Both of my '03 Ozarks have some slippage in the auto-clutch. Sadly, they are also both out of warranty. Haven't gotten a service manual yet, so my question is:

1. Can the auto-clutch be tightened up or otherwise adjusted?

2. If so, how is it done?
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If they are like most auto-clutch ATV's, there should be a slotted stud with a lock nut on the right side of the motor (as you are sitting on it). with the words "decrease" and "increase", with my Yamaha, you loosen the nut,turn the slot counterclockwise until you feel resistance, then back off 1/8th turn, then lock it down while holding it steady. With hard use, or over a long period, the slack in the tension of an auto clutch will need to be tightened up, I'm surprised ones so new would need that, mine holds fine for years at a time. If resetting the tension won't stop the slipping, you will need to have the clutch pack looked at. Any adjustment procedures should hopefully be in the owners manual that came with your quads.

 

it is on the right side and its a circle and an allen key takes it off but just loosen the allen key fitting and not the three bolts around it, screw it off and youll see a bolt and a nut first you loosen the nut a bit, then you loosen the bolt with a phillips head screwdriver until theres no tension then go back to where you feel tension, i would recomend you finding exactly where it gets tension and leave it there and tighten the locknut, it seems to work first time everytime for me

 

Dang man! I never knew that! I'm going out to the garage right now! My clutch slips like crazy sometimes. I have to let off the gas for a few seconds to let it fully engage.

 

You didnt say what type of oil you use.
if you didnt put in atv/motorcycle specific oil,designed for wet clutches...that would cause clutch slippage.
and when you do the clutch adjustment, make sure the motor is cold.

 

is this the same for the z=250

 

I am currently running Castrol Syntec 10W-40. Since this is a "synthetic" that is possibly slippier than the factory oil, maybe that is why I am getting clutch slippage. I didn't think the autoclutch was a wet clutch design that came into contact with the engine oil, but I don't really know. At any rate, the oil I used was rated for the application. The owners manual says to use a motor oil that is rated SF or SG and Castrol Syntec is. Interestingly, the slippage did not start until somethime after changing the oil.

 

Any oil that has "energy conserving" on it has additives to cut friction, this will get into the clutch material and cause it to slip after a little while. You may want to buy some 4 stroke wet clutch rated oil, change oil, run it for a while to get it good and hot, drain it out and put fresh wet clutch oil in, this may help flush out the "car" oil that could be causing your problems. It is usually best to stick with ATV rated oils, they are formulated to work in the rather harsh engine/transmission environment, it tends to break down a standard oil very fast.

 

Being synthetic doesnt hurt a thing, i run pure synthetic oil all year around. What hurts the clutch is the molybenum in the modern oils. If it has the star burst(energy saving) symbol on the can....dont use it.

 

dont forget to put a bit of oil on the o ring