roached first belt and disappearing coolant

[white rad]

First off love the new XM. 250 miles so far all in 3-4ft of fluffy snow and this thing just flat out rips. I pulled cord on the outside of my first belt early today at about 200 miles. I have noticed some pretty hot clutch and belt temps but in this deep of snow everyones clutches were running hot. Upon further inspection there was a thick layer of rubber/black marks down in the bottom of the secondary on the ouside sheave suggsting the belt was slipping. Clutches have been thouroughly cleaned before the first ride and then every other ride since then so I dont think its from that oily film from the factory. I did switch my clickers to 3 today at higher alt to gain some rpms and it was tachin perfect 7900 rpms but definelty felt like more torque/lower gearing on that ramp angle. Also a fair amount of belt dust in the clutch compartment and I had to tighten deflection once so far. I do have some homemade mesh over my lower hood vent and haven't really noticed much snow getting in that could melt and get water on the clutches. Any ideas?



Next possible issue is disappearing coolant. Noticed it was low after the first few rides and figured it had passed an air bubble in the lines so i topped it off to the cold fill line. Ever couple rides I find the coolant level has dropped down to the lower 1/3 of the reservoir. Had a good couple stucks with a roll-n-go to get out but didn't see any coolant come out of the overflow tube and generally I haven't noticed any coolant on the snow around the sled indicating a leak. I used an insopection camera and looked at all the hoses/clams i could see on the coolant system and dont see and signs of a leak but there is a lot of plumbing in there! So hopefully the motor isnt burning coolant....any other common places for a leak or anyone else have this issue?

 

[moto5151]

Depends on how low, low is... Maybe it spits it out the overflow, and prefers to run a little low.

 

[snopro]

First off love the new XM. 250 miles so far all in 3-4ft of fluffy snow and this thing just flat out rips. I pulled cord on the outside of my first belt early today at about 200 miles. I have noticed some pretty hot clutch and belt temps but in this deep of snow everyones clutches were running hot. Upon further inspection there was a thick layer of rubber/black marks down in the bottom of the secondary on the ouside sheave suggsting the belt was slipping. Clutches have been thouroughly cleaned before the first ride and then every other ride since then so I dont think its from that oily film from the factory. I did switch my clickers to 3 today at higher alt to gain some rpms and it was tachin perfect 7900 rpms but definelty felt like more torque/lower gearing on that ramp angle. Also a fair amount of belt dust in the clutch compartment and I had to tighten deflection once so far. I do have some homemade mesh over my lower hood vent and haven't really noticed much snow getting in that could melt and get water on the clutches. Any ideas?



Next possible issue is disappearing coolant. Noticed it was low after the first few rides and figured it had passed an air bubble in the lines so i topped it off to the cold fill line. Ever couple rides I find the coolant level has dropped down to the lower 1/3 of the reservoir. Had a good couple stucks with a roll-n-go to get out but didn't see any coolant come out of the overflow tube and generally I haven't noticed any coolant on the snow around the sled indicating a leak. I used an insopection camera and looked at all the hoses/clams i could see on the coolant system and dont see and signs of a leak but there is a lot of plumbing in there! So hopefully the motor isnt burning coolant....any other common places for a leak or anyone else have this issue?

Slowly let the pressure off your rad cap and I think you will see the antifreeze level come up a half to an inch higher.

 

[JoHNI_T]

well thats chitty on the belt... I have 70 kms on mine and when I got home it also had an inch of black mark and this doesnt look good to me based on experiance but I am not jumping to conclusion yet I want to get some miles on it first to be sure....but a lot of dust and bad marking doesnt look good,, of course I got an early build with every recall fak dont doo this to me now doo...the recall really burns my ass as I hate taking the sled in so very disapointed to say the least on that stupidity from BRP and why 2 weeks after the build?? same recall last year too on light switch??I need to ride but if mine eats a belt at 200 miles its going back!!

