Primary clutch bolt broke off today....

[94fordguy]

Heard a little rattle after putting up the highmark at 4PM this afternoon.....
Got back down to the bottom, shut her down and opened the hood to find this.....

Anybody ever ride a sled out about 10 miles (about 2-3 miles boondocking
through the trees) with nothing but friction holding the primary on?

All the threads from the bolt are apparently still in the crank snout... 930 miles
and the bolt decided to call it quits

Thinking I am gonna have to take it into the dealer next fall to get it fixed as I dont have
the tools necessary to do a job like this, but I'm still open to any advice you guys may have...

Any ideas?

The real kicker of the deal is that I was just talking to my buddy about 2 hours earlier about just how pleased I have been with this sled... I knew I was risking jinxing myself, but I still did it anyway

 

[ruffryder]

you should still be able to use a puller to get the clutch off shouldn't you? I guess I would wait to see what it looks like then. Maybe you will get lucky and there will be a little of it sticking out.

 

[theultrarider]

Odds are very good the crank is fine. Just pop the clutch off and get a hold of a tap and clean out the threads in the crank and bolt it back on. Had that happen on a 500 way back when. Not a big deal. Most likely the bolt was over torqued at one time and pulled the threads on the bolt. Should not be a season ending deal at all.

 

[94fordguy]

Odds are very good the crank is fine. Just pop the clutch off and get a hold of a tap and clean out the threads in the crank and bolt it back on. Had that happen on a 500 way back when. Not a big deal. Most likely the bolt was over torqued at one time and pulled the threads on the bolt. Should not be a season ending deal at all.

I am thinking the crank is fine now as well, just hoping that it stays that way.....


Ok, With the bolt end still in there, How do I get the clutch off then, cut down a puller?

The bolt was torqued to the specified 96 Ft-lbs at the beginning of the season as recommended.

 

[clutch man]

you should still be able to use a puller to get the clutch off shouldn't you? I guess I would wait to see what it looks like then. Maybe you will get lucky and there will be a little of it sticking out.

A clutch puller goes in though the threads that the clutch bolt holds the clutch on with., so when the bolt brakes off in there you have to modify a clitch puller to pull off the clutch. For 35 buck buy a clutch puller and cut off the last inch of the puller then pull your clutch, this will make the pull only good for pulling clutches off with bolts broke off in them. it may be cheaper that having the dealer do it ( they will charge you for the puller anyway ).

 

[theultrarider]

Sorry about that. I didn't scroll sideways and see that the end of the bolt was broke off. I thought it was just stripped off. That should be even easier. Like clutchguy said, cut the end off a clutch puller and pop the clutch off. The broken bolt should come out pretty easy.

 

[skibreeze]

The rest of the bolt should come out rather easily. Just use a reverse drill bit on it and it should spin right out.

 

[sw]

Before you risk distorting end of broken bolt with puller, try spinning engine in reverse abruptly once (on track stand). Shut'er down and go in with small magnet and finish spinning out bolt. Yes I've been there, it worked good, surprisingly easy actually. Good luck.

 

[05900]

^^^^^^^^^ Have seen this also and Definetly worth a try !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[94fordguy]

Update

Well I decided to take a look at the sled today, got out a flashlight and looked in the hole in the primary and noticed the threaded portion of the bolt was crooked... I grabbed a long screw driver and tapped it and if fell back flat, so I grabbed a pen magnet and fished the piece of bolt out of the hole... Apparently it vibrated completely out of the crank on the 10 mile ride back to the truck and just came to rest in the cavity in there... I guess I'll go down to the dealer and pick up a new bolt and throw it in there and go riding again next weekend

Seeing as this bolt snapped at the recommended 96 ft lbs... I'm thinking about torqueing the new one to 80 ft lbs... I thought I remembered someone recommending that on here a while back..... Thoughts?

 

[C S Fever]

You have got to be the luckiest SOB on the planet. If that had happened to me the damn clutch would have probably come off and come through the hood and out past my ear and probably breaking my arm or shoulder in the process. Good for you it's nice to get a break every once and awhile! 10-4 on the 80 lbs it should stay put!!

 

[1]

you got some good luck there i snaped the head off mine last weekend on a hi mark and you guessed it all hell broke loose under the hood. pulled the motor and replaced it also replaced clutch pretty banged up. was time for a switch out on the crank any way but the clutch replacement was un called for

 

[bgredjoe]

torque

Scroll down to indydans post and he explains 80ft-lb being enough torque.

