2012 Arctic Cat 450 4×4

[Steven Thomas]

Bought 2012 Arctic Cat 450 4×4 9 months ago with low miles. It sat in a garage for 2 years, never was rode in those 2 yrs. I buy it put a new battery and change the fluids and it runs like a champ..... until this weekend. Was riding this weekend on my property and all of a sudden heard a noise from crankcase on side. What will happen if your riding it and the drive belt breaks? It still cranks and runs fine just no forward or reverse in 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive. This is my first belt drive wheeler. Didn't know if this had happened to someone and it was the drive belt.(And no I have not took the crank case/side case off yet to see.) Thanks for any help/info anyone can give. 

Edited July 4, 2019 by Steven Thomas

[mikeexplorer]

I have this exact machine. It is unlikely your belt broke unless the belt was not an OEM belt. With that low of miles, I would assume it had the factory belt. The drive belts last a long time on these machines. I just recently changed mine, but I have 6,400 miles on the machine. As the belt wears the symptoms are loss of low end and loss of engine braking.

Which side was the noise? Sitting on the machine, the right side is where the drive belt is.

You mentioned changing the fluids, if you changed the oil, did you use wet clutch certified oil? These machines use a wet clutch as the primary and if you use normal engine oil, you will burn up the primary clutch shoes.

 

Mike

 

[Frank Angerano]

Great point @mikeexplorer. I would pull the cover first and see what’s going on with the belt. Unlikely it’s the belt just based on the knocking noise you heard and the overall durability of the belt.

That wet clutch system has really only a few moving parts to check but you will need special tool to remove the clutch after the the covers are off and a press to get the shaft out of the wet clutch cover if the shaft is bad.  Also be careful with the nuts holding the clutch and other parts on the shafts, some of them are right thread. 

All metric sockets like 34 and 32 mm and torx tips will be needed for some of the screws, the gaskets should be reusable but have extras just in case. 

You can remove the covers and see the clutch shoes without having to remove the clutch for the most part.  

If you used the wrong oil like @mikeexplorer said then it’s likely you will need to replace the clutch itself.  The oil burns the primary shoes up and does a number on them. I’ve seen them sanded down a bit but that only shortens the life and not worth putting the old one back.  

When you remove the belt make sure you put an arrow on the belt facing the way it was so when it goes back in the wear on the belts stays the same. 

 

 

[mikeexplorer]

21 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Great point @mikeexplorer. I would pull the cover first and see what’s going on with the belt. Unlikely it’s the belt just based on the knocking noise you heard and the overall durability of the belt.

Arctic Cat CVT's are known to be a bit noisy and its normal. From it sitting for so long, the secondary might be sticking. Easy enough to take it out and clean it.

21 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

That wet clutch system has really only a few moving parts to check but you will need special tool to remove the clutch after the the covers are off and a press to get the shaft out of the wet clutch cover if the shaft is bad.  Also be careful with the nuts holding the clutch and other parts on the shafts, some of them are right thread. 

All metric sockets like 34 and 32 mm and torx tips will be needed for some of the screws, the gaskets should be reusable but have extras just in case. 

You can remove the covers and see the clutch shoes without having to remove the clutch for the most part.  

My old quad, a 2007 400 Cat I had over 16,000 miles on it and the wet clutch shoes were still good, they last a long time is taken care of.

21 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

If you used the wrong oil like @mikeexplorer said then it’s likely you will need to replace the clutch itself.  The oil burns the primary shoes up and does a number on them. I’ve seen them sanded down a bit but that only shortens the life and not worth putting the old one back.  

When you remove the belt make sure you put an arrow on the belt facing the way it was so when it goes back in the wear on the belts stays the same. 

 

 

Arctic Cat belts have an arrow marks on them to indicate which way to put them on, these belts are directional. When installing the belt the arrows have to be on top and facing towards the front of the machine, the clutches turns clockwise. Putting a belt on wrong will cause extreme slippage.

If he used the wrong oil and did not run the quad long, the shoes will probably be ok, he would just have to change the oil to the proper stuff and he should be good.

Mike

 

[Frank Angerano]

I never knew the belt had to go in one way or the other I know they put arrows on them as good practice to reinstall with wear in the same points. They show the belt number and arrow but the belt it’s self has no difference on direction as it’s constructed the same way no matter which way it goes on.  

I’ve pulled a belt out that had no marks on it.   I’ve put them back in the opposite way and never noticed any slipping. Maybe I was just lucky.  Anyway let’s hope it’s just a matter of an oil change.  

 

[mikeexplorer]

Could just be an Arctic Cat thing, it is stated in the service manual to put the belt in with the arrows in direction of rotation.

Mike