Belt issues on the 850

[RGM]

Interesting that belt was to loose at 54 kms. Normally a belt will not wear that much in that few of kms. I'm thinking it was to loose from the get go? Hearing a few failures from down that way? It could be a serial number thing or pdi. My personal opinion on belt delamination or destruction at low kms is usually a belt problem. Almost like the belts were hanging on a rack in the sun for 2 years. Maybe BRP is moving some old stock? Lol.

If you don't adjust belt deflection after 10-20 KM you are going to have a loose belt as they stretch a bit. This leads to more heat which leads to BOOM!

 

[snopro]

If you don't adjust belt deflection after 10-20 KM you are going to have a loose belt as they stretch a bit. This leads to more heat which leads to BOOM!

Maybe more critical on the G4? Not sure at this point. Never adjusted a belt in 10 kms in my life and had maybe 1 belt failure in a year post 2007-2008. Those 2 years were clutching issues and nobody escaped out of that chit show unscathed.

 

[lilduke]

Exactly 0 people have purchased a 2017 800 cc ski Doo brand snowmobile.

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I bought one. No belts blown on my dinousaur in 800kms so far this season. Lots of my friends 850's have **** the bed though.
Must be them awesome new clutches...lmao


Pretty happy with my purchase.

 

[slededjr]

This is a head scratcher for sure so I spent some time today calling a few of our more aggressive riders. So far no issues up to as high as 400kms for my guys. Did some reading on the BRP community site. This is a site where dealer techs can talk amongst themselves and BRP service techs from Sherbrooke. There are some guys having issues and alot that are not. BRP reps are taking information in and looking at it. Here is kind of what they are asking about:

1. Were the clutches cleaned properly at PDI and the clutch area cleaned of all residual oil from the anti corrosion spray before the units were crated?

2. Was the clickers adjusted for proper rpm at altitude the unit is in?

3. Is the belt deflection adjusted properly at PDI and after riding some miles? They are recommending to run a bit tighter tension than previous years. Tight enough to start the track rotating but loose enough that you can stop it by grabbing with a couple fingers.

4. Is there snow build up in the footwell area that is restricting hot air from escaping from the belt "exhaust" area?

They are hearing the snow is heavy because of warm temps so the load is higher than blower snow would be in cooler temps so rpm is critical as we all know as a clutch that is hunting all over the place will be inefficient creating excess heat.
Bottom line is they are monitoring it, collecting serial numbers and examining belts and most likely testing themselves. It could be a batch of bad belts and serial numbers that will give them invaluable info so give your dealers all the info you can if you are experiencing this issue guys. They will figure it out.

I'm going to go with
1 = No
2 = No
3 = No
4 = Yes

Some dealers need a good slap today.

 

[Jgibos]

On the 2nd belt everything was done to spec. Alignment was good. Belt deflection was good. Clutches were clean. Clickers were good. Lasted 200kms. Thinking maybe chain case could be geared down to help with aggressive tree riding.

 

[ZIG]

How many of you are having to pay for another belt? Curious on how the dealers/Brp are handling this.

 

[Jgibos]

I had 1st belt warrantied. No problems. I havent had a chance to take it in for the 2nd belt yet. Hopefully they warranty it. 200kms to a 200 dollar belt its going to be an expensive year. Hopefully someone comes up with a solution

 

[greenthumb]

On a positive note, at least the grenading belts aren't taking out the oil tank

 

[charlie99]

We rented an 850 to try it out in revy this weekend from Full throttle they are trying the gates belts and ended up blowing one at 117km, couldn't even come close to touching the clutches or the belt, belt stayed together but the ribs from the top and bottom come right off about half the belt, I was riding it hard but no harder then the 2015 T3 174 and haven't blown a belt on that at all yet.

 

[Driftbuster]

I had 1st belt warrantied. No problems. I havent had a chance to take it in for the 2nd belt yet. Hopefully they warranty it. 200kms to a 200 dollar belt its going to be an expensive year. Hopefully someone comes up with a solution

Did they need your BUDS report? I took my belt in for warranty, thought it would be cut and dry, 70 kms or so on the belt. BRP requested for BUDS report and pictures of clutching to ensure it was factory I guess. Kinda pissed off, thought Doo would be good with it seeing they obviously have an issue

 

[moonbeam]

Motor mounts to soft? Engine stopper set incorrectly? Sounds a lot like 2008 xp...they updated motor mounts and secondary tower and problem went away...someone with this issue should take a video of the clutches with sled on a stand.

