can I replace my EBS CLUTCH WITH A NON-EBS clutch for my 2001 sportsman 500?

 

yes, but you have to do the secondary as well. How come? creeping at idle?

 

yes it is also not going into gear very easily. and the cost of a ebs clutch is outrageious. but if I have to change the secondary also I GUESS IT WOULD ALMOST EVEN OUT. thanks for the info.

 

A lot of times a simple blowing out of belt dust,checking the front clutch one way fiber and metal washers for wear and shimming out the rear clutch to better align with the front solves the creeping problem and hard shifting. 2001 and 2002 models seemed to be the worst on this and I did a lot of shimming. You can get these shims at any hardware store. Item #2. Same shim used on ebs and non ebs clutches.I kept a drawer full of them.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

I had the cover off and replaced the belt, but didn't help when I replaced the belt. haven't ever worked on one of these clutches, is there anything I should know?

 

If the belt is not centered on the one way bearing and touches the front clutch sheath(usually for me it was the inner one) the rear clutch will turn and make it hard to shift and will creep in gear. Look down at the clutches and you can see this while the engine is in neutral and at an idle. If the belt touches the inner sheath,the rear clutch can be shimmed out to compensate and allow the belt to ride more centered. Also check the side to side play on the one way bearing itself in the front clutch.Shouldn't be able to insert larger than a .020 feeler gauge between the one way and clutch sheath. If the washers are worn the belt can "walk" to the side and touch. Plus not a bad idea to check the front motor mount also for separation.It can cause alignment problems also. Just take a pry bar and lift to check it out.

 

You have to change the Secondary also?
I thought EBS was just a one way bearing on the primary.

 

Parts breakdown on the 2001 and 2002 Sportsman 500 models show both ebs and the non ebs drive and driven clutches. The only model that had the non ebs clutch was the EB or Worker model Sportsman 500. What's confusing is that they lump both driven clutch break down pics into one,I guess to save space. Worker models had the plain old ramp buttons and the ebs clutches had the clutch rollers instead and was a different style clutch and more expensive. Couple people posted that they tried to swap just the front clutch to a non ebs,but it didn't work too well with the rear last I heard. 2003 and later models have the pics right on the clutch parts break down as the Worker was discontinued. Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse http://www.cyclepartswarehouse.com/f...2001&fveh=5558 http://www.cyclepartswarehouse.com/f...003&fveh=30450

 

I had the same issue and fought with it for what seemed like forever. very frustrating. The first thing is to get alignment and offset right which is free. You can by the tool or just use a pc of keystock and measure. ( have to look it up but I believe its 5/8" offset) Next pull off primary and split. Change ptfe washer and brass washer ($5). roll sprauge brng and see how it feels should be smooth one way and not turn the other. Pull it off slowly and clean rollers with brake cleaner then lightly grease it and put it back. Some say never grease, but theres seals to keep dirt out and the rollers bite through grease no problem.

I actually bought a new one-way a couple years back when I had the problem and it didn't fix it $180, then I bought a used primary with less miles another $180 and no fix. I almost sold it then I tried some lube and new washers along with being critical on alignment and bingo, no more probs for 2 years. Although for the price I do change the ptfe washer every season.

Also see how the brass washer wears. On mine it benefitted from putting 2 brass washers in. The first one wore into the one-way creating a flush surface, then the second sits on top.

Its possible to get it right again and quite easily actually, I went through the same thing and was ready to give up, I was looking for non-ebs clutches too. I even broke a shift linkage it was so hard to switch and messed up a bendix as I would shut it off to shift all the time.

sorry for the punctuation, its sat night and have a new draft system in the man cave

 

Instructions I got from a good Polaris engineer was to get rid of the soft brass washer behind the one way as it would grind down and slowly bind up the action. I stocked up on the hard metal shims found in the non ebs rear clutches (same size as the brass) by his suggestion and this solved a lot of problems the brass washers caused. Item #8 (.025 thick) Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse