Advice needed

[Big Country]

O.K. I love my Artic Cat. She's an 04 650 auto. I am begining to have serious chatter which I feel is coming from the clutch. I kind of remember other FM'ers talking on the subject a while back. Anyone familiar with this problem? Wondering if I need to replace the clutch entirely or what. Also wondering about cost. I may be able to fix it myself, but was wondering what's involved. Any help? Thanks! BC

[Dave]

Could be nothing more serious than just the belt being worn. Hard to say without taking a look.

[BobT]

Okay, I might sound a bit naiive but over the years I have done most of my own mechanical work on cars, snowmobiles, outboards, etc. Two years ago I bought my first ATV, used, and after about a year I began to notice a rattle that sounded like it was coming from the clutch. I tried to remove the clutch shields to have a look but couldn't quite figure out what all had to be removed. I determined, correctly as it turns out, that I needed to remove the foot pad and part of the fenders. At any rate I decided that it might be best to just take it in and have it professionally done so I don't mess something up. Well, after spending over $200 we finally found the problem. It turned out to be a loose heat shield on the exhaust system. Both the mechanic and I were shocked as we both believed the sound was coming from inside the clutch housing. The lock washers has lost their memory and the bolts were a tad too long as well. Replaced the bolts with new ones and problem gone.

Bob

[Black_Bay]

As BobT said check for anything loose. I had a 2000 Arctic Cat 400 that I thought had a rod knock. It turned out one out of 4 bolts on my plow bracket was loose. A clump of mud, ice, or a rock may also be rattling around. Check the easy stuff first, then start looking to the harder to fix/expensive things.

[dustin85]

I have had a "chirp/squeal" that I thought was coming from the clutch on my 06 sportsman since I got it. The guys from the dealership thought it most likely the exhaust rubbing on something or a loose spring on the exhaust....they played around with that a couple of times with no help. After putting a new belt on my machine the noise quieted down a little.

[firemedic5586]

IS it an H1? I have heard that they are noted for trany problems.

[Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you]

[jltimm]

They did not make H-1's in 2004.It is the 2004-2005 650 V2 with the tranny issues your referring to.

[Big Country]

Thanks all for the advice and opinions. I am certain it is not something loose. It most definetly is coming from the clutch/belt area. I am pretty mechanically inclined to guess that I need to open it up and take a look. It is not an H1. It does have the issues of a typical 04 like belt light going off and only allowing 10% power. They sell an overide clip that is installed when this happens. Been there done that. This is an entirely different issue. I will open it up someday soon and post my findings. Thanks again to all, it's appreciated. BC

[MN Mike]

HMMM, sounds strange. I've got a 650 Prairie which has the same motor and I would imagine the same clutchs as well. Over 2000 miles on it and I haven't had any trouble. Maybe you burnt your belt? could be many things I guess. If you do a google search for Nyroc, he's got a great site for these 650 engines, mostly Kawi's but some of that should pertain to you as well, maybe you'll find something. They are not bad to break into, I've been into my belt and clutchs many times to clean things out.

Dad put one of those new brain boxes in his 700, talk about waking up a beast! It turned it into a whole different machine, mine will be done next year for sure. It also got rid of that ' limp home ' mode they go into.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

Mike

[pulsar_nx]

I had a simlar problem last year. I had a loud knocking at low engine RPMs.It turned out to be the skid plate for the snow plow was viberating. Once I took it off in the spring, no more noise.