Drive Belt Question

[ppd153]

How many miles are you getting on the UXV drive belt before it needs to be changed? I realize driving conditions factor in but I'm trying to get a rough idea as to when I should change it. I have 1000 miles on my 700sp. I have a 19 year old Polaris ATV which has a recommendation to change it at I believe 1000 miles but it looks like it was just installed. No rot, no wear, nothing. I can't access the UXV belt as easily to inspect it.

[airshot]

    I have the same question on my 450i, to difficult to just open up and check. When I had my Kawasaki Praire I changed it at 1500 miles but the old one looked so good I kept it as a spare. Not sure how these heavier SxS machines will cause belt wear.

[airshot]

    Just picked up a spare for my 450i to have on hand for the day when I will need it......just shy of 140 bucks....wow hope they last a long time!!!

[randyo]

I think my belt is blown, the UXV doesn't want t move, just rev, I was moving fine last time I used it

[airshot]

I think my belt is blown, the UXV doesn't want t move, just rev, I was moving fine last time I used it

A very good possibility, that is how they typically go when they break.  How many miles on her? And what do you use it for?  Heavy towing in high gear will eat up a belt quick, as we are all probably guilty of not using low as often as we should.  Open her up and let us know your findings, unfortunately belts are not under warranty unless you only have a few miles on it.

[randyo]

A very good possibility, that is how they typically go when they break.  How many miles on her? And what do you use it for?  Heavy towing in high gear will eat up a belt quick, as we are all probably guilty of not using low as often as we should.  Open her up and let us know your findings, unfortunately belts are not under warranty unless you only have a few miles on it.

just over 900 miles, used for work,  plenty of towing, in my back yard, about 5 cords of firewood annually on a sled in loads of 750-1000 lbs, I use low range in the woods, also plenty of street use, prolly more than anything else, most of the time with a full load of cargo and 2 large people, other times, I am pulling a trailer or my little tow behind backhoe (990lbs) trailer maybe over loaded at times, I've had it push me beyond comfortable control a couple times, I have learned the limits, I always use high range on the street, I hate to limit my speed to 25mph when it doesn't seem to work any harder to get to 45

I have noticed top speed dropping the past hundred miles, from 48-49 that it used to get down to 46, maybe 47 going down hill

I am not used to detecting CVT drive belt wear, this is first vehicle of any type that I have ever owned, otherwise, closest I have come is very limited experience 40 years ago with sleds

[randyo]

    Just picked up a spare for my 450i to have on hand for the day when I will need it......just shy of 140 bucks....wow hope they last a long time!!!

  you don't happen to know the part # or NAPA/Gates cross reference # ?

[randyo]

when I do a search for Kymco UXV540i Drive belt, the only thing I come up with that is actually a drive belt is from Amazon

Gates 11C3218  G-Force C-12 CVT Belt $80.06

or

Gates 11G3218  G-Force C-12 CVT Belt $46.64

are these correct numbers, I assume both same size, the expensive one being a sturdier material that might last longer ? am I safe in making that assumption, if so, its it worth the extra $$ for longer life you might get?

someone please educate me on drive belts,  I can probably pick one up at local NAPA for similar price as Amazon(over night if they don't have it in stock)

[airshot]

    When you saw your top speed dropping that was a clue your belt is worn.  When they wear they get narrower thus less speed at top end. Using high to tow your digger on the road was probably the culprit that contributed to excess belt wear. Low id just so low is seems your not going anywhere but using high with a load causes the belt to heat up and with the engine running at lower rpm than in low the cooling fins inside the belt housing don't keep the belt as cool.  Don't skimp on drive belts unless you want to replace them often.  When I had my atv the drive belt was fairly simple to replace mabey half hour or so but on the SxS a lot of stuff needs to be removed before you can get to the belt so it will become a more time consuming job. When you get it open check the faces on both sheaves to see if there is discoloration from a heated belt or even belt residue from a burnt belt. When the belts get hot they tend to stretch out to large in dia to drive or they break or come apart in strings. Expensive belts use Kevlar in the belt material for longer wear and heat resistance so look into the belt material when you buy one.  I have no idea what material Kymco uses in theirs and I can't say how good the factory belt is compared to the aftermarket belts.  You may try calling the factory help line in their US office, you can find it online at Kymco USA they were very helpful when I talked to them some months back about the shifter mechanism. Perhaps they might have a suggestion for the best solution to your high wear situation such as changing the clutch springs or something like that to help your constant heavy towing.  let us know what you find out!!

[k9bitten]

when I do a search for Kymco UXV540i Drive belt, the only thing I come up with that is actually a drive belt is from Amazon

Gates 11C3218  G-Force C-12 CVT Belt $80.06

or

Gates 11G3218  G-Force C-12 CVT Belt $46.64

are these correct numbers, I assume both same size, the expensive one being a sturdier material that might last longer ? am I safe in making that assumption, if so, its it worth the extra $$ for longer life you might get?

someone please educate me on drive belts,  I can probably pick one up at local NAPA for similar price as Amazon(over night if they don't have it in stock)

Those are the correct numbers and NAPA sells them but when I measured them at NAPA they were actually a bit narrower than my stock belt with 500 miles on it. I didn't buy one.

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[airshot]

   You definitely do not want to go narrower !!  That is the problem with aftermarket belts, they are very close but not exactly the same size. They do and will work but what are you going to sacrifice by being off just that tiny amount.  With these UTV's and the difficulty of getting to the belt, I prefer to do it once and do it right.

[randyo]

I finally gave up on the idea of replacing the belt myself, issue happened just as weather got colder, haven't had any dire need to use it but I wanna get started on my next years firewood,so I had my dealer come pick it up yesterday morning to replace the belt for me

at the end of the day, they called, nothing wrong with the belt, it move fine once it thawed and they drained the water, apparently, the belt was frozen into a chunk of ice

I will drive it back home today

[airshot]

    WOW....that was quite unusual, you had to go thru deep water and get some inside the belt housing.  Weren't you the guy that posted the pic of the 450i in deep water?  If you drop the skid plate (center one) there is a drain on the belt housing to open. If you ever get into deep water that needs to be opened and put a wet/dry vac over opening to suck any water out. Pretty hard to get any water in there unless you get in deep above the axles. If you look at an exploded view of the 450i you will see the vent (snorkel) opening for the belt housing is few inches below the top of the tire diameter. I hope they opened it up and cleaned out any crud left in there or the belt will wear prematurely.  Thanks for keeping us updated!!

[jew8201]

WOW....just reading over this thread topic on the belt.  That's crazy. So are you saying airshot that the 450i can't handle a water crossing that is higher than the tires???  Obviously I understand and know that excessive water and or mud are horrible on off road machines or off road vehicles in general. But surely a once in every while water crossing would not mean that once through the water to have to stop and take the skid off and access the belt drain plug you spoke of???  Not a huge concern in the grand scheme of things but defiantly wouldn't want to get strained in the middle of no where because of this.  Sparked my interested as I am highly considering the purchase of a new UXV 450i camo.....not sure if you seen my thread I started looking for some feed back.  This was a very informative read on this topic though! 

[k9bitten]

We've gone through deep water, I bet at least 18 inches if not more many times and never had an issue. Had the clutch cover off and it was dry as a bone with no signs of water intrusion ever. I'm trying to visualize the clutch intake and I don't remember it being lower than the top of the tires.

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