Xm likes belts...

AkLogan · Dec 29, 2012

my 154 sp is having belt eating problems. Have maybe 100 miles on it. first belt made it 70 easy trail/lake miles belt looked great. Put 18 more miles on the belt today and boom its a million pieces. Clutches stupid hot cant put a hand on them. Snow was wet and heavy yea its belt snow but really 18 miles and it goes. So put on spare make it another 2 and stop. clutches super hot so let them cool and take a look and its pulling cords already. SOB.

Sled has the sea level kit on it which i am not impressed with at all. 413 ramps solid pins 160-320 spring. Secondary i have no idea what the helix is it has 40 XT stamped in it and the PN does not yield any results? so im assuming it is a straight 40? gearing has been replaced with what was recommended came with the sled so i didnt have to pay for it. i think it is 23/45? or is it 49 im not sure all they changed was the top gear and the chain.

where do i go from here? i already replaced the ramps and put the 441's back in. on the little trail ride it feels insanely better. snappier and pulls much harder.

It is going to the dealer on monday i want new belts and them to check the aligment. any other recommendations?

Edit
Pulled good RPM. 7900-8000 on clicker 3. But i still got a rev limiter beep and message quite often.

mikesbike2003 · Dec 29, 2012

Bummer
I was hoping no one was going to go through this again. I am sure the dealer will get you squared away.
Good Luck

mynewuseddoo · Dec 29, 2012

I've been punishing mine in the steep n deep here in BC. Super deep powder and throttle has basically been taped to the bar. I haven't changed a single thing with my sled and no issues. Belt looks great and clutches work fantastic. You haven't messed with pulling foam on the clutch side have you? I notice the lower foam seals on the clutch guard/air tunnel for cooling.

AkLogan · Dec 29, 2012

Only thing that's been done is dealer installed the sea level kit. And a can.

grizking · Dec 30, 2012

I would take it back to the dealer. Something wasn't installed correct. These sled don't have a clutch or belt problem.

revxp-12 · Dec 30, 2012

I agree these sleds don't have any belt issues if cluthing is correct.

winter brew · Dec 30, 2012

Get rid of the sea level setup, put stock in, gear it up a little bit and adjust pin weight to run on clicker 3-4.
Also, make sure the chain and track are not too tight....have seen that a few times. Make sure there is no water/snow getting on the belt....aftermarket vents or removed the clutch cover?
It should not use belts.
I also have a clutch setup for them, but even stock you should not be having belt problems....something isn't right. What clicker # and RPM are you seing?

AkLogan · Dec 30, 2012

Sled completely stock minus a can. Even has the foam still. Was pulling good rpm 7900-8000 on clicker 3. No vents. Gear it up more? The sea level kit comes with 23/49? Compared to stock of 19/49.

tukernater · Dec 30, 2012

AkLogan said:
my 154 sp is having belt eating problems. Have maybe 100 miles on it. first belt made it 70 easy trail/lake miles belt looked great. Put 18 more miles on the belt today and boom its a million pieces. Clutches stupid hot cant put a hand on them. Snow was wet and heavy yea its belt snow but really 18 miles and it goes. So put on spare make it another 2 and stop. clutches super hot so let them cool and take a look and its pulling cords already. SOB.

Sled has the sea level kit on it which i am not impressed with at all. 413 ramps solid pins 160-320 spring. Secondary i have no idea what the helix is it has 40 XT stamped in it and the PN does not yield any results? so im assuming it is a straight 40? gearing has been replaced with what was recommended came with the sled so i didnt have to pay for it. i think it is 23/45? or is it 49 im not sure all they changed was the top gear and the chain.

where do i go from here? i already replaced the ramps and put the 441's back in. on the little trail ride it feels insanely better. snappier and pulls much harder.

It is going to the dealer on monday i want new belts and them to check the aligment. any other recommendations?

Edit
Pulled good RPM. 7900-8000 on clicker 3. But i still got a rev limiter beep and message quite often.

I thought the sea level kit came with BL/BL spring? I could be wrong.

winter brew · Dec 30, 2012

AkLogan said:
Sled completely stock minus a can. Even has the foam still. Was pulling good rpm 7900-8000 on clicker 3. No vents. Gear it up more? The sea level kit comes with 23/49? Compared to stock of 19/49.

I would go 21/49 unless top speed is important to you. IMO, their so-called "sea-level" clutching is way off base. What comes in them, with pin weight added for proper RPM will work better.
And check that chain, have seen some so tight it will blue the gears from heat and tracks so tight it will kill belts and perf. Chain should have a small amount of play and track about 3/4-1" of free hang.
One more thing....clean the clutches and clutch area real good, they are sprayed with oil from the factory. This is supposed to be cleaned before a belt is installed at setup, but depends on the dealer. If it hasn't been cleaned I can see that causing belt issues too.

