Having issues with your RZR XP Turbo clutch system? In this article we outline some common issues with this clutch that can save you time and money when diagnosing problems. Some of these issues are improperly installed components or just components that we’ve seen fail. If you are having problems blowing belts, I’d suggest also taking a look at our blog post on that topic as well: https://aftermarketassassins.com/tech-blog/f/clutching.
Snap Ring Failure (Symptoms; belt squeal when taking off, chatter in low speeds, high engagement, blowing belts): Delete the secondary snap ring! This is a big problem and is the #1 reason why 2016-18 XPT & RS1 models blow belts. In 2019 Polaris did away with the snap ring design. While those also have issues themselves and still benefit from our kit, they are not needed as badly. What happens is the snap ring pops out of the groove, the secondary slides over about 1/4″ and the belt gets really loose. When this happens the belt slips like crazy. You can tell when the snap ring is out of its groove as the washer is up against the bolt washer and normally your belt is dropped down into the secondary about 1/8″ – 1/4″. If you have a 2016-18 model, get a snap ring delete kit ASAP.
Clutch Alignment (Symptoms; blowing belts, clutch heat, secondary won’t stop spinning in neutral/park even with snap ring delete kit): This is one we see more often messed up straight from the factory. The primary clutches are over-torqued or torqued with a small amount of assembly lube on the shaft, moving them too far on the tapered crank shaft. This will cause an alignment issue and is the most common cause for improper alignment. Remove your primary clutch with our heavy duty clutch puller, clean the taper on the crank and clutch with brake cleaner, then re-torque to 96ft-lbs.
Primary to transmission center to center clutch alignment (Symptoms; tight belt deflection, secondary spinning unless shimmed very loose): This is usually set very well by the inner aluminum casing but can occasionally be off-center. This causes tight belt issues which require you to shim your secondary belt deflection very loose to stop the belt from spinning the secondary. To check this, remove both clutches and use the center-to-center tool. Click here for the center-to-center alignment tool.
Bad center primary bearing (Symptoms; secondary will not stop spinning in neutral/park even with the snap ring delete kit and re-torqueing the primary clutch): Belt dust will get into the primary center bearing and can cause it to lock up or be very stiff. Use brake cleaner and compressed air to clean under the bearing as best as possible. If there is excessive play, the bearing or clutch may need replacement.
Helix out of center (Symptoms; secondary spins at idle): This is more rare and a last resort. When installing your helix if the helix is slightly stuck out of center or not evenly hitting the buttons, it can throw the secondary slightly out of alignment. Normally running this at higher speeds will fix it, but sometimes you just need to disassemble the clutch and better center the helix on the buttons.
Primary clutch assembly (Symptom; too high of RPM, RPM spikes quickly past 45-50MPH, low top speed): We have seen this quite a few times, make sure everything you disassemble goes together the same way it came out! The most common issues here are the limiter washer not being put in the correct way and the spring plate being put on upside down. On the limiter washer, make sure the small lip goes towards the spring to help keep it centered. On the spring plate, the flat side goes towards the spring. These pictures should explain it all. If you are having the symptoms listed above, make sure this is correct.
Primary Spring Rub (Symptoms; too high of RPM at 50+ MPH, RPM spikes quickly, adding weight does not have much effect on RPM): As you can see from the picture above some spring rub is normal on the XPT clutch, mostly on one side of the spring. Sometimes too much can cause issues. These clutches are cast and the ID of the spring hole (what it’s rubbing on) can be a little small for our stiffer, larger wire spring. We sometimes see the spring hit the top of that hole and not actually go down inside it. This will show on the spider (3 arm aluminum piece with the recessed hole the spring fits into) and extreme spring wear. Our Primary Clutch Limiter normally fixes the issue.
If the primary clutch limiter does not fix your issue, the next fix for this one is not ideal, but we have done this when needed with great results. You can simply use a small sand roll on a die grinder (Dremel) to chamfer the OD and slightly expand the top of the hole so the spring is forced to go into it, rather than catch the edge. If doing this remember the primary is a balanced piece. Keep your chamfer the same all the way around and you will be fine. While ideally this should be balanced afterwards, the mod is towards the center hub and should have very little effect on balance. We’ve seen those not running covers have huge rock chips out of the clutches that would throw the clutch much more out of balance than what we are doing here. See the image below. The red area is where we chamfer and roll the edge back.
Broken or worn out wearable Items (Symptoms; high engagement, excessive clutch heat, inconsistent clutch performance): Broken or worn out wearable items will certainly cause heat buildup and inconsistent results. You have 9 wearable items in the clutches. 3 sliders in the primary (front) clutch, 3 sliders in the secondary clutch, and 3 helix buttons in the secondary clutch. Primary sliders wear out and we even see them break. Secondary sliders we never see break, just wear out over time. These are between the two separate halves of the secondary clutch. The secondary buttons wear and we have in some rare cases seen them break as well. A broken button can cause high engagement. Check out all of these gray plastic wearable items and replace them every 1200-1500 miles for best results. The image below shows the wearable items.
.jpg)
Belt slap on the inner cover (Symptoms; belt chewed up on top lugs, black marks on inner aluminum clutch cover, excessive clutch heat, blowing belts at high speeds): Belt slap is a big problem on any CVT clutch. This is when your belt loses tension when getting out of the throttle and it balloons up. When in/out of the throttle especially when coming down from full shift, then getting back in the throttle… you will get a little belt slap. Proper clutching should minimize this, but it always happens. In northern states we really see this as an issue on snow or ice. The loose traction does not provide positive feedback to the secondary clutch as well as the on/off throttle riding make for a ton of belt slap.
We found a few remedies and that depends on the year of your RZR Turbo or RS1. For 2016-18 models we have a bolt-in clutch shelf that has a dip in it. The belt hits this very hard and causes a ton of heat and blown belts. We recommend removing this by taking off your secondary clutch, then removing the 5 allen head bolts that hold it in place. We sometimes go the extra mile and will take a grinder to the sharp edges near the primary (requires primary clutch removal) as well. See images below.
2016-18 64″ Models: Remove the shelf shown above in the cover. Below you can see an RZR turbo which has never blown a belt and the scrub marks from belts hitting it.
(Above) We will even go so far as to grind down any sharp edges the belt could catch on during deceleration.
(Above) 2018 Turbo S & RS1, All 2019 RZR Turbo: With slack in this belt you can see exactly where it hits the factory “belt shredder” post. We have this ground down smooth while leaving a little support.
(Above) A closer image of how we smoothed out the post for this air shelf on the 2019 clutch cover design (also 2018 RS1 & Turbo S)