Apex chewing belts. Pics enclosed

[rangermaxx]

I'll try to make this as short as possible. 2010 Apex LTX GT. Machine has worked well until now, at 7200km (~4500 miles) my sled started acting strange upon take off. So I take the old belt off and it has about a 2-3 inch chunk out of it in one spot. I think nothing of it because hey the belt has over seven thousand km on it. I swap it out , ride home, both the clutch sheaves looked good.

Next day, I go out for a short ride, machine works well. Load it back onto the trailer (the same way I have been loading it for 2 years now) and the belt just starts smoking with hardly any throttle applied as I am trying to creep it up maybe another foot onto the trailer. I have always loaded it the same way but today it was smoking a lot. I immediately stopped once the smoke started coming off the belt. I get the sled home, take it off the trailer and put it in the garage on a stand. I remove the new belt at this point (machine has 7600km on it now or ~4700miles) and the new belt has a similar sized bite out of the same spot and the edges seem glazed. It hasnt broke by any means but you can tell something is chewing on it. I cleaned up both clutch sheaves with a red scotch brite pad. There was a lot of rubber stuck to them so it took a while to remove it. I had cleaned them both up, put the *new* belt back on (the one with 400km), ran it for a few mins on the stand observing the clutches, both seemed to be working as they are supposed , but I dont know anything about clutches.

I take the belt off again, and there is rubber starting to form on the sheaves already after maybe a few minutes of running on the stand. At this point I am unsure of what to do. I havent cleaned any of the clutches on the machine since ive owned it. I was reading a little bit about it last night and I need to buy a tool for removing the primary to try to clean it. My sled has a Ulmer Racing clutch on the secondary but it has been on there since I have owned the machine with no problems until now.

Does anyone have any insight as to what could be causing these issues all of a sudden.

Thanks

Chris

Old Belt



New Belt








Clutch pics





More Rubber after only running for a few min





A lot of pics, but I figured more might help

 

[number1kyster]

I bet you have a bad bearing in the driveline. My Apex was smoking belts on take off and it ended up being a bad jackshaft bearing.

 

[YammyRX1]

X2- try to rotate the drive train with the belt off and see if there is resistance and if so, find it. Could be a bad bearing or something else in the chaincase or something in the skid.

 

[rupprider]

Frozen up track? Parking brake?

 

[Riceburner]

First belt was old & beat & disintegrated.

Second belt you burnt up loading on the trailer.

The two are unrelated IMHO.

Cause of burning up unknown but suggestions above are good.

 

[vx700xtc]

Check the sliding bi-metal bushings in the secondary. If the secondary is binding it will eat belts.

 

[Grimm]

You could have broken springs and/or slider buttons or shoes in your clutches. Time to take it apart and check.

 

[gitrdun]

Don't be surprised if you feel a moment of slippage at start off with your new belt now, because of that minor abrasion. That is exactly how mine looked after I tried to drive it out of a stuck spot with the skid packed full of snow.

 

[stevewithOCD]

I had exact problem on my first Apex and didn't heed the warning signs. I thought the first belt was just warn. I noticed, but ignored, that the sled seemed sluggish. Turned out to be bad bearing on speedo end. Ended up destroying WHOLE chaincase. Figured it out later. After you melt ice and snow then check and clean clutches, assume there is drivetrain ''binding". Whether it's a parking brake, secondary that won't shift, stuck track or drivetrain ''binding'', they will all act the same...

 

[rangermaxx]

Wow thanks for all of the help so far. I have a bit of wrenching to do. I just pulled off the primary clutch to clean it. I am going to do the secondary shortly. How stiff are the weights/arms or whatever they are called in the primary supposed to be? They all move, one moves very easily the other 2 are a bit stiffer . I took the spring and cover plate off and if I push the 2 sheaves together and flip it upside down and back over a few times to check the movement on them, the one will flip all the way out and back down as I flip it and the other 2 stay stationary, unless I flip it back and forth with a bit more force. Does that make sense? Should they all flip back and forth real easy or are they supposed to be a bit stiffer?

I spun the secondary with the belt off and it seems to spin freely with no binding anywhere. I am going to pull it off in a few mins and check the buttons and give it a good cleaning and get to the bottom of this.

 

[the kitchen]

The weights in your primary all should pivot with ease. This will contribute to the problem you are having. Remove those weights from the clutch and clean them until they all move freely. They should not be sticking what so ever.

 

[TBay Sledhead]

Also check the rollers in the primary. The buttons in the secondary look ok from the pic. Disassemble the clutches and into the dishwasher, best place to clean. Might be a good time for a new set of springs.

 

[snowbeast]

Wow thanks for all of the help so far. I have a bit of wrenching to do. I just pulled off the primary clutch to clean it. I am going to do the secondary shortly. How stiff are the weights/arms or whatever they are called in the primary supposed to be? They all move, one moves very easily the other 2 are a bit stiffer . I took the spring and cover plate off and if I push the 2 sheaves together and flip it upside down and back over a few times to check the movement on them, the one will flip all the way out and back down as I flip it and the other 2 stay stationary, unless I flip it back and forth with a bit more force. Does that make sense? Should they all flip back and forth real easy or are they supposed to be a bit stiffer?

I spun the secondary with the belt off and it seems to spin freely with no binding anywhere. I am going to pull it off in a few mins and check the buttons and give it a good cleaning and get to the bottom of this.

Sounds like your ramps are sticking some on the pins,remove the pin and take your scotch brite and clean it down and slide it in and out of the ramp hole once it is shiney until it slides good,i also take my ramps and clean the top surface w/scotch brite til it is clean,the area that the roller rolls on top of,reassamble the primary w/out the spring just to make sure once all 6 bolts are tight the clutch slides open to closed with no bind,and once I reinstall the spring I do the same thing,only this time you may have to put it on the floor and stand on top to see if it cycles thru w/out coil bind. getting back to your question about the gouging of the side of your belt,it sure looks like the E-brake was left on for a short time under power. You can do the same thing to your secondary as the primary. Good luck

 

[stevewithOCD]

Those weights & the rollers they hit should be sooo free that when you move the clutch side to side they should flop around...

 

[rangermaxx]

Buttons in the secondary were good, I took the secondary all apart and cleaned it, how many turns should I put back on that spring? I cant remember what I did but I took the sled out and it seems to be functioning as normal so I am guessing I have it set ok.

I got the weights moving freely now in the primary, reassembled the primary. Installed the belt back on the machine, ran it - seems to run smoothly.

Took it for a 30km ride, on take off the machine was bucking a little bit but once moving it was smooth.

I put a brand new belt on and the machine was smooth as can be, so that must have been the gouge in the old belt I was feeling. Put on about 65km on the brand new belt and the machine starts and stops smoothly, no bucking or hesitation. I never tried any high speed runs because I wanted to give the new belt a bit of time to break in. How long should I go easy on the belt for ?