 

Brent... I agree, however it is unlikely that the CVT filter would freeze during use... heat of the engine exhaust etc...

I regularly filter my CVT air with an adaptor that I made from the hardware store... I use airconditioner foam as filter media, with a coarse heavy screen backing it...

I would be afraid that the rubber band idea would work, untill either the rubber band broke, & or the nylon got sucked into the snorkle... then its into the fan for the CVT...

what I used, was a plumbing PVC weld to compression fitting adaptor... the weld end can be PVC welded to the snorkle, & on the compression end, I cut the screen & fliter media to fit inside the screw on collar ( removed the wedge shaped compression ring )... the filter media fits into the collar, with the screen on top of it, so that when screwed on, the screen keeps the filter media from being sucked into the CVT... there are several types of foam available, in different degrees of filtering... there is also spray on filter charger, that will help the filter trap finer particles of dust... the thicker foams, should help with snow...

mostly what I end up cleaning out of the filter is weeds & weed seeds...LOL...

 

BBertram,
Is there a sled shop near you they will have a type of screen material that lets in air but not snow or water give it a try.

 

I will check into that, thanks for the ideas guys.

 

Why not just take a precharger for a K&N style air filter and stick it on the end? I plan to do that with mine and then zip tie it on!

 

That just might work. Is the intake for the CVT easily accessed? I don't want it to be a pain in the *** if I have to remove it now and again because its clogged up. I also found out the filter alltoys was talking about is called a Powder Snow Pre-filter, it could very well be the same thing as the K&N Prefilter and it doesn't cost very much.

 

I wouldn't cover my belt snorkle because you might damage the clutch if it doesn't get the air it needs. Now I've gone through snow quite a bit and my machine didn't response like this at all. Now first try transmission fluid sprayed on with a mix with water through a garden hose sprayer all over your front end DO NOT SPRAY DOWN YOUR INTAKE. this will make the snow not stick as much. Also a quick vist to a rust check company could also help. If I did somthing radical to my intake I would do what they did on sleds first. Also I feel the driving habits also pays a role here, if you slow down when turning you get less snow dust flying. My 589 28" might also pay a factor because they don't spin as much.