[Ocelot13]

Ok, i know this isn't a raptor question, but its just a general clutch question for my friend.
he had to repair his start clutch in his polaris predator 500, he got it all back together and went to flush the oil system out to get rid of any debris left from the start clutch... but.. he didn't use atv oil, just used regular castrol. i told him it wasnt a good idea but he did it anyways (filled it with the castrol, started it up, revved it a few times, drained it out).
then he used actual polaris ps4 (the oil it calls for) and filled it up. but now when you ride it, it feels like the clutch is slipping, you hit the gas and itll rev up...but you wont really go anyway. feels like the same effect as when the belt on my kodiak would get wet and it'd slip till it dried..
is his clutch plates ruined from just running castrol through it to flush it, was never put in gear or moved, just filled, started, revved, then drained...

 

[Mtuned]

No, sounds like clutch install was done wrong.

 

[dog86]

I ran normal oil in my old DS650 one a brand new Barnett clutch and it ruined it in about 200yd. Didn't matter what I did it wouldn't work and had to buy a new clutch. I would look it over and check the install but he might have ruined it. You can buy cheap wet clutch oil for about $3-4 a quart at Autozone, just depends if its on sale.

 

[raptor700lover]

yeah i guess the clutch was rebuilt wrong

 

[Mad Dog]

If the plates were soaked with atv oil ahead of time, the auto oil he flushed with shouldn't have been in the clutch long enough to cause any issues. I would suspect an installation issue, as others have, before blaming the oil as the only culprit.

 

[Ocelot13]

as far as i know.. he didnt have the clutch pack apart when he was fixing the starter clutch, but ill have to check with him and see.
it ran good before, he got his sport atv and i was stuck with my slow kodiak so that pushed me to get my raptor ha. but perhaps he did have the clutch apart and didnt put it back together right. since he was using atv oil for so long, the regular oil wouldnt have seeped in to the fibers to ruin them?

 

[Mad Dog]

I have flushed my 660 out with automotive oil before when I had water/gas in the oil and also done it when trying to clean shavings out as well from a broken/bad clutch pack. My 3-4 instances doing this is all I'm really working on here, but in none of those resulted in clutch problems.

 

[dog86]

I did't catch that he fixed the STARTER clutch I thought the clutch. I thought he ran regular motor oil on a new drive clutch. I would agree with MD then and the clutch plates may be fine in that short of time.

 

[Mad Dog]

I guessed I missed the "starter clutch" aspect as well, and though it was a clutch change. So much for paying attention :lol: sorry OP.

I can't blame a slipping clutch on a starter clutch install, the two are not interconnected and the starter clutch should be disengaged before he even touches the shifter.

I wouldn't expect that to ruin his clutch, but I guess I can't rule it out as it seems to be the only thing that has happened to it since it worked fine.

It's possible to ruin a clutch with automotive oils with friction modifiers, though it typically takes more force and exposure time.

 

[dog86]

Clutch cable mis adjusted is what I would check if the clutch wasn't messed with. Might have did something to it when working on it??? aside from that it might be the oil ruined the clutch. Like I said above it happened fast on my DS650 but I think it was a Kevlar clutch. I had ran normal motor oil in it before I knew better on the stock plates and it worked for awile lol.

 

[QuadManiac]

Many bikes/quads have the starter one-way in the clutch side case (not on the flywheel side as in the Rappy), and the CLUTCH must be removed to get to the one-way (Honda TRX450 is one example). If this is the case with the Polaris, I'd suspect he re-installed the clutch or something in it's mechanism incorrectly.

I agree with MD that just exposing the already soaked plates to non wet clutch compatible oil for a short time should not cause long term clutch damage, but there are always examples that defy the expected.