Drive belt tracking question

[MMcc]

After having new brake pads and rotor installed on the rear of the :spyder2: I noticed that the drive belt now does not track true on the rear pulley. I tried adjusting it and re-checked the belt tension. The best I could get was a belt that moved about 1/8 to 3/16" in and out. Belt tension was set to 160 on Krikit. Could I have a warped or damaged pulley? Checked run-out at 0.0015" That did not seem to bad. I have not checked the front pulley for run-out. I did re-torque the front bolt to 80 ftlbs. That did not have any effect on the belt movement. Any help or suggestions would be appreciates. BTW, did not notice if belt tracked true before the dealer replaced the brake parts.

 

[SethO]

After having new brake pads and rotor installed on the rear of the :spyder2: I noticed that the drive belt now does not track true on the rear pulley. I tried adjusting it and re-checked the belt tension. The best I could get was a belt that moved about 1/8 to 3/16" in and out. Belt tension was set to 160 on Krikit. Could I have a warped or damaged pulley? Checked run-out at 0.0015" That did not seem to bad. I have not checked the front pulley for run-out. I did re-torque the front bolt to 80 ftlbs. That did not have any effect on the belt movement. Any help or suggestions would be appreciates. BTW, did not notice if belt tracked true before the dealer replaced the brake parts.

you have a bad bearing in your rear pulley, if you run spin your tire with the rear up you should hear the bearing being bad, its a double roller bearing on oneside that you it is easier to get from BRP and a single roller which you can get at many places.

 

[capt.jim]

If you haven't already, check your tensioner to make sure they did not loosen that up and move it out of alignment, this will make the belt walk to the outside or inside up against the flange if the idler pulley is not aligned correctly. Use a ruler or straightedge on the outside edge of the pulley running parallel with the belt and measure the distance at the ends of the ruler, both ends should be the same distance from the belt, it's hard to eyeball this and get it perfect, look at Illustration #2 if you still have the installation instructions. I would remove the idler pulley from the tensioner, jack up the rear on the swingarm just in front of the shock mount and adjust the belt exactly where you want it on the sprocket and run it in third gear at an idle speed for a bit, if your happy with the tracking and it's not moving in or out, i would then reinstall the pulley and run it again to make sure it's still tracking the same, if not, do the ruler check, loosen the bracket slightly and adjust accordingly, hope this helps.

 

[MMcc]

dis-eagaged the tension pulley

Thanks Capt Jim When I was checking the belt alignment I thought about the tensioner pulley having an effect on the belt so I slacked off the tension and dropped the pulley out of the way. That had no effect at all. I then tried to use the tensioner pulley to make the belt track true. The only way that worked was to force the belt tight against the inside flange on the rear pulley. I did not like that setting at all. The belt seemed to really be rubbing the flange.

Today I took Seth's advice and tried to see if it might be wheel bearings. When moving the rear wheel by hand I maybe could hear/feel something not right but really not sure. Will bring the :spyder2:back to dealer this week to have them check things out. I did notice that when the wheel was run in reverse the belt really moved in and out much more than when the wheel was run forward. Not sure if that means anything or not.

 

[capt.jim]

.0015 isn't much at all, I'm surprised it's that good for a cast sprocket if it's anything like the front rims, was your belt set at 160 before they disassembled it, that's pretty low, not sure why that would make a difference though. I would raise the tire off the ground, drop the bottom shock bolt to get the belt off without loosening the axle and then spin the tire, It may not be the same as with a load on it, but if it's that bad you should hear or feel something, also give it a good side to side shake. i think Seth may be right, he's had his share of bearing problems if i remember correctly, also that bearing has spun in the hub on some others

 

[SethO]

.0015 isn't much at all, I'm surprised it's that good for a cast sprocket if it's anything like the front rims, was your belt set at 160 before they disassembled it, that's pretty low, not sure why that would make a difference though. I would raise the tire off the ground, drop the bottom shock bolt to get the belt off without loosening the axle and then spin the tire, It may not be the same as with a load on it, but if it's that bad you should hear or feel something, also give it a good side to side shake. i think Seth may be right, he's had his share of bearing problems if i remember correctly, also that bearing has spun in the hub on some others

this is true, the belt would track all over and there was a ton of tension on it, this was before the trip to cuba last year.You can do take the bearing out and put a new one in, MAKE SURE TO take the lock serclip out of the rear pulley before you try to push it out. I know people who jacked them up forgetting it.

hopefully its something simple and you can get back on the road.

 

[ArmyJoe]

If / when you take off the rear sprocket, pay attention when you put it back together so you don't cover the valve stem with a spoke.

Ask me how I know. :banghead:

 

[MMcc]

Belt alignment

:spyder2: is going to the dealer tomorrow morning. FYI, run-out was measured on the inside rim of the pulley. In thinking back that might not have been the best place to measure. It has a nice polish surface, most likely from the belt rubbing on that flange. I chose that location because the outside surface of the pulley did not have a smooth surface because it was a casting. Dealer will check the bearings. Hopefully will have more information after they look at it. Thanks to all for the help and advice.

