Leaking Clutch Cover!

Talk about raining on your parade! I noticed the last couple of times that I rode that my belt was getting wet when I'd do even shallow river crossings, water just over the floorboard kind of stuff. I know that the stock vents for the CVT are located just above the seat base. I was well below these vents.

So I did some investigating when I got home and found two problems. 1) The CVT intake has a hole melted in it from the exhaust heat. It's not a huge hole, but it lets water in. The tube was also misshapen from the heat. 2) The other problem is the CVT cover gasket is leaking. When I had water in my belt box, I revved the motor to help dry the clutches and noticed two or three spots where water was shooting out.

I currently have the cover and primary sheave and belt removed from the Rhino. The inside is a total mess! Lots of greasy residue from the water is on everything. I'm going to get a bunch of brake parts cleaner and go to town in there and clean it up.

Here is a pic of the melted intake tube:


This is just a informational post to check these plastic parts, especially if you run aftermarket exhaust or run real hard for long periods of time at slow speeds. I melted the exhaust tube when my Rhino was still stock. I was able to fix that by wrapping the exhaust tube with heat reflective tape and have had no problems since. I guess I need to do the same with the intake tube as well. Finally, I believe my CVT cover has been leaking since basically brand new. Even when I had snorkels, if I stopped in deep water for long periods of time I would get a cup or so of water out of the drain.

i have them in stock for that reason and like you said the alum heat tape will fix them...thanks for sharing..

Yep.
BTW, this is a pic of the melted CVT exhaust vent. I melted this guy when my Rhino was all stock. I think using my Rhino for spraying herbicide created enough heat from the exhaust to melt the tube. You basically drive around at less than 5MPG stop and go for hours at a time.


Result = wet belt!

Good Post!!

bad luck Chris , good info an pics

Thanks mine melted but no hole.

I have one you can have. If you never got one yet

Chris, I have often wondered about running a small fan like a small computer fan to help the cooling overall especially at lower speeds plus maybe the increased air volume may be enough to run a filter as well cleaner air, cleaner grease perhaps? come on Im sure you've thought of this or considered it, whats your thoughts? or anyones?

something like this.............

Firefighter wrote:

something like this.............

I ran one of those out of a boat hull exhaust in the summer time here in Florida and it worked great.

maybe get some header wrap , dei has some good stuff and good prices just waiting for mine to arrive , have done it to most of my bikes

Yes something like that put in the ducting so it pulls and or pushes depending on how you view it to the fan on the secondary and then could run a filter? maybe extend the grease life and belt and all would possibly run cooler. i will look into that thanks.