I'll be trying to figure this out again on Monday (first opportunity I'll have).

I'm going to run it a bit more to see if the belt settles in. I didn't have a good chance to run it after changing the belt cause it was pouring rain.

Does the "belt deflection" setting need to be re-adjusted every so often?........or does it stay put once set?

Anybody else have thoughts?

Bob

 

Well I figured it out.

I opened up the secondary and it turns out that there are three little plastic/polymer wear tabs that screw into the housing that the helix ramps ride on and they were completely worn out. I bought three new tabs and a new helix because the old one got a little bit of metal to metal wear. The wear tabs just screw into the housing and they were about $3 each and the new helix was $43. Not bad..... and it's really a pretty simple job. The hardest part is getting the snap ring/C-clip off to allow dissassembly.

When it became obvious to me that it wasn't the belt........I just had to start looking elsewhere. The primary seemed to be working perfectly.......but when I would spin the secondary I heard something small clinking around. It was pieces of the little wear tabs.

Thank you all for your troubleshooting ideas.

The good thing about this is that it's basically a cheap and easy fix......but also, I'm now very confident about the operation of the whole set-up and will not hestitate to install a clutch kit myself or "tweak" it with different springs etc.......

Bob

 

That is good news, wonder why it is worn with so few miles on it, could it be the fact that you drive like a speed freak on crack [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Maybe not, but with your riding style you might want to think about getting yourself a nice new 500 HO EFI in October !!! Keep me posted

Bill

 

HEY!!!!............I resemble that remark!!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

Does you SP400 not have EBS? Because the HP2003 is the belt I have on my non EBS SP500.

 

Hey man, my uncles 04' Sp 400 had the same exact problem and we got stuck on the trails with it but got it back.... tried a new bet and fixed it a little but still not all the way.... took it to the dealer and it was the BUTTONS in the clutch... the dealer fixed it for 60 bucks and all is well, the BUTTONS are only about 4 bucks from the dealer if you wanted to buy them and install them yourself. The rest of the 60 bucks came from the 1 hour of service it took the mechanic to fix it!!! definately replace the BUTTONS and you will be good to go.

 

Yup........did the job yesterday. Replaced the buttons and also the Helix because it got worn. The 3 buttons were $3 a piece and the Helix was $43. It was an easy job once I figured out what it was. I also polished the Helix ramps to be super smooth. I figure this will help the new buttons last longer.

My machine does not have EBS. I installed a new Dayton HP2003 belt.

Went for a 32 mile ride last night and all is back to normal.

Bob

 

so with worn out buttons the belt feels real jerky huh... sounds like i should take a look at mine

 

I think now that I've been through this I'll just consider the buttons a maintenance item like brake pads to be replaced every so often when needed. I now know the symptoms leading up to it and it'll give you about 5 or 6 hours of ride time with the slight "slipping" sensation prior to getting so bad that it won't go up a hill and developes the "herky jerky" feel when the buttons start dissintergrating totally.

This happened to my Sportsman at 1 year of use (got it May 2004) and about 650 miles / 85 hours. The buttons are easy to replace. It takes more time to pull/re-install the cover and footwell. When I got my new Helix I thought it looked a bit "rough". There were still casting imperfections all over it and the ramps themselves were rough from casting imperfections. I took a file and very lightly removed any burs. I then put a polishing wheel on my power drill with some polishing compound and polished out the ramps so they were silky smooth. I figure this has got to help the buttons last longer.

It's now running fine and I'm just glad to be Back in the saddle again [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Common reason for breaking the ramp buttons is jumping with the throttle on during landing. To save the buttons from damage it's suggested that once your airborn you let off the throttle until after you land. That greatly reduces the stress on the clutch AND tranny.