Please excuse my ignorance..this is my first ranger and everyone I know that has one doesn't work on them themselves so they arent much help.

In another thread, I mentioned that I had some dragging and was kinda hard to shift. Tonight I took the clutch cover off and started it up...

First question - at idle, should the belt be spinning the secondary clutch? I figured the belt wouldnt really move and the secondary wouldnt be spinning? I can stop it with my foot, although I'm not sure how hard it should be to stop.

With the machine running, I can't really tell if the belt is centered or not. Both sides of the belt are touching the sides of the clutch, so I can't tell..

Now, when I turn it off, this is what the primary looks like. Is this diagnostic, or not really?

 

On my two CVT machines that I have owned the belt did not move when siting at idle..belt centering needs to be looked at with machine running, see if belt is in a straight line between the two clutches.

 

Belt should not be touching either side of the drive sheaths while in neutral at an idle. This can be because you may need to add shims behind the rear clutch so the clutch can align with the front or a simple blowing out of accumulated belt dust in both clutches can help open up drive clutches more. Driven clutches may spin a little,but if you'e able to stop it with your foot with little effort,shouldn't be a big deal. If you still have problems,I'd rip off both clutches and have the bushings,guide buttons,ramp or rollers in the rear clutch replaced.

 

Thanks. The belt is definitely touching the sides at idle. As soon as I start the machine, the outer part of the primary slides in and grabs the belt.

I removed one shim from behind the secondary, and now when I kill the engine, the belt is centered between the two sheaves. But it doesn't solve my problem while its running.

I also found out from the previous owner that this is a cheap aftermarket belt, and its been creeping and shifting kinda hard for a while now, so I also went ahead and ordered a new OEM belt to see if that helps with my problem a little as well.

The machine still seems like its idling high, so maybe that is part of the problem as well - I will reset the base TPS setting tonight. I checked for intake leaks and couldn't find any. Also not sure how exactly you test the RPMs because there is no tach on the machine.

 

Checked the TPS this afternoon and the base voltage was .560 something. Adjusted that back to .528 and then set the idle adjustment screw to .710 and it definitely idles slower...

So I decided to pull off the clutch cover and see if the primary was still grabbing, which it was. I pulled the primary off to see if it needed cleaning or anything and the two bushings that are supposed to be teflon were wore completely to brass..so those are going to need to be replaced...which got me thinking more about your last message...

Can you tell me which parts you were specifically talking about when you say "bushings, guide buttons, ramp, or rollers"? I've never rebuilt a clutch like this before so I'm not sure what should all be replaced...

Thank you again!

 

#1 and 4 on the drive clutch along with 6 guide buttons#10. Rear clutch has a bushing also,but doesn't show the rest of the parts inside. If the bushings are worn down to the brass they need to be replaced.This could be a big part of your problem along with the different belt. This is something I'd let a dealer do as the they have the tools to drive out and pull in new bushings. You could damage them at home.Plus they can replace any other worn parts needed in both clutches.

 

OPT-

I took the clutches over to a tech and he told me that while there isn't any teflon showing on those bushings, everything else looks good and it definitely wouldn't be causing my clutch engagement problem.

So I went home and tried it again. At first, the machine wouldn't even idle, so I tested the TPS voltage again and it was like .73 something. So in order to get it back down to .710, I would've had to turn the idle down even more, so I knew something wasn't right. So I back the screw all the way back out and the base voltage isnt .528 anymore. I can't remember what it was, but was off by .2 or .3. So I get it set back to .528, then back to the idle screw and got it set back to .710, although if I rotate the throttle body a little, I can get the voltage to change..so I made sure I got it to .710 while everything was set about where the throttle body needed to be... seemed to idle fine then. There's no tach on my machine so I don't know exactly what it was at, but just going off of how it sounds, but the clutch is no longer engaged while at idle, so that seems to be fixed.

Is the TPS voltage thing always that finicky?

 

Tps sensor has a spring inside that controls the throttle body valve return to full stop position. If you turn a sensor too far back and forth you can damage the internal spring making the sensor hard to get a correct setting. IF you have a decent idle now,clutches aren't causing shifting problem,then leave it as is..That's what's happened a lot when people brought machines into me that they had tampered with the tps.Most of the time I ended up replacing them.

 

Thank you again. When I set the base voltage, I knew it didnt take much to change the numbers (especially the little amount I had to change), so I moved it about a millimeter, so the spring should still be alright.

I'll put a little clear nail polish down in the idle adjustment screw so it doesnt move and hopefully it stays right where its at.