Hello,
Hope someone can help. I have a 1999 Polaris 400 Xplorer. Somewhere around 3000 miles on it, so I pulled the clutch cover to have a look around.

The Drive Clutch had deep groves worn into it near the bases of the sheaves. The Drive belt was worn below minimums.

I Installed a NEW drive clutch and transferred the springs over from the old one. I reninstalled it with washers in the same position. Then I installed a brand new belt from Polaris.

My machine doesn't want to stop moving very well now at idle. The idle is set properly, but it is obvious the clutches are dragging on the belt at idle. I suspect this is an old problem for this particular machine, which is why the old drive clutch was worn so deep.

What do I need parts wise and how do I adjust my clutches/ belt to keep them from dragging at idle??? It seems as if I need my Drive Clutch opened up a little more? Maybe?

I have the aftermarket service manual and couldn't find any help in there.

REALLY appreciate it.

Thanks,
John

 

In neutral look at where the belt is riding in the front clutch while the engine is at idle. If it's touching either side of the clutch sheaths,the rear clutch can be moved in or out by removing /adding spaces behind it. If the belt is riding /touching the inside of the front clutch,spacers need to be added to the rear clutch to align the belt in the center to keep it from excess drag on the rear clutch.If it's touching the outside sheath,spacers need to be removed. Plus check for any movement in the engine(broken front motor mounts)that could be putting tension on the belt.Does the (front) drive clutch push in and out fully and comes back out flush with the mounting bolt? Plus did you replace the ramp buttons in the rear clutch? Clutch dragging on the old 2 strokes usually wasn't a problem,it mainly happened on the EBS 4 strokes. OPT

 

OPT,

Thanks for your quick response!
Interesting, so you're leaning toward alignment.
I'm 3000 miles from my ATV today, so I soon as I get back to it I will tear in and post what I find. I did NOT replace the ramp buttons in the rear clutch and I'll take that to mean that you think I should have, so I'll order some up. Sounds like I should order up some rear clutch spacers too.
From the sounds of it, there isn't anything I can do to "open" up the front clutch more during the times it isn't engaged. Right?

I forgot to add, the original reason I went in to take a look at the clutch and the belt was because the clutch was rubbing on the cover. I thought maybe the rubber gasket behind the clutch was failing, but that all looked good, so I went back to using a ty wrap attached to the air intake (on the cover) attached to the frame above it to pull the cover a little higher up and away from the clutch. Don't know if this matters or not, but wanted to mention it. (front clutch was the one rubbing, by the way)

Thanks again,
John

 

These old covers were bad about heating up and distorting,rubbing on the front clutch. You can try to move the small "L" bracket at the bottom of the backing plate cover out to see if it helps on the rubbing or go with the newer style covers. As long as the front clutch pushes in and retracts all the way out flush with the mounting bolt,then sounds like the clutch is alright. A few shims might come in handy also for the rear clutch alignment if needed. OPT

 

OPT,

Thank You!! You put me on the right road to getting this fixed. I pulled my side cover and couldn't see any alignment problem visually. So....I said what the hell I had already bought two shims. I pulled the secondary and installed them both! The belt dragging problem is MUCH better now!
I reinstalled the cover, but that little bit more that secondary was out was making it rub my warped cover pretty bad.

I removed the cover and took a heat gun to the area warped in and then pushed it back into position with the end of a 2x4. Worked GREAT!!

No more rubbing!

Thanks again.

John

 

That's why I kept a drawer full of shims at all times. I was always aligning clutches,plus these same shims can replace the brass washer in the ebs clutches when they wear down also and are a lot tougher. Like your clutch cover fix If it does it again,just get a newer model used one on Ebay.