Avenger creeps at idle

[glen1971]

This past week we were out hunting in the middle of no where, and the only problem I had was the machine wanted to "creep" ahead while I was stopped and idling. When I got it home, I looked and it looks like the driven clutch doesn't seem to be disengaging fully. To spin the two halves and remove the belt, they don't seem to want to turn easily, and when they do, the two sheaves don't want to split apart. I sent a pic to a friend that has been sledding for years, and he figures it is probably gummed up and sticky.
I'm going to pull it tomorrow, disassemble and clean it. My question is, is there more I should be checking? I haven't worked on a clutch in a long time, but ave the service manual at hand, and will be going step by step. I'll compare the belt to a new one, and probably change it, leaving the current belt as a spare.
Any tips will be appreciated!
TIA

By the way, it's an 07 Avenger, with 200 hours on it.

[scott8x8]

What are the RPM's at idle?

[glen1971]

What are the RPM's at idle?

Without a tach, I'm not sure, but it sounds the same as it always has.

[scott8x8]

try just lowering the idle and see that takes care of the creep problem
mine will do the same thing when idling too fast(needs to idle at 1200 RPMs

[dirtdobber]

Before you tinker with the idle, just observe the drive clutch at idle and as the engine shuts down. If on shut down the clutch pops open and fully disengages the belt, then you need to adjust the idle. If on shut down the clutch does not move to fully disengage the belt, then a good cleaning may be in order. Of course, a good cleaning never hurts.

[glen1971]

Before you tinker with the idle, just observe the drive clutch at idle and as the engine shuts down. If on shut down the clutch pops open and fully disengages the belt, then you need to adjust the idle. If on shut down the clutch does not move to fully disengage the belt, then a good cleaning may be in order. Of course, a good cleaning never hurts.

I gave the driven clutch a good cleaning and ordered up new cam shoes to replace them as the current ones are getting worn. Ordered a new bushing, just in case, and a belt just to be safe. Woulda helped in the manual if they listed the need for a 6 mm bolt to spread the sheaves on the driven clutch. Found that out when I ordered the shoes.. lol..
The driver clutch seems to be operating smoothly and opens up all the way. I blew it out with air and got a fair amount of dust out of it. I gave the two faces a good wipe down with some brake kleen. Once I get the parts in, and re-assembled, I'll update the outcome...

[glen1971]

Parts arrived and installed new cam shoes and a new belt. The shoes don't appear to be worn that much, but I figured while I was this far, I'd change them and keep the old ones for spares. The belt definitely needed changing. After re-assembling, I started it up, and it seems to be the same as it was before.
Gonna look at the driver clutch this weekend. I did see that the belt is up a bit more on the driven clutch than I remember, and I found were they recommend 1/10", so I'll check that too.. Hopefully there is a smoking gun in the driven clutch..

[glen1971]

Update... I'm thinking I found the "smoking gun". Once I got the driver clutch off, and got it apart, I saw some metal filings inside by the spring. Upon closer looking, it seems the bushing in the movable face has worn and made a small line on the shaft on the fixed face. The movable face was getting hung up at that spot and wasn't fully disengaging. So it's looking like the cheaper route is a new driver clutch instead of part by part. I checked the weights and they're all within about 2 grams of each other, so I think I'll keep them for a spare set. Other than that, I'm assuming the rest of it will be scrap, once I get the new one.
To get the top nut torqued I'm getting a short length of keyed shaft cut with 2 sides ground flat, so it can sit in a vice and torque it on the bench. Definitely been a good learning for me to tear into it the clutches this much.

Does anyone have any extra maintenance they do on their clutches that could save some wear and tear? I don't think I've done much more than the required lubricating and inspections.

[glen1971]

Final update - smoking gun has been found. Put a new driver clutch on, put the driven one back on, and the new belt and it no longer creeps. Just had it at idle in the garage and I didn't take out the quad when I put it into gear.

[ARGOJIM]

Good to hear, I don't recall if your driven is adjustable or not.

[glen1971]

Good to hear, I don't recall if your driven is adjustable or not.

The driven is an Invance. I see that there are 3 possible adjustment settings, based on the 6 holes in it. It is in the center set of holes. There are also 2 set screws with lock nuts that allow the belt height to be adjusted to get more life out of it (if I remember right). I left everything as it was after re-assembling. I'm thinking it should be running pretty close to new with these new parts.