 

[JoHNI_T]

ohhh and mine is also 1 inch down on coolant... I havent popped it yet that probably only equals 20-40mils so shld be fine I guess I will top it up cause they couldnt figure it out in quebec

 

[meatbag]

I have the 12 but had the same problems. Shimmed the secondary out a bit and works perfect now. Just sayin.

 

[JoHNI_T]

I have the 12 but had the same problems. Shimmed the secondary out a bit and works perfect now. Just sayin.

ya I think this will be required for me as well wich is fine but not really after drop n $13 k

Its obviousley to the inside when i look and I guess the proof is the marking but my 12 last year was spot on....

but I need more miles first but I dont have time to be tuning my sled lol I only get out so many days and I want to ride thats why i thought i bought a new sled

 

[meatbag]

I thought that way too. But belts are expensive and a shim kit isn't.

 

[CUSO]

A quick way to see if you're primary is lined up with the secondary....

 

[duck]

What are the xm's geared at now? 21/49?....154

 

[mctrailboss]

As far as the coolant goes, you will find it goes down and stays. dont bother to keep adding, as long as there is some in the reservoir your good to go. I have had a 2011 and 2012 and now a 2013, all the same as you described. i was adding at first too.

 

[347strokin]

well thats chitty on the belt... I have 70 kms on mine and when I got home it also had an inch of black mark and this doesnt look good to me based on experiance but I am not jumping to conclusion yet I want to get some miles on it first to be sure....but a lot of dust and bad marking doesnt look good,, of course I got an early build with every recall fak dont doo this to me now doo...the recall really burns my ass as I hate taking the sled in so very disapointed to say the least on that stupidity from BRP and why 2 weeks after the build?? same recall last year too on light switch??I need to ride but if mine eats a belt at 200 miles its going back!!

Curious, what was the recall on her?

 

[LBZ]

Curious, what was the recall on her?

Probably dimmer switch replacement and to check to ensure the headlight housing was installed correctly.

 

[JoHNI_T]

Curious, what was the recall on her?

Probably dimmer switch replacement and to check to ensure the headlight housing was installed correctly.

Ya that's right, no biggie but a pain


and I think this is first belt I heard of so maybe just an odd one out.

 

[white rad]

Well I did a little more looking around today and made a few observations regarding the coolant. Ran the motor for a bit with a white towel under the exhaust and didnt see any green so hopefully that means its not the head gasket. I think the neck on the coolant tank may be warped a little from heat so maybe the cap isnt sealing well...but then again its been under pressure every time i open it so seems like the cap seals fine. I thought for sure it was burping out the overflow line on the roll n go but sure didnt see any green on the snow. Still no signs of overheating either temp gauge always reads right in the middle. Guess if it drops tomorow and levels off ill leave it alone.

Regarding the belt...this is going to kill me if it becomes an issue real sore subject after loosing mass belts on the cat last year. I admit I didnt get a chance to gently break in the belt given the snow conditions on the first few rides but tried to vary the throttle and let everything cool down/heat cycle as much as possible. I already checked the parallelism and it looked pretty close i would suspect an offset issue if its due to alignment (still trying to grasp why its such a big deal to shim the secondary out on these sleds). Thick ring of rubber in the bottom of secondary outside sheave again today and none in the primary so seems to be slippage in the driven clutch causing excess heat. Rollers look good from what I can see and no performance issues so still not sure on this one.

BTW here is a little sled porn of my XM in action yesterday laying some downhill ghackers to the face (soundtrack for mature audience only....or turn off the volume not my editing job so sorry). Over 5 ft in the last three days and another foot tonight with two more possible on wed on top of our 155inch base! Revy gets all the hype but we got it going on right now!

 

[New_M7_Ryder]

wow snow looks amazing may need to come out very very soon

 

[meatbag]

Well, I put on 30 km tonight and over 60 a few days ago. I just looked at the clutch and NO belt dust OR black marks anywhere. 2mm worked for me while others had no issues. Don't bother taking back to a dealer because they will set them at the stock settings (did that 1 time) with no change and still eating belts. Cuso has been through this as well and has a good pic.