Max IV will not move. Please help....

[2band]

I was riding today and all of the sudden it was like the brakes came on. I cam to a stop and let it run for a minute and it went back to normal. I really didnt think anything of it. I thought I may have just gotten another glove caught in one of the sprockets. But, a little while later it did it again and I totally lost all ability to go, forward or reverse. The clutch appears to be working, as it will start burning the belt when reved and appears to be contracting as it should. I thought the transmission might be locked up but we were able to push it forward while in gear and everything appeared to turn normally. It is like the t-20 main input shaft is too much of a strain for the clutch to turn it. I was riding last week and my belt started chirping but I thought it was just because the belt is older and about ready to be replaced. Has anyone out there ever experienced anything like this? Or, does anyone have any theories? Thanks in advance for any tips.....

[Mike]

Do you have fluid in the T20? Can you turn the T20 clutch by hand at all?

[2band]

Not sure if it has fluid or not. I haven't had it that long. It is about a 96 model and I don't know any of the history of it. For all I know, it has never been changed. I was just getting ready to do all of the routine maintenance before hunting season including changing all fluids. I just hope I am not too late. I just looked at it again and the t20 clutch will turn in neutral but not by hand and not at all in gear (of course). The belt seems to be a little deeper in the T20 clutch than I remembered when I tightened the belt but I am not for sure. Could the T20 clutch not be functioning properly? The way the machine acts is like if it were trying to pull a load it could not handle as it will move slightly for a split second here and there. Thanks for the reply, btw.

[Mike]

It sounds like your T20 is fine then and perhaps it is the clutch like you suggested. How far down in the T20 clutch does the belt sit? Does it look like this:


Is the belt still tight?

[2band]

Definitely doesn't look like that. I tried to post a pic of what it looks like. Hopefully it worked. It isn't tight. I thought it might just be stuck due to it trying to pull so hard and may contract but I freed it to where I can rotate the belt and the gap is still the same. I thought that my belt may just be extremely worn but I measured ant it measures 1"1/12"' so I don't think that is it. That seems to be pointing more and more to the t20 clutch as the problem.

My next question is, where can I find a new T20 clutch and how much do they run? Hopefully not too much. I really don't have the time to learn how to rebuild one. Also, hopefully I am wrong, but I am assuming I will have to take the engine and trans out to make this repair? .......Please tell me I am wrong.

Thanks again for the reply. I have read tons of your posts on here. I really appreciate you taking the time to help folks like me out. If there is a merchandise page on here, I will be hitting it up very shortly.

[Stonewall]

I got a new clutch for my Hustler here: 300782A - 780 Series Driven Clutch for Recreatives Ind Max ATVs... It was the cheapest I could find, and it should be a stock replacement. It sounds to me like there is something wrong inside your transmission, if it turns fine in neutral but not in fwd and rev, there is most likely something inside causing this. Even if the clutch wasn't working right, it should still move, just more slowly.

[2band]

Thanks for the link Stonewall. Maybe I have a little bit of wishful thinking but with the clutch not going back in place, something is definitely not right with it, so that will be my first repair regardless.

[racerone3]

In the pic you posted, your secondary clutch looks to be in the position it should be with the machine shut off or at idle. your belt is worn slap out, but should still move the machine. I'm going to have to go with stonewall on this one... sounds internal

[hydromike]

... Even if the clutch wasn't working right, it should still move, just more slowly.

I'll second Stoney's and Race's opinion(s). You may have a problem with your clutch, too (make sure the shaft is lubricated with some spray graphite. If you don't have any, just douse it in WD-40 or anything to get it moving, then clean off the extra. Don't get any on your belt....)

I'm going to put my money on something drastically wrong internally. You could have a piece of metal from whatever may be broken lodged in the planetary gears, or you could have snapped a main shaft. I know it's a royal pain pulling the transmission out of a Max IV, but that should absolutely be your first step at this point. Heck, you may get away with a cheap fix, and tons of knowledge from doing it yourself. There are a couple different how-to articles hear on the Site to show you how to go about it...

Best of luck...

[2band]

Thanks for the replies guys. I would tend to agree with you guys on something being wrong internally and that very well may be the case. However, it would seem to me if there was a broken shaft or something lodged in the gears, we wouldn't be able to push it forward in gear with everything appearing to turn normally. I don't think it would get those split seconds of movement if something was broken, impeding the gears either. And I did say that the clutch turned in neutral, but I didn't say it turned fine. It turns as if it were in a strain which would make sense if the belt was too deep and not getting the proper torque that it would if it were sitting properly. In gear, with the belt sitting too deep, there is just too much strain.

Either way, I think I will start with the cheapest and most simple fix and get a new belt. Does anyone happen to know the proper belt size for a Max with a 20hp Kohler and where to get one? I think I have read that you can get one from RI but they are expensive. Thanks again for all of the help. You guys are awesome!

[hydromike]

From a previous post, if you tried revving the engine and it started smoking the belt, you've got far larger issues than the belt or the driven clutch. As far as troubleshooting goes, the clutch doesn't care if it's completely open or completely closed on the belt in order to spin the shaft. If the shaft simply doesn't turn in neutral, or turns with any difficulty, the driven clutch has nothing to do with it.

Take the belt off completely, and spin the transmission by hand using the clutch. Ignore the fact that the clutch is on there, and just see what it does/doesn't do on each side of the machine in forward/neutral/reverse. Block the machine up in the air so you can actually see things turning as you go. Check the end play on the main shaft, too. A little bit (1/8" or so?) isn't bad, but if you've got a bunch of in and out slop on the shaft, you may need to address it. It's a good idea to get the new belt anyway, but by the looks and sounds of things, the T-20 should come out. I know it sucks; I know it's a lot of work.

[2band]

I just tried to turn it in by hand in neutral. I can turn it but not easily. How freely is it supposed to spin in neutral? I will try to block it up this afternoon and see what it will do in gear.

[hydromike]

I just tried to turn it in by hand in neutral. I can turn it but not easily. How freely is it supposed to spin in neutral?

If you have the belt off and both shifters in neutral, the clutch should spin just about effortlessly. Effortlessly as in, you should be able to spin it, let go and it should still spin a little bit. If you still have the belt on, take into account that you have to put a little more effort into moving that, too.

[2band]

Definitely not spinning that easily. The belt is on but its not that tight, so it isn't holding it up too much. I am getting the feeling I need to start clearing off a weekend pretty soon...

[hydromike]

Agreed, but don't get discouraged. The hardest part of the entire procedure is removing all the parts necessary to get to the transmission. It'll go quickly once you get started. The knowledge you'll gain will really be priceless.

Let us know if you run into any obstacles, or if you need advice on what size hammer to grab first.