Length: 7:24
Created: April 13, 2020
[0:00] Is it time to change your drive belt on your Kawasaki Teryx? Today I’m going to show you how to do that. My name is Kristen and this is Maintenance Matters.
We are going to start by removing the seat and the seat base. Next, remove these four bolts. There will be a spacer under each front seat base. Set those aside.
Now we are going to remove all of the rivets so that we can remove this panel, this panel, and this panel here, so that we can access our clutch.
Now that you have your push pins removed, you can start removing the panels. You’ll start from the top and pull this panel, and then this one.This one does not need to come all of the way off. You just need it up far enough so that you can get to these.
[1:33] Next you’re going to remove the gas tank. You’ll loosen these bolts here to remove the straps holding the gas tank in. Next you’re going to remove your plugs.
To remove this fuel line, take a flat-head screwdriver and pry up on the red clip.
[2:31] Next, you’ll remove these bolts to remove this bar.
Pull that out of the way. Now we are going to remove our gas tank. Set that out and now we have access to our clutch.
[3:22] Next up we are going to remove the screws holding our clutch cover on. Take the clutch cover off. When you pull the cover off, make sure the seal is still intact. If it’s not, or if it’s damaged, contact your dealership and they will be able to get you a new one.
If you have a 2013 model, you can typically loosen up the sheaves on your secondary clutch and slide the belt over. On most other models you do have to remove the secondary and primary clutches to get the belt off. So that’s what we are going to do.
You’ll use a 27 mm socket. It is a standard thread, not a reverse thread. Pull the nut off and you’ll have two washers. Set those aside.
[4:09] You’ll either need to use a pry bar to hold the primary clutch still or you can get with Kawasaki—they have a primary holder. In this case, I’m going to use a crow bar. Slide that in, being careful not to damage any of the rollers on the clutch itself.
Get that in a spot where it’s going to hold. Pull the nut off and slide your crowbar out.
As you slide your primary clutch off, there are going to be two washers. Set those aside, making sure not to lose those. Now you can pull your primary and secondary clutch out at the same time.
Remove the belt.
[5:02] When inspecting your clutches, look for any excess belt dust. As you can see, there is a lot on these clutches here. Use a clean rag, or you can also use some brake cleaner to get that off. Make sure everything is clean—no groove worn into your clutch sheaves. Same with your primary clutch.
Once you have your clutches clean, you can clean the inside of the clutch housing. Be sure not to get any of grease that’s on the shafts anywhere inside of the clutch. If you do, use brake cleaner to get it clean before reassembling.
[5:50] When examining the belt, you’ll want to look for any kind of torn teeth, any excess wear, or cracks.
When installing your belt, pay attention to which way the letters are going. Especially if you are reusing the belt—you’ll want to put it on the same way that it came off.
Once everything is cleaned up, you can reinstall the belt. Side it over the primary first. You can angle the secondary slightly to get the belt over the sheaves.
Once they are back together, you can slide them back onto your clutch shafts here.
Once you have those seated, you can reinstall each nut and make sure both washers go back into place as well.
[7:09] Now you’ll torque those back down to factory specs. You can reinstall your clutch cover and the rest of your components, and you’re good to go.
That’s how easy it is to change a belt on a Kawasaki Teryx. Thanks for watching!
7 Comments
I’d like to know what model teryx your working on??
Hey! Thanks for reaching out. This is a 4-seat 2016 Teryx 800.
What are the factory specs that you tourqe the clutch bolts on a 2021 Teryx S LE to.
Im having issues putting the secondary gear back on, is this normal?
Hey Jin, the Teryx is a little bit of a pain, but it shouldn’t be too bad to get your secondary on. Are all the shafts and splines clean?
I have a 2016 Teryx le with about 6500 miles. The first belt was changed at about 3000 miles. About the same time I started having trouble with the belt slipping on engagement. Works perfectly while running, but almost every time you take off the belt lets out a chirp. We use OEM belts, have cleaned the clutches, changed the belt many times, and it gets worse after about 100 miles on the new belt. Clutches look to be in perfect condition. Not sure what the deflection should be or how to tighten it. The dealer has been zero help! any ideas what we can check/try? seems like it is getting worse. But like I said, it is just the initial take off, the belt squeals, works perfectly while driving, no issues when it back shifts,
Thanks for your help
Hey Olivia. It does sound like your deflection is off, especially since it started with a new belt (which would be wider than your worn belt), and you’ve never adjusted your deflection before. You check your deflection by measuring how far down you can push the center of your belt (after you rotate your primary clutch by hand to raise the belt to the top of the secondary). You should be able to push it between 7/8″ and 1″ (22–27 mm) using about 13 lb of force. If you can push it too far, then you need to tighten your deflection. If you can’t push it far enough, you need to loosen your deflection.
Adjusting the deflection on a Teryx is kind of a pain. You have to remove your secondary clutch completely, take it apart, then add or remove shims on the inside or outside of it to tighten or loosen your deflection. Then you’ll need to reassemble it and test the deflection again. This guy does an OK job explaining things in his long video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsDKCteMkKQ
Hopefully that helps!