Hey guys, new to this forum, hoping somebody out there might have some insight on a problem I have with my 1997 polaris xplorer 500. Had it out icefishing and experienced what I thought was a broken drive belt. Got it home and turns out the belt had gotten twisted around somehow and was on backwards. Popped a new one on and it seemed a little loose. Shop guide says 1 1/8 inch deflection when pressed "lightly", hard to measure because the belt is retainig the shape from packaging, but mine seems to be between 1 1/8-1 1/4 at most, is this excessive? I saw a guy on youtube that was putting a belt on a polaris and it snapped on, mine didn't it kind of flopped on. So I'm thinking my belt flipped around because it was loose and I need to adjust my shims? Also, when i had the clutch cover off, there were marks worn in it where the clutch was touching it? They seemed to be from the center of the clutch unit, but they were slightly rear of the big circular space where the clutch sould sit?? I'll try to post some pics soon. Could this have been caused by a loose drive belt or something else? I ordered a new clutch cover due to the grooves and also some melting damage sustained when the belt flipped. Are the shims hard to deal with? It looks a little intimidating in the shop guide, and I'm not sure if I understand there directions. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

a good way to check belt wear is to see how far it rides above the rim of the secondary. should usually be about 1/8" above the rim of the clutch. measure the distance from center of the bolts on the clutches. should be 10".
find something thin and long enough to go from one clutch to the other. stick it behind the back of the drive clutch. should touch the rear of the driven clutch and a small gap between your guide and the front part of the driven clutch.

 

Hey there MtLion,Welcome to the forum.LOL
I dont know much about drive belt issues so I ca`nt be of much help there.
I had been wondering what ever happened with the belt issue on Your machine.
How was Mooter`s Dads pickup door after it got racked with the auger?
Sounds like a trip to the Peck might be in order real soon so Ya better get that machine of Yours up and runnin. LOL
Plans are for the first trip weekend after this.GD already made a trip over there and posted some pics of some real nice fish on the shanty.Why am I telling You this?You already beat Me to the punch of keeping them TRASH fish.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Check your motor mounts

 

Thanks for the tips guys, belt is 1/8 in above the rim and the pulleys are 10 in apart. Still don't know why the clutch was rubbing on the cover...

Check out this youtbe vid, at the end the guy says your secondary shouldn't be spinning when in neutral and idling, but mine is....Anyone know what the deal is w/ that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_HhKSY3Ro8

 

either your idle is up too high or your drive clutch is not disengaging properly.

 

The older clutch cover warp, I had to replace the one on my 97 also. Ditto on the idle or primary clutch needs some work There are also buttons in the secondary that need replaced .

 

OK so I found another video, and I was a little confused. In neutral it should be spinning, but not spinning when in gear and just idling, so I'm OK there. My cover doesn't appear warped, but it's getting replaced due to the other damage. I'm just concerned about the clutch hitting the cover at this point, I'll try to post some pics tonight of where it rubbed. Could this have happened when the belt got flipped around?

 

i wouldnt think it could have gotten hit when the belt flipped. i agree with ftwflh that you should check your motor mounts. if they break apart it will let the motor wiggle around causing all sorts of wierd stuff. could also be the reason why your belt flipped

 

OK so...checked the motor mounts all were tight. I took some pics of where the clutch was rubbing in two places as well as some vid of my belt when it's running in neutral and one of me depressing the belt, is it loose? Any clue on the rubbing on the clutch case? Everything seems solid and I don't know why it happened.

Clutch cover:




Belt vids:
http://s123.photobucket.com/al...iew&current=012-1.flv


http://s123.photobucket.com/al...view&current=009-1.flv