[stevesov]

Why would a 97 Artic Cat Puma 340 burn up a belt every hour or so? I have 4 of these - all were in storage last year (no snow) but now 3 of them are using belts to the tune of $200 per day!!

Clutches appear fine - mileage is below 1000mi on each - run fine, but belts are all fraying, throwing chunks of rubber out of the inner circumference - clutches appear to be free and no corrosion/wear visible....

With new OEM belts, the sleds run smooth for a few miles, then I hear/feel a thumping as clutch engages at rpm, until the drive sounds like it's got a bent drive shaft....by then the belts are frayed and throwing rubber....on 3 of the 4 sleds!!

Any ideas before I tear into the clutches and see why they'd ALL be doing this? This is my first year working with sleds and this fleet....previous maintainer said he'd never changed a belt in the 5 years he'd run them....any thoughts on what would typically be wrong for a sled to throw a belt that quick?

I've got tons of ATV/bike expereince, but none on sleds...but have the tools and shop to settle this issue this weekend.

Thx

Steve

 

[zackattack]

I have seen belts that get oil sprayed on them do that. Check your alignment of your clutches. Try cleaning the clutch surfaces and look for oil residue. You should get several thousand miles out of a belt.

 

[stevesov]

Just checked one sled's driven clutch - a little rough in action, but cleaned up nice, now seems smooth action. No oil around the area at all.....do I need an alignment tool, or will any straightedge do?

Thx

 

[In Alaska]

Using an alignment tool is best but you can make do. Also check and see if all the belts came from the same company. A few years ago we had a bad batch of belts come in and we went through a few until the shop owner did some checking and found out that he had one shipment of belts that were made out of bad materal.

 

[Willson]

If you align with out a tool make sure you have a spec book . they aren't just straight
they are off set and that is an important part of the alignment . Also check track tenson ,and alignment .You got them all from the same place so they could all be adjusted wrong .

 

[stevesov]

Thanks all - this sled is now running out smooth...here's what I found yesterday:
- driven clutch hub was missing one .030 shim, causing belt to run high on the pulley.
- 3 identical new ArcticCat OEM belts, off the shelf, all had three different widths - none of them met AC manual specs for 'acceptabele (either too wide or too narrow!)
- 1/4" Key was worn, allowing lots of slop in rotation between the clutch and jackshaft
- Alignment can be checked with a narrow straightedge - ask me how.....

One down, two to go!

Thx for the help so far!