I installed the Heel Clicker clutch kit and my button went all to hell on my '99 Polaris Scrambler 500. The dealer said it takes a special tool and wated to charge $100.00 to replace them with me having the clutch already removed. Is it possible to do this myself? Are there special tools needed? Are there better buttons for the Drive clutch?

 

It is easy and You need a new dealer because they are trying to rip you off. Ok here is how you do it. First of all you need a very good pair of snapring pliers, not cheapos. With the clutch removed, place it upside down on something. Rotate the moveable sheave ccw and press the cam down while removing the snapring. Release the pressure on the cam slowly to prevent it from flying off due to spring pressure. OK. Before taking the cam out (this is very important) look at what holes in the cam the spring is in and write it down, you will have to know this later. Remove the cam, with the spring exposed look to see what hole the spring is in on the bottom of the clutch, write it down. You will see three black buttons in there, that is what you are after. They are held in place with torx head bolts. Remove the bolts, replace the buttons. Put the spring back in on the correct hole in the bottom. Place the Helix/cam on top of the spring in the correct hole. You will need help in the next step. With the clutch upside down, have someone hold the bottom sheave, turn the top sheave 1/3 turn ccw , while holding it in this position, push the cam/helix down and put on the snapring. Ok some notes here.... The shaft that the sheave goes on has a keyway of sorts and has to be lined up correctly to be pushed down, make sure it is aligned or you could damage the clutch. HPD has some heavy duty buttons if you want to go that route. The factory replacements are very cheap in price so it is up to you. Check the clutch after you get done to make sure you done it right by.... while holding the bottom sheave move the top sheave ccw, it should be very stiff, if not, you didn't turn it far enough before replacing the snapring. This sounds complicated, but it is very simple and can be done in a few minutes by an experienced person, so get a new dealer! If you run into any problems or have anymore questions, ask.

 

There aren't any buttons in the drive (primary) clutch, they're in the driven (secondary) clutch. If you already have the clutch removed. You can do it yourself, but take your time. A cheap trick is to lay a masking tape roll on the floor, then lay the rounded cone of the secondary clutch on that. Oh, almost forgot, get two different color permanant markers (this will sound funny, but work with me). On the side of the clutch that's facing up, you'll see a round section about 4" in diameter, that's the helix. The larger outer diameter is the inner sheave. Take one of the colored markers, and make aligning marks on both those parts. Now, you'll need a snap-ring plier standing by. Using your knee, and watching your balance, kneel on the edge of the helix, you'll feel it compress. Being very careful, remove the snap-ring at the center of the helix. There's a stout spring under that helix pushing up, so be careful. Use one hand to stabilize the raising of the helix, and use your other hand to squeeze the two sheaves, they're gonna want to spin as you let up on the helix. Let them sping slowly, and very carefully let up on the helix. Once your up all the way, and the sheaves are done spinning, take your other colored marker, and make a different color mark on the sheave where the original helix mark stopped. You will see the buttons, they're screwed in. HPD sells some heavy duty units. Assemble in reverse of disassembly...watch your marks, cause you've gotta wind that sheave back the other way.

 

Oooops posting at the same time. How's that for help! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

LOL Modquad, I was wondering while I was typing all of that if someone else was typing the same thing... Guess so. Hey that marker idea is a good one and for a first timer It is much easier to have some help holding, but at least we got both ways covered. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

There are buttons in the primary clutch and they wear out much faster than the secondary buttons. First, Dennis Kirk has a rebuilt kit for $100 that has every wear item you need to replace. I just did this a few weeks ago on my '99 Scrambler 500. You do need a special tool to loosen the spider and torque it back to 200 ft lbs (very tight). You also need something to hold the clutch while you do this. I broke the spider loose trying to press the clutch off the drive shaft. The spider is the three fingered piece that the buttons are in. That half of the clutch where the belt rides will unscrew. Take out the six cover bolts (careful, spring pressure). Use the special tool to unscrew the spider, then you can easily get to the buttons. The kit I told you about has many bushings and other wear items. Once into the clutch it is all strait forward, remove and replace. Be careful putting the main clutch pieces back together as they are balanced (cover, spider, half belt sheve) and the balance is identified by an X on each piece, line these up. My dealer removed the clutch and torqued the spider for me all for free.
Last step of course, put it all back together and ride it like you stole it!

 

You are right, I forgot about the Torque Transfer Buttons in the Primary clutch. I have to question why they would wear out faster than the cam buttons in the secondary. The cam buttons receive full torque while the torque transfer buttons only deal with sliding and not torque. If your Primary buttons are wearing out that fast, then you obviously have another problem. So, BigTate, is it the front clutch (primary) or the rear (secondary) clutch with the bad buttons??

 

I would find a differant dealer!The shop I deal with changed my primary buttons for $25 when I took the clutch to him.

 

The guys already gave real good instructions on replacing the rear clutch buttons, so I have nothing to add there.

The FRONT clutch buttons do take a special tool, and the spider is on VERY tight. It is pretty straightforward to rebuild the front clutch, once you get the spider loose. I would use a magic marker to mark the alignment of each piece before you remove it, though. Those little x marks can be hard to find sometimes.
A few things to note on the front clutch:
There are 6 buttons, 3 sets of 2 in the front clutch. On some clutches, there is an O-ring underneath one of each of these pairs. If that is the case with your machine, be sure to put them in the same place.

The bolts that hold the weights on are designed to run 'loose', so don't worry about that, but all the bolt heads need to be oriented the same way, so note how they came out, and put them back the same way.

If you have very many miles on your machine, you should probably go with a full rebuild kit, instead of just the buttons. With enough use, the pins & rollers the weights run against get worn, too.

I have replaced many rear clutch buttons, but only have ever did a front clutch once. At 5500 miles, I put in new rear buttons, and the front clutch was as tight as new. 7300+ miles now, and still no indication of needing new front buttons yet. However, I am told if you ever get water in the belt housing, and don't clean it out REALLY good, that wears the buttons out fast.

Farmr

 

Another Ooops! wow, must've been that pasta last night. Feelin a little gasssssy...like I don't already have enough hot air. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] That spider does have monster torque. Just messed around with different shims.