I have about 650 miles on my 04.5 Sportman 400. It has been flawless up till now. I noticed what seemed to me to be the belt slipping. It seemed to be a very gradual process that happened and then got worse over the course of about 4 to 6 hours of riding varied terrain. It would rev higher under hard acceleration (certainly more than normal) and slowly and smoothly "grab" again when I let off the throttle slightly. It got worse to the point finally where it would not climb even a little hill. "Slipping" is the best way to describe what was happening. I figured the belt was done and needed to be replaced. I bought a Dayton HP 2003 belt which is a direct replacement for the stock OEM Polaris 3211077 belt and installed it yesterday. Now the machine seems to be "grabbing" in a herky-jerky fashion on initial throttle from a stop, to the point of bogging the engine......but will also "slip" a little bit as well. Once up to speed it will run full speed without any perceived slippage........but at a somewhat lower RPM than I'm used to seeing.

The old belt looked good......although it may have been worn thin width-wise......I don't know. When I pulled the cover the entire housing, belt, sheaves and everything was as clean as a whistle.

Is belt "break-in" a possible cause for the "herky-jerky"/bogging/slipping starts I'm getting?........or has anybody else experienced what I'm describing?

Thanks, Bob

 

Did you know the belts are directional?

Jim

 

is this true on all belts?????

 

Yes, i believe so.

There is either an arrow of direction or put it on so the lettering is upright and readable.

Jim

 

Backinthesaddleagain,
I read on a bunch of different posts that the Dayton or Daco Belt is not as good as the Polaris Belt (even though one of them probably make the belt for Polaris). The besrt deal on the Polaris belt is to buy the Maintenance kit which comes with a belt, 2 qts of oil, and oil filter and clutch cover seal......

Make sure you use low when necessary, excessive heat will destroy your clutch........

ZMan079

 

speaking of a destroyed clutch, the way yours is sounding is what happened to mine, soon it wouldnt go over 40 mph. it all ended up being a bearing in my primary clutch shot.

 

What you posted does not sound like a belt problem, It should have been smoking and smell realy bad if it was the belt.

 

I agree. When our last belt was slopping, it smoked slightly, and their was definite wear.

 

Hi Bob
That doesn't sound good :-( I know the Polaris belts are directional, not sure on the one you got. Might as well try turning it around. Not sure if you have any place dry to work on it or not but feel free to bring it over my house and we can pull it in the garage and take a look, I hear it is going to rain for the next three days.Good for mud riding but bad for working on the things. Let me know.

 

Hello all and thanks for the replies.

Yes the belt is directional and lettered on the top outside of the belt with the part # and directional arrows. I installed it so that the arrows point towards the primary on the top and towards the secondary on the bottom. This means the arrows are pointing in a counter-clockwise direction and I figured that counter-clockwise is the correct rotation. If I got it backwards then that would be the most obvious thing......but I think I installed it in the correct direction. I'll obviously have to double check and look for other causes as well.

With the "slipping" sensation I was getting before I changed the belt there was no smoke what-so-ever.

Hi Bill........if you're going to be around on Saturday I think I'll take you up on your offer to bring it over and the both of us can have a look. It's got me stumped.