 

[MMcc]

Belt alignment

Just returned from the dealer. Here is where we stand right now. They checked the bearings and said that they were fine. They said my new brake rotor is glazed again in less than 500 miles. BTW I do not ride the brakes. The checked both front and rear pulleys. Both meet spec and are not damaged or warped. They reset the belt tension and the belt still tracks off center about 1/4 inch.:gaah: They think it is a bad belt but have been trying to contact BRP to discuss options with service tech. Were on hold for over 1/2 hour and so they hung up and called back.:shocked: Were put back on hold so they told me to ride it home and they would call me when they have some additional information from BRP.

 

[capt.jim]

I'm not sure i understand what the belt is doing, your first post says the belt is moving in and out, do you mean it's slowly moving back and forth and not holding the line where you set it or is it one spot that seems to jump that far out. Is this with the rear off the ground and running in gear? What did they reset the tension to with their tester, is it still 160 on the kriket? Do you feel or notice this while riding since they worked on it, or could it have been doing this before. What was the rear brake doing that made you take it in, i do tend to ride mine a bit when I'm downshifting. All i know is that whenever i've let a dealer do something, i often find something else has changed, the ride has changed, sounds different, just not the same. Mine had never been to the shop until the DPS recall, i said just fix the steering, nothing else!, when i went to pick it up they scolded me and said i need to maintain it better, the oil was 1.5 qts low, the coolant was low in the tank, all clumpy and smelly and i should change it right away, but they topped everything up for me. Well, i about ran the battery down restarting it trying to get my gauge cluster set like i had it, so i went the long way home to recharge it and check out my new steering, many miles over 100mph. Checked the oil when i got home, overfilled 1.5 qts., glad i have a drysump system, drained all the coolant out the next day, it was green and clear like new, just sayin! I had even stuffed a $20 in the mechanics shirt before i left and said "thanks for taking care of me". Of course all dealers aren't the same, and we must depend on them for some things we can't do, but i always like to check the basics before i take it in and when i get it back. Hope they get you squared away.

 

[Raptor]

I too was wondering what circumstances led you to bring your Spyder in for the brake job. I was also curious as to how many miles you have on your Spyder at this point. It seems like we have had a rash of pulley and belt related problems crop up as of late, and all seem to be when the machine has between 17,000 ans 20,000 miles on. There could be a pattern emerging...

As far as the rotor glazing goes, that is usually a sign of overheating. You have stated that you do not ride your brakes, so the root cause has to be something else. Less than great quality pads or pads that are not installed correctly are the biggest culprits here.

 

[boborgera]

:hun: Does the belt stay 1/4 inch off the flange?? :dontknow:opcorn:

 

[MMcc]

Belt alignment

To try to answer a few of the questions. The spyder now has about 62xx miles. I bought it 5 months ago with under 2000 miles. After purchase another sypder rider spoke to me at a gas stop and asked if I was aware of the new belt tension settings. Being new to the spyder I was not so he made an appointment that day for me at his dealer. They did all the updates as well as set the belt tension to the new specs. About the end of November I was having lots of steering problems. When I changed lanes to pass the spyder would swerve out of the new lane:yikes:, not a good feeling. Called and emailed Carlo and finely found a dealer who had a DPS on the shelf for replacement. :2thumbs: After leaving that shop everything went well for about 1 week and then the little gremlins started to show up. Stability light (vss) and spyder would die after a corner. Back to dealer but first needed to do the 3X key thing to get it to restart. Then the rear brake started to squeal badly when backing up. The forum said to replace them with gen 3 brakes. Ordered them from the dealer and Carlo got involved when the dealer said that the rotor was glazed and needed to be replaced. Had that done and new pads installed. That was a couple weeks ago. When riding with friends one spyder rider noted that my rear belt was moving in and out on the pulley quit a bit. When I got home I jacked it up and confirmed the movement. Posted my failed attempts to correct the problem. After the last dealer visit (today) the belt still moves in and out on the pulley. Nothing like it did in the past but it moves from the inside flange to a small amount of belt overhanging the outside of the pulley. The dealer said that they put a mark the belt at its outer most location and rotated the tire by hand. Each time the mark on the belt got to the pulley it was at its outer reaches. They then released the belt from the front pulley and indexed it about 180 deg. They then reset the tension and tried the hand rotation again. The same results, when the mark on the belt arrives the belt moves towards the outside of the pulley. They told me this confirms that there is not a pulley problem but a belt problem. They also readjusted the rear brake settings because the squeal that went away with the new pads was now back. I'll just have to wait to see what BRP techs have to say. Sorry for the long winded post.

 

[capt.jim]

Thanks, that clarifies things , sounds like your belt maybe has gotten stretched or some of the fibers have weakened in that spot, any marks on the teeth where you might have picked up a stone or something? Did they check your brake caliper to make sure it is not sticking a little? I always wet sand my rotors when i install new pads, just to clean off anything, the pads seem to wear in better.