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[brian h]

i had a 08xp which i purchased new,never heard of mounts updated or secondary tower issue,had a recall on jackshaft only. belt number changed when went to buy a new belt. blew one belt with very low kmh until new belt came out,after that changed belt yearly and had no belt issue.did put venting in side panels which in my opinion also helped. the way some are having belt issues and the next guy dosent i think possible oil residue on clutches not being cleaned on pdi {talking 850 now}. would be interesting to know how many 850 sold and how many are having issues,what percentage is it,or is it being blowen out of context. yes i feel if its a issue brp better step up and correct asap,think of how many gen 4 850 have not even hit the snow yet

 

[snopro]

i had a 08xp which i purchased new,never heard of mounts updated or secondary tower issue,had a recall on jackshaft only. belt number changed when went to buy a new belt. blew one belt with very low kmh until new belt came out,after that changed belt yearly and had no belt issue.did put venting in side panels which in my opinion also helped. the way some are having belt issues and the next guy dosent i think possible oil residue on clutches not being cleaned on pdi {talking 850 now}. would be interesting to know how many 850 sold and how many are having issues,what percentage is it,or is it being blowen out of context. yes i feel if its a issue brp better step up and correct asap,think of how many gen 4 850 have not even hit the snow yet

You make a great point on the venting brian. It made a huge difference on belt life and clutch performance on the 08's. It also made a lot of vent manufacturers wealthy but where are they now?

 

[ferniesnow]

You make a great point on the venting brian. It made a huge difference on belt life and clutch performance on the 08's. It also made a lot of vent manufacturers wealthy but where are they now?

JCCustom Vents out of Idaho is still in business. He is presently working on vents for the 850's.

 

[moonbeam]

Missing the point here...something is causing heat in the clutching...not ruling out poor pdi's...but with the fancy clutch shroud and an improved primary design one would tend to rule out venting as a problem solver..other manufacturers don't seem to have issues...just saying and myself and a few others on here may be able to help if a simple video or 2 was shown from sleds with issues. ..remember these belts were OK at best with the xm 800s...a little more jam changes the reliability factor greatly in my experience.

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[Rotax_Kid]

Missing the point here...something is causing heat in the clutching...not ruling out poor pdi's...but with the fancy clutch shroud and an improved primary design one would tend to rule out venting as a problem solver..other manufacturers don't seem to have issues...just saying and myself and a few others on here may be able to help if a simple video or 2 was shown from sleds with issues. ..remember these belts were OK at best with the xm 800s...a little more jam changes the reliability factor greatly in my experience.

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You're right...venting isn't a cure all, but after tearing a few G4's down now, any heat has zero place to go. They have these things so buttoned up to meet sound regulations, there are few pathway for heat evacuation. Heat rises and look at the top of the cowl - heat surrounds the intake system. It also did on the XM and I was always surprised we never had a bog issues with the intake being preheated. Vents on the top of the panels and up are going to allow a lot of heat to get out of there. SLP is a few weeks away from releasing a full vent kit, JC has something nearly done, as does Xtreme Air Vents. Xtreme has a number of vents on their site, but I'd be timid to place too many on the backside of the panel with the contact they've been making with the coolant bottle. Those panels flex and are pretty thin back there as it is without cutting more out even if they are replacing with a vent.

 

[scotts]

Made my first ride last weekend, foam and felt had been pulled out! Iwas very surprised at how much the belt had stretched after the first 100 K! Deflection was way out of whack!

 

[SidewaysInto3rd]

I cleaned the crap out of my clutches and washed my belt and set my belt height every ride, and broke it in nice and did the whole song and dance .. she still blew !

venting will help, but it's bandaid .. problem is elsewhere and will hopefully be diagnosed and addressed by brp (not by 3rd party clutching kits or vent accessories)

 

[AP48379]

Reminds me of my 2012 M8, when arctic cat knew they had belt issues they sent everyone a belt in the mail with an extra year warranty on the sled. Lets see what doo can do for us. I just removed the felt on the back side of the clutch cover but haven't been out yet.

 

[RGM]

Excessive heat is caused by the belt slipping. That is the main problem that needs to be addresses. It is also a source of HP loss that doesn't get to the track. Some one need to put a helmet cam on the clutches and see what is happening.