my bro's Gator 590i was having trouble shifting gears.

[FoodieFun]

I read online that the clutches on these things tend to stick, so I figured it'd be a pretty straightforward fix.
I know my way around CVTs, bcs heck, I was a certified Polaris mechanic for over ten years!

So, I took off the front plate, spring, and weights from the drive clutch, and sure enough, it was sticking.

It wasn't going all the way back open when it was idling, so, I used some emery cloth to smooth out those slides where the spider buttons ride, and then polished 'em up.

Now the clutch moves nicely and smoothly in both directions.
I slapped the belt back on, but it's still got that spinning problem.

He never had this issue before I messed with the clutch, so I'm scratching my head why it's still grabbing and turning the secondary clutch.
It's tough to tell if it's a belt alignment thing or if the belt itself is the problem.

There's probably about an inch and a quarter of give in the belt, so it's definitely not too tight.
So, can anyone help me understand what's going on here?

 

[paris.in.the.rain]

I read online that the clutches on these things tend to stick, so I figured it'd be a pretty straightforward fix.
I know my way around CVTs, bcs heck, I was a certified Polaris mechanic for over ten years!

So, I took off the front plate, spring, and weights from the drive clutch, and sure enough, it was sticking.

It wasn't going all the way back open when it was idling, so, I used some emery cloth to smooth out those slides where the spider buttons ride, and then polished 'em up.

Now the clutch moves nicely and smoothly in both directions.
I slapped the belt back on, but it's still got that spinning problem.

He never had this issue before I messed with the clutch, so I'm scratching my head why it's still grabbing and turning the secondary clutch.
It's tough to tell if it's a belt alignment thing or if the belt itself is the problem.

There's probably about an inch and a quarter of give in the belt, so it's definitely not too tight.
So, can anyone help me understand what's going on here?

Have you checked if the belt isn't too wide? Are the specs like appropriate also? Those are the 2 reasons I see for this problem. Also, your sheave faces might be glazed or too polished so it's grabbing even when open. You can also check the clutch alignment I guess. That's all there is that I can help right now... I'm still quite unsure how to go about it myself so you might wanna ask an expert.

 

[wokenbeauty]

you might wanna ask an expert.

Here's the expert with a quick way to test it out. Pull the belt from the sheeaves and turn the primary clutch by hand. If it spins freely without turning the secondary or dragging the belt, you're good. If not, then either there's a clutch spacing issue or the problem is with the belt depth

 

[AlleyGator]

Absolutely! The width of the belt and the condition of the sheave can really be tricky factors to overlook. And that hand-spin test? Great idea! I'm looking forward to hearing what you discover

 

[bellevue]

If it's still grabbing at idle, I agree with them that you need to double-check belt thickness or maybe even swap it just to rule it out. Sometimes a slightly worn belt will sit deeper and still cause drag even with clean sheaves.