Noise in Primary Clutch

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Flipg123

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Oct 28, 2009
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50
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Hi all, I recently picked up an 01 SRX 700 that has about 7000 miles on it. I just replaced the track on it and ran it across a field to be sure that everything was working fine.
Halfway across I noticed a noise coming from my primary clutch. It kind of resembles a tapping valve in a 4 stroke motor, only much louder or a bad crank bearing. I really can't say if it was making the noise before cause I just bought it, and given that there wasn't any snow on the ground, it hasn't gone far since I have owned it. I am quite sure that it is not a crank bearing as the machine sounds fine at idle, and only makes noise once the clutch is engaged.
I am going to be taking it apart and checking it over, but I wanted to get some opinions, as I have never had one apart before.
 
Hi, welcom to TY... First you have to isolate wher the sound is coming from.. Does the track have enough clearence? Put sled on a stand, track off ground and see if you can find where noise is coming from,, you came to the right spot to find help...
 
possibly a weight rubbing up on a tower .... pin itself and or pin and weight bushings probably shot .. pull the cover and check how much slop you got on the weights ?

If you got a puller go thru the entire clutch , they can cause alot of damage .
 
Thanks for the quick response.

I have had the sled up on blocks and gave it some throttle and have determined that it is somewhere in the primary clutch. I will be tearing it down and going through the whole thing, but will give the bushings extra attention. I will keep yas posted.
 
I have pulled the clutch off and gone through it and didn't find any issues. To be on the safe side, I had another guy look at it that has much more experience with clutches than I do, and he said that it was fine.

Now I am wondering if the noise is actually coming from the crank. Can I leave the clutch off of the motor and start it? Does it act as some sort of counterbalancer or something. I am sure that the sled could overrev, if it was pushed, but I just want to start it, rev it up to about 3500rpm and see if the noise is still there. What are your thoughts?

Also, the clutch was quite dirty when I pulled it off. It has since been cleaned quite thoroughly and it has been suggested that the dirt could have been causing the noise.
 
It is definately on the clutch side, and sounded like it was in the primary. Hopefully I will have a chance to put it back on over the weekend, and see if it is any better.
 
so if you take it apart and see that there is nothing wrong then why would putting it back on fix the problem?

bud has a bearing going bad and you could hear it and feel it when you rode it.
 
I am now hunting for a bad bearing, just not sure where to start. The noise seems to be more prominent when braking hard and I can feel it through the bars.
 
do your speedometer still work? when the drive axel bearing goes bad the pin breaks and causes the speedo not to work. when those bearings go bad they will cause alot of damage to the body
 
Yup, speedo is fine. I had it out over the weekend for a short run, and it seems to be getting louder. I am sure that it is on the clutch side of the motor, I suppose that narrows it down some.

Still seems to work fine, lots of power, but doesn't sound real healthy.
 
don't know if you checked with belt on or off when sled was on stand. If belt was on, it could be the belt that has a narrow spot, or it could be your jackshaft bearing (my guess). If you say the noise is worse when braking, I don't think it wouldn't be the primary. At any rate, at 7k miles both bearings need to replaced. I use collar lock bearings (RAE25RR (drive) and RAE25RRB (jackshaft)).
 
I have tried a different primary, secondary and a brand new belt and the noise is still there, so those things are ruled out. I have also taken the chaincase apart and reversed the bottom gear as it was in wrong according to the service manual.

With the belt, and chain off, the secondary would spin freely with no noise or rough feeling. The shaft also felt to be solid in the bearings, leading me to believe that they are fine. I then started the engine without the belt, and just the primary. I reved it up to between 5 and 7 thousand RPM's and it sounded fine. Is it possible that I could still have something going on in the motor, even though the noise is not there when it isn't running the drive train? I would have thought that if it was the motor, it would always be there when it is running. It also sounds good when at an idle and only starts to thrash and go on when the clutch engages.

I am going to attempt to turn the drive train using a method other than the engine (electric motor geared up to the secondary). I am crossing my fingers that I hear something and will then start to eliminate more parts. I haven't made it to the speedo bearing yet, but if it that bearing, I should hear it once I get my electric srx runnin.
 
Hey guys, thanks for all of the help, turns out that it was the protectors. It took quite some time to diagnose, but I learned alot more about the sled in the process. I am all up and ready to go now.
 
glad you found your problem. i had the exact same problem a few years back on my 98. i found it by lifting it up and someone turning the track by hand. only did it when i was on hard packed snow, when i was in deep snow it would go away. found it just in time so that it did not damage the heat exchanger.
 
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