I have a '93 XLT, and last night I sheared the bolt that holds the primary clutch to the crank. When I got it home to ou shop, I pulled the clutch out of the bellypan and noticed that it had a few teeny tine harline fractures on the side that faces the engine. There are about 3 or 4 of them, but they are very small. Is this normal for the metal to do, or is it a sign that its time for a new clutch?

Actually it is very common (especially on Polaris clutches). I would just watch them closely, you may make it for a few more seasons. They are due to heat, and as long as they don't get too deep or wide, you can probably run it for a while. Just make sure your belt guard is in in good condition. hehe! Just out of curiosity, how did you shear your clutch bolt?

Snownut

I don't know... I was on the side of the road that leads to the trails, and it had that really hard driven on snow on it. I came around a corner, (with another person on the sled with me) pinned the throttle, skis came off the ground, then *snap*! Engine revved up, then died, and the sled coasted to a stop. While I was stopping, I saw the bolt pop through the plug in the belly pan, and land on the road. Thank god for cell phones. It was like 11:30 PM, and I really didn't feel like knocking on any doors!

well guess what happened to my clutch last night?? it blew up!!! i was going down a backroad and my sled was running like a piece of crap, bogged up hills and wouldn't go over 80 km/h. all of a sudden BOOM, a puff a black smoke shot up at me. the sled got louder, and took off like a rocket! the thing was running like a raped ape!!! got to my buddies and shut it off. I looked under the hood to find a small exhaust crack (you can weld them, right?) I then noticed a slice in my clutch guard. I looked down to see the outer part of my clutch in the belly pan. The thing still runs like a raped ape, but it needs to be fixed. Can i buy just the outer covering so I don't have to replace the whole thing? any ideas why it did this?

Keith
<font color=red>89/91 cr 125</font color=red>
<font color=blue>89 Yamaha SRV</font color=blue>

the bogging should have been obvious with it running to rich and when she got hot enough all that extra fuel lit up and you blew your exhaust apart! Clutches need to be cleaned very regularly and checked for things like this hairline cracks on the sheaves and also brg wear. All these little things add up too big bucks. You should be able to pick up a primary cover from a dealers used box of parts.

You said your bolt snapped on your clutch , the samething happened to me. The cause was that the nylon bushings that are on the
weights had worn out, causing the clutch to torque unevenly and putting alot of sideways force on the clutch arms,then breaking the
bolt. So I learn't from my mistake always to prelube these bushings before each ride and take the clutch apart on regular pm. With the cracks
that you found on your clutch you should make sure that they are really cracks and not scratches. To do this you can do a NTD test
on it which means non destructive testing. All it is an aeresol cans one being a die penetrant the other a developer which you can pick up at
any automotive store, you just spray it on it will actually show you how deep the cracks are if they are cracks. In the case that you
find that they are cracks I would suggest you replace clutch. Just because the clutch can reach upto 9000 rpms and if pieces do start
to fly apart there is potential for serious injury.

Well, I screwed up. I trusted someone I shouldn't have to put my clutch back on while I was out of town, and after about 20 min of riding, the primary clutch wasn't spinning, even though the motor was Now the inside of my clutch, and the end of my crank are all gouged up.
And let me guess... Am I going to have to replace the crank now?

It's getting to the point where I want to use that damn sled to sight in my shotgun!

Depends on how bad everything is. You can buy a reamer to clean up the inside of your clutch, and you may be able to clean up the crank with emery cloth.

Snownut

I don't think so... There is a pretty big slice out of the tapered end of the crank...

Bummer, well, I guess you get a new crank, atleast you should be set for a few more years...

Snownut