AkLogan · Dec 30, 2012

I'm not 100% now that you say that. But it is either purp/purp or purp/pink. On difference is finish rate.

I'm still confused on the secondary. Is the number stamped in the side the angle? Can't seem to find the pn# any where online.

zaxxcmx925 · Dec 30, 2012

XM belt eater

got 2 nephews ,1 blew belt at 38 miles and the other at 48 miles??
both 146,stock.

Skidoo70 · Jan 1, 2013

mynewuseddoo said:
I've been punishing mine in the steep n deep here in BC. Super deep powder and throttle has basically been taped to the bar. I haven't changed a single thing with my sled and no issues. Belt looks great and clutches work fantastic. You haven't messed with pulling foam on the clutch side have you? I notice the lower foam seals on the clutch guard/air tunnel for cooling.

Can removing the foam really have that much of a negative effect on cooling?

Catmandoooo · Jan 2, 2013

I think that foam is key. If your clutch sheaves start turning a shade of brown, then you are likely getting water on them. Then the slip, and the heat. The whole thing conducts heat better when wet.

I left mine alone, all stock, and pushing 500km on a 377 belt I had left over from a couple years ago.
Its been all powder days so far, and the belt looks great.

Probably lucky too tho...

bcoutdoor · Jan 2, 2013

350 miles, mbrp can, no belt issue.

Husqvarna · Jan 2, 2013

70 something miles on the stock belt(291 or 391?) and pulled a cord. Put on my 377 back up belt and got another 30 or so miles... haven't looked at the 377 yet.

tylbz · Jan 3, 2013

impressed

im 180 naked and got 500 kms of VERY hard tree riding in on my xm 163 and still havent pulled a cord. my buddie that is a 100 pounds heavIer same sled blew one at 400kms, but we are talking, to the bar all day in the trees, belt TORTURE! id be telling your dealer to fix it and replace how ever many belts you blew!

winter brew · Jan 4, 2013

Something is wrong if guys are blowing belts....contamination (oil), snow ingestion (vents), drivetrain binding (chain/track tension) or improper pin weight/clicker/RPM.
Of course it's always possible to blow a belt, but at low miles and normal, hard riding I would be looking for a cause. Even typical, deep snow mtn riding a belt should last most or all of a season.

Dock · Jan 4, 2013

I figure skidoo belt blowing is just plain heat. I have a brand new XM and I blew my first belt at 70kms. It is 100% stock and i made sure to break the belt in on a nice trail ride. After that i held her to the bar for the afternoon and "BOOM". I felt the clutches after and they were so hot i didn't even have to put my hand on them to feel the heat coming from them. In the past my dealer has always told me that i was getting water on the clutches and he would show me the brown stains on the clutch. Well this time the clutches still looked brand new, not one mark on them.
So...
All under warranty i put a new belt on a geared it down thinking that would help. I have some fields behind my place, went out the other night about -7 really nice fluffy snow and again the clutches are so freaking hot i can't put my hand close to them. I should also mention that while in the shop they checked the alignment and it was bang on.

I got thinking what causes belt heat? I've read everywhere that it is alignment, i agree that the clutches should be fairly aligned but i can't imagine that if they were out a bit it would make that big of a difference. I think that the problem is that primary is slipping over the belt while trying to spin the secondary and creating copious amounts of heat. Anyone else have this theory? If i add weight to the primary and increase the spring rate of the secondary it should create more belt pressure and maybe help with slipping? Any thoughts would be awesome. I also have a shockwave from my last sled and i think i'm gonna toss it on and see if that helps.

Aside from that its the sickest sled I've every ridden!!

winter brew · Jan 4, 2013

Gear up. :face-icon-small-win
Gearing TOO low, which IMO the XM is (19/51 and 19/49....really?), what happens is for a given speed change, the belt has to move farther up and down the sheaves....more heat. There is a happy medium for gearing on a TRA that we have had great luck with over the years...zero belt issues with clean and proper clutching. Doo went from being geared a little too high (strictly mtn. application I'm talking) to being geared a little too low.
I am gearing them 21T all track lengths and it is working good, combined with some clutching changes. I hear it is working good also with stock clutching and pin weight adjusted for altitude.
But still....even with stock gearing there is something funny going on to be eating belts THAT fast. Make SURE they are clean of oil. very few dealers seem to do proper PDI and the first belt gets oil impregnated and transfers this into the aluminum sheaves. If it wasn't cleaned prior to belt install it needs to be scotchbrited and electrical contact cleaner works good to get rid of the oil.

Xm likes belts...

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