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87640

 

[bgredjoe]

torque

From indydan

I saw the part about 80 ft Ibs on the clean fire
and 96 ft Ibs on the 2005 & 06 - 700 / 900

Torque Is important - The proper steps leading up to torquing maybe more important.

#1 - Understand what your trying to acheive.

#2 - The goal here is to get the drive clutch and the crank snout to become locked together as tite as possible without damaging the bolt. ( so the drive clutch does NOT spin on the crank ) and weld itself to the crank ( normally cocked if it happens )

#3 - Prep -One of the most important steps, is to make sure both the drive clutch bore and the crank snout is polished and clean with a very fine scotch-brite type item. ( dirty hands are a killer to the final process )
make sure the last thing you do is wash your hands and then clean both the clutch bore and the crank snout with a brake cleaner type product. so they are completely dry when they go together.

#4 - 80 ft Ibs is really enough for any snowmobile, ....... 96 is really pushing the strength of the botl and I would NOT recomend going that tite.

#5 - Just make damn sure you do a few run ups and retorque, then a mild drive with easy engagements and then another retorque.

#6 - how do you know when your done..............When the bolt stops taking torque your done.

#7 - if anyone EVER tells you to put any kind of lube on the crank or clutch..........do NOT ever try this.

some People have gotten by with this.........Its dead wrong.

the better you seat the clutch to the crank to defy slipping the easier it will come off next time.

Have a GREAT riding year!!!!

IndyDan

 

[94fordguy]

Scroll down to indydans post and he explains 80ft-lb being enough torque.

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87640

From indydan

I saw the part about 80 ft Ibs on the clean fire
and 96 ft Ibs on the 2005 & 06 - 700 / 900

Torque Is important - The proper steps leading up to torquing maybe more important.

#1 - Understand what your trying to acheive.

#2 - The goal here is to get the drive clutch and the crank snout to become locked together as tite as possible without damaging the bolt. ( so the drive clutch does NOT spin on the crank ) and weld itself to the crank ( normally cocked if it happens )

#3 - Prep -One of the most important steps, is to make sure both the drive clutch bore and the crank snout is polished and clean with a very fine scotch-brite type item. ( dirty hands are a killer to the final process )
make sure the last thing you do is wash your hands and then clean both the clutch bore and the crank snout with a brake cleaner type product. so they are completely dry when they go together.

#4 - 80 ft lbs is really enough for any snowmobile, ....... 96 is really pushing the strength of the bolt and I would NOT recommend going that tight.

#5 - Just make damn sure you do a few run ups and retorque, then a mild drive with easy engagements and then another retorque.

#6 - how do you know when your done..............When the bolt stops taking torque your done.

#7 - if anyone EVER tells you to put any kind of lube on the crank or clutch..........do NOT ever try this.

some People have gotten by with this.........Its dead wrong.

the better you seat the clutch to the crank to defy slipping the easier it will come off next time.

Have a GREAT riding year!!!!

IndyDan

Yup, that's the exact post I was thinking of... Thanks for the link!

 

[f15ejedi]

If you ever pull the clutch off replace the bolt. Some guys do it every season. I personally don't think the bolt is designed for that type of torque. Polaris might say it is but it doesn't look likt it. But its cheap insurance to replace it when you pull it off. My two cents.

 

[retiredpop]

For years the recommended torque on primary clutch bolt was 45 ft lbs or 50 ft lbs depending on the bolt diameter. I never had a clutch spin (or had a bolt back out) using those settings but I was meticulous on cleaning the clutch taper and the crankshaft stub using very fine emery cloth and acetone. I'm not sure why Polaris upped the torque setting unless it is because of vibration of the big twins. 80 ft lbs is definitely enough.
Fordguy you are a lucky man to do no damage.

 

[guidoxpress]

very interesting deal that happened here seth...like they all said..your a lucky man...but then again, so am i...i smack a tree every time i ride..and managed to have zero damage 98% of the time, lol..

i am gonna do the 80ft lbs as well, and see how that goes...but my last ride was this weekend...it was SICK..but time ot put her away

 

[MARV1]

Dang, got very lucky there. I've gone almost 30 miles driving out like a putz without a bolt before and this was on an '04 Pro-X2 700.

 

[94fordguy]

Dang, got very lucky there. I've gone almost 30 miles driving out like a putz without a bolt before and this was on an '04 Pro-X2 700.

Wow... thats a long way

I will say this, I have never been more gentle on the throttle in my life than I was riding that thing out of there, haha