Polaris ATV: Primary or Secondary Clutch?
When it comes to the clutch on a Polaris ATV, you have a drive (primary) clutch and a driven (secondary) clutch, which could make things confusing given how similarly they're referred to by name.
Partzilla’s powersports pro John Talley does live Q&As on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern. In this session, John answers a viewer’s question about whether it’s the drive clutch or the driven clutch causing revving problems on a Polaris ATV.
Polaris ATV Drive Clutch or Driven Clutch?
I just watched your video on the Polaris primary and secondary clutch rebuild. In order to get my unit to move, I must rev the RPMs up. Is that the drive clutch or the driven clutch? I’m thinking it’s the drive based on your explanation. Is that right?
John Talley: Well actually, it could be either because they work in tandem, you know, the belt starts out in the center-most section and the outermost here [makes hand gesture showing distance] and it pretty much changes from one to the other as far as where it’s riding, and that’s what enables it to be a transmission if you will. A transmission I suppose is the way to explain it. So which one’s messed up? I don’t know yet. I can’t tell from here, but more than likely it’s going to be your drive side, because that’s where your primary weights are, and that has the most control as to what’s happening on the belt. On the driven side, you’ve got a spring and that’s really the only piece to it. But it’s just reacting to what the weights are doing on the drive side. So chances are it’s probably the drive side, but it could be either. I wish I could point you in a better direction, but hey, you’re going to have both of them off anyway, and I’ve gone through a couple of different videos showing you what to look for, and the basic steps to rebuild them, so check those out.
Watch the video below to see how to rebuild the primary and secondary clutches on a Polaris Sportsman ATV.
Watch the video below to learn how to inspect a CVT clutch, the type found in a Polaris Sportsman ATV.
Watch the video below to learn how to rebuild a CVT clutch, the type found in a Polaris Sportsman ATV.
Want to see more live repair questions answered? See more motorcycle and ATV repair questions answered here.
