Hot Skidoo clutches......

[ferniesnow]

There have been a lot of bandaids to cool the clutches on the latest Skidoos; more venting, clutch fins, fancy intake air accessories directing air to the primary, an external port for hot air to escape, and the list goes on and on.

We have a 2019 G4 850 165 and a 2020 G4 850 Expert. The 2020 has half the miles on it that the 2019 has. I rode the 2019 for one year and our 40+ old son and my wife have ridden it for most of 2 years. So it hasn't really been babied.

I have a SCSUnlimited wrap on both sleds since they were new. The first picture is of the 2019 in front of the primary clutch with no damage. The other pictures are of the 2020 Expert and the heat damage to the wrap in the same area. The clear film is curled right of the coloured wrap and near the top of that area both layers of the wrap have been curled. It is interesting that on the exhaust side with theThing cans there is no damage where most of the heat would be expected. The clutch on my 2020 Expert has had to have been hot to peel the wrap the way it has.

 

[deaner]

Might need to start adding the reflective heat tape on the clutch side too! That's crazy. Imagine how much efficiency is being lost with that heat

 

[Longhairfreak]

Hot clutches is a cause of poor clutching. Set the clutches properly and most of the heat goes away.

 

[Caper11]

Humm, something is amiss, if the clutches are that hot that it warms the air to do that to the decals, you must be blowing belts like crazy.

 

[oler1234]

Hot clutches from skidoo…. Isn’t that the norm, or should I say the new norm!

heat is belt slip, poor clutching. That or very aggressive throttle control, which you can’t fix.

 

[snoflake]

How's the performance on each machine? belt life on each machine? I find it strange how half the people on this site continuously bash doo clutching, but i have owned 2 G4s that get around 1000km per belt and they don't necessarily have an easy life. Our group has about 8 G4s from 2019 to 2021 turbos, and nobody has a belt eater. I have rode with at least a 1/2 dozen guys with the ultimate clutch kit, and their sleds don't go anywhere a stock sled cant? I agree they seem to run hot, but when I have checked a POO clutch beside mine breaking into an area in titty deep snow, they are both boiling hot!

Would you say the expert clutches are running hotter, but it performs better? From what I've seen the experts seem to rip, and if they are clutched poor and there is a bunch of slippage then look out when someone actually clutches one.

 

[ferniesnow]

Both machines perform similar. The clutches are stock as set up by a competent dealer. Belt life is good and they are not belt eaters. The 2019 had 4000 km when the first and only belt blew. It now has 4500 km. The 2020 has 2200 km on the original belt. I have bought 6 sleds from the same dealer in the last few years and 5 of those sleds were G4's. None of the G4's were belt eaters and none of the previous sleds had any problems with the wrap in the area in front of the clutch. The Expert heats up more than any of the previous G4's and I attribute that to the short tunnel (I am now talking about the engine temperature but that has nothing to do with the primary clutch being hot).

 

[niner]

Could partially be the wrap. I had the clear coat separate on my first wrap on my Alpha. Some of the pieces were good but some peeled horribly.

 

[maxwell]

i dont think its the clutches doing that. i had a wrap on an XM with a similar phenomenon. Even if the clutches were red hot it would have to heat the air to a very high temperature to penetrate the plastic. With cold snow and cold air constantly beating against that area. I just cant see it as it has almost constant cooling. The clutch temperature does not effect the under hood temperature at all.

 

[Caper11]

I forgot about the short tunnel, I think your on to something.

 

[maxwell]

I forgot about the short tunnel, I think your on to something.

yea, id be curious to know what the underhood temps are with a hotter running sled vs a cooler running sled. again i wouldnt imagine it would be much difference when your contending with the exhaust system.

 

[ferniesnow]

Could partially be the wrap. I had the clear coat separate on my first wrap on my Alpha. Some of the pieces were good but some peeled horribly.

That's a thought Curtis. Maybe I should contact SCS and ask the question.

 

[snopro]

That's a thought Curtis. Maybe I should contact SCS and ask the question.

You are on a successful warranty run right now with your smoker. Go for it!

 

[deaner]

Or maybe its a moisture issue with the wrap? The panels are getting warm enough to melt the snow, so keeping the wrap constantly wet?