I went by Nyroc's recommendations and the service manual. The thing is on too tight. The holes where I put the socket to hold the sheave busted out. The manual said it is right hand threaded. I hope it was correct.

The black EPI should be here tomorrow and my belt deflection is 1.26 inches. I was trying this myself because the dealer swears there is nothing wrong with my squealing belt even in low range and stock size tires.

Anyone know what a new sheave will cost???? or if they are likely to stock one?
Would it hurt to drive it with the sides of the holes busted out?

 

I DON'T RECOMMEND DOING THIS, and I know it is too late now, but if you have to do it yourself and you don't have the right tool, use two posts to bind up the sheave instead of only one and the stress on the posts will be much less. Just use two sockets with extensions and another long extension or screwdriver to jam them. I won't detail the statics of it, but whatever lb-ft of force you use on the main nut, I don't remember the torque spec., mutiply that by about 10 and that is the stress put on the post using the one-post method. Using two posts will cut this stress by less than half. WARNING! The mechanic at the shop "freaked out" when I told him how I removed the sheave even using two posts. He said that I could have easily overstressed the post and created a small crack in the casting too small to even see. Then later when I am riding, it can fail and send a small chunck of casting into the CVT system and cause serious damage and maybe even a lock-up!. I am replacing my outer sheave just for safeties sake, so use this technique at your own risk.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. It looks like I will be waiting for about a week now for a new sheave. One dealer I called was very helpful, he said I may want to try an impact wrench to get it off.

I may just have to bite the pillow as my dealer services the machine, then my wallet.

 

A new sheave is $179. So be careful!

 

jlpier, I am not sure if you supported the socket in the sheave hole correctly. I don't think the holes would break that easy unless the socket was allowed to freely apply bending forces to the hole. If you don't cancel the twisting forces (bending force, for you engineers) you will produce the most stress on the weakest part of the hole (the edge), and break it.

If you did support the socket correctly, then I guess the nut was on really tight.

The trick with using a socket(s) and screwdriver to hold the pulley is stabilizing the socket with a long extension using your other hand (or friend) so there are no twisting forces. The Kawi tool just uses two of the holes, but is is build in a way that it generates very little twisting forces.

I usd a pneumatic impact wrench to remove mine, since things take much more torque to remove than put back.

I am kinda anxious to know if you feel that you supported the socket correctly, cuz if you did, maybe I will make a tool just like kawi's so it won't generate as much force on the holes.

 

The socket in the hole was allowed to bend some. I had 9 inches of extension on it, but was using a 24" breaker bar in the 27mm nut. I guess I could not hold it straight enough. The dealer here said that they do put locktite on it. Did yours have any?

I was so anxious to get the new EPI spring on, I even copied your spring compressor in our machine shop yesterday, I was looking forward to using it.

 

Yes, mine had loctite on it.

I added some cautionary words to that tech tip, it warns people not to loosen it and to support the socket well. I guess I had not put much thought into loosening since I always grab the impact wrench.

 

Just got back from the dealer at lunch to make sure they had the correct part ordered. I asked about using an impact wrench. The response "we never use a air wrench on em, you might break somthin".

I swear I bought quads to enjoy our free time on, not to work on. I am really trying to calm down before I sell it and put that money towards a Grizzly.

 

some dealer say things like that to keep from having to tell you the real facts.

True, inexperienced mechanics can break stuff with an impact wrench, maybe that's why your dealer never uses it.

I have been using them for 15 years and have not screwed anything up with them.


Grizzlies are great quads, nice clearance and soft ride. But, if you are selling the 650 because you think the grizzly will have less troubles, you should rethink. They have their fair share of problems ( more troubles than the 650, if my friend's experience with his 660 is a good indicator).

They all break, you either have to get good at fixing, or ride it like you (and the quad) are 110 years old. All the failures on my 650 have been caused by me. I hit something once, rolled it once, or put something bad in the coolant. My 650 has not had a single problem that could be kawasaki's fault. My belt wore out at 700 miles, but if I had listened to everyone about driving in low range, I would have gotten many more miles out of it.

 

I know, I rode them both before making the tough decision to go with the Kawa and I don't regret it.

It is going to be too hot this weekend anyway, may just sip on some Scotch and watch TV.