1st belt slip?

Being new to the rhino and rode it pretty hard over the past couple of days, I had my first belt slip. I was on a decent hill, just playing around and it was in reverse, trying to see how far I could go not in locked or in 4WD. I had my youngest with me so it wasn't really that bad of a hill. Hasn't done it anymore, scared the crap out of me though. I am sure this is normal and should not worry about it and address it when I am ready to order JBS sheave and all that?

The Rhino is a different animal in reverse. More like a Hippo. The reverse gearing is geared way tall, essentially the same gear ratio as forward high gear. This essentally allows the Rhino to go just as fast on level ground in reverse as forward high. So, to ensure there were no accidental high speed crashes in reverse, Yamaha put in a rev limiter for reverse operation that limits the engine speed to about 4000 RPM. This is only a smidgen faster than the clutch slip engagement point (stall speed). So, all being said, a stock Rhino just does not really want to back up a steep hill. Does this seem like the symptoms that you experienced?

Yea buddy, you just made me feel a whole lot better. Thanks for explaining! Question though, putting in an aftermarket cdi would correct, right? Or I still not getting it....lol.

You can ground the green with white stripe wire going up to the reverse sense switch, then the reverse limiter goes away. A couple of drawbacks: 1. You lose the reverse indicator light function, as well. 2. There is a hazard, especially for someone unaware of the possibility, of going too fast in reverse to control the machine.

There is a bullet connector disconnect in-line on the green/white wire coming up from the bellypan on the passenger's side of the engine. You can disconnect the connection and plug a wire into the end of the wire going down to the bellypan and on to the CDI. The other end of the new wire is simply tied to a decent ground.

You can make the setup a bit safer by not disconnecting the wire to the reverse sense switch and tee-ing into the green/white wire instead, then having the new wire go to a switch on the dashboard and then on to a grounding point. This allows you to deliberately over-ride the reverse rev limiter only when you really need to.

Here is a picture of this disconnect:

Thanks Steve, I think I am going to put a switch on that now.

Oh, and yet another alternative, that I have not tried yet. Stuntmanmike posted a thread regarding adding weight to the wet clutch shoes, which lowers the clutch full engaement RPM. This has been termed 'slugging' the shoes, if you want to do a search. This approach is quite a bit more involved in that the wet clutch has to be taken out of the engine. However, this would most likely also improve the reverse gear response of the clutch.

I don't want to see my wet clutch

great and very helpful information once again, Steve. thanks for sharing!
you should start a Steve's How-To section just for electrical fixes.

x2!

08Rhino450SE wrote:

.........you should start a Steve's How-To section just for electrical fixes.

Awwww, a bouquet of bananas for me? You shouldn't have.... HaHa. I'm just glad to be of some help. Been there and done that on some of these things.

Steve is my Hero! I sure learn a lot on this forum.

steve for prez!!!

WV Hot Rod Rhino wrote:

steve for prez!!!

Nah, anybody can be a President, given enough money! I wanna be Admin when I grow up, just like you! LOL

lol...every time i push a button i hold my breath...i have full confidence bobby can fix anything i mess up..lol

Ah, the man behind the man, a b for bobby

Steve, I don't even change the oil in my Harley's anymore but every time I read one of your posts I wanna go work on my rhino. the pictures are awesome. The text part is even I can understand. What a great asset to this forum.

My belt slipped again this time going down a hill, I think. I lost all engine braking and I think I heard it squill. It also will roll backwards on an incline, normal? I see posts about the one way clutch and I take it mine my be played out?

Willy I think You can check it by putting it in gear with motor off, parking brake off and it should only roll one way if the one way bearing is OK. If it will roll both ways, bearing is gone ! I think !

Try turning the idle up, mine was disengaging going down hill and that fixed the problem.

Ok, I may not have been too clear. Engine was on when it rolled backwards on incline, a small one too.

Will do, I think idle is too low anyway. A tach sure would be nice right about now!

Firefighter wrote:

Willy I think You can check it by putting it in gear with motor off, parking brake off and it should only roll one way if the one way bearing is OK. If it will roll both ways, bearing is gone ! I think !

Just tried it, only will roll one way, so I guess that is good thing. I don't like loosing the engine breaking like though, unpredictable...

foyota86 wrote:

Ok, I may not have been too clear. Engine was on when it rolled backwards on incline, a small one too.

The one-way sprag clutch ('bearing') within the wet clutch assembly will not be able to prevent that particular motion when in a forward gear. It will only be able to prevent the clutch from disengaging when you are rolling forward. It will always be able to roll backwards unless the engine is revved up to engage the main wet clutch. The sprag clutch has to spin free in that opposite direction such that the engine at idle can disengage from the drive system, else it would be like a stick shift coming to a stop without pushing in the clutch (or without putting it into neutral).

I hope that I am explaining this clearly, kinda hard to put this concept into words. These one-ways can also be called over-running clutches, as the engine can spin freely if it is running faster than the output shaft of the clutch assembly. The same thing is happening at the starter motor in the Rhino. Once the engine starts running, it is free to spin faster (over-run) the starter motor.

Mine would decelerate then make a clunking noise and free wheel, turned the idle up and its fine.