Older Bayou centrifugal clutch

stray · #1 (**permalink**) 06-01-2009, 11:39 AM

anyone have any experience with repairing a centrifugal clutch on a '90 bayou? had a small oil leak, oil ran a little low. quad would not go into gear without stalling. i can put it up on blocks and shift into 1st - wheels are turning without touching the throttle. idle is not high at all, didn't put a tach on it, but it's low. just wanted some input before i tear into it. being that i'm pretty sure it's the centrifugal, and not the wet clutch, i shouldn't need to drain the (new synthetic) oil before i open the case, right?

**GRIZZLYWIZARD** · #2 (**permalink**) 06-01-2009, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stray

anyone have any experience with repairing a centrifugal clutch on a '90 bayou? had a small oil leak, oil ran a little low. quad would not go into gear without stalling. i can put it up on blocks and shift into 1st - wheels are turning without touching the throttle. idle is not high at all, didn't put a tach on it, but it's low. just wanted some input before i tear into it. being that i'm pretty sure it's the centrifugal, and not the wet clutch, i shouldn't need to drain the (new synthetic) oil before i open the case, right?

Sounds like you are on the right track. And no, you should not have to drain anything unless you are going into the wet clutch.

stray · #3 (**permalink**) 06-06-2009, 02:27 AM

i will find out this weekend!

stray · #4 (**permalink**) 06-06-2009, 10:11 PM

small piece of metal must've broken off somewhere. it was lodged between the primary clutch housing and one of the shoes. waiting on the rtv to cure before i refill the crankcase and see if everything is back to normal. btw, the centrifugal clutch is also bathed in oil on these machines.

stray · #5 (**permalink**) 06-10-2009, 09:57 AM

well, that wasn't the problem... put everything back together and it still wants to pull forward when put into 1st gear (or any gear). gonna put a tach on it this weekend to make sure the idle isn't too high, which i'm pretty sure it's not. the one-way is operating correctly and the springs/shoes seem to be fine. looks like i'll drain everything and pull it back apart...

stray · #6 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 09:23 PM

so.... idle was around 1100 rpms, thought i'd drop it down a little. the manual doesn't give a specific rpm range, for some reason, but i think my foreman idles around 850 rpms. anyway, i start turning the idle adjuster and nothing's changing... the mixture screw is on the bottom, where it's impossible to get to, so i shut her down and loosen the clamps and twist the carb. it was real close to the 1 & 1/2 turns out that the manual specifies. i figure it must have some crap in it, so i tear it apart. it did have a fair amount of debris after nearly 20 years. blow it out and put it back on - still idling high. didn't get to make any more adjustments as one of my buddies had 2 flat tires on the trail and needed me to bring the compressor and some plugs to get him back to civilization. maybe i can find some time tomorrow, before work. did i mention how much i love fuel injection?

stray · #7 (**permalink**) 06-21-2009, 12:03 AM

i decided to order a new one-way and replace that to see if it corrects the problem. we'll see...