# Smelling burned rubber....is this normal?



## kevinryan7 (Jan 31, 2012)

So I finally got my brute all put back together, tuned up, running and sounding great. With the tune up I had to replace the drive belt, the old one was done. This is the first time I've had to do this since I've owned it so I wanted to check something....driving it up and down the yard I can smell a little bit of burning rubber. It seems like it's coming from the CVT exhaust snorkel. Is it normal for that to happen when you first put on a new belt? Thought maybe a bit of it would wear down as it works itself into the clutch and drive pulleys.....wasn't positive though and wanted to double check before going riding this weekend. Hate to do all this work and tear a belt up as soon as we start riding







Thanks in advance for any help.


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## filthyredneck (Feb 10, 2010)

Could be a couple different things...if it is for sure coming from the cvt exhaust, my first question would be if your deflection is right? Other question would be if you cleaned your clutches up with acetone or anything before installing the new belt?....sometimes you'll develope a glaze on the clutch surface from slipping/smoking your belt and if you install a new belt on top of that glaze your just shooting yourself in the foot. I'm sure others will chime in here in a couple hours when they start getting up for work.


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## dirtydog (Nov 11, 2009)

Same answer. If those washers arent set at the stock setting or u didnt put them all back ur deflection maay be off. Has the belt on that ever been adjusted or changed by anyone? If someone has adjusted the deflection before and then u put a new tight belt on. Also did you scrub the pullys with a scotch brite? If not another way to glaze that new belt


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## KMKjr (Jan 9, 2009)

Was the old belt blown? Could have pieces of the old one inside the CVT cover or snorkel?


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## kevinryan7 (Jan 31, 2012)

Yeah, the old belt crapped out on me during a ride and I caught a few pieces in the face through the snorkel....almost wrecked, not cool. I did clean out the housing though of all the shredded pieces. I didn't however clean up the pulleys with acetone or anything like that....maybe I should pull it off and give that a try. As far as I know the belt deflection has never been adjusted and is still at the factory setting. I checked the deflection and it is correct according to the manual. So you guys think I just need to give the pulleys a good cleaning?


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## wmredneck (Dec 6, 2011)

Had that happen to me one time. My face was right in front of the snorkels too. I was not a happy camper at all lol. Idk if pieces stayed in the snorkel or the smell was just there but mine stunk for a ride or three after that. 






Wishing I was home instead of on the road using TapTalk


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## SMITTY (Feb 25, 2009)

make sure you exhaust isnt burning anything, Ive had the wire covers that come stock to run winch lines through melt before. and the plastic tray that all the electric stuff sits in.


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## 1bigforeman (Jun 23, 2009)

When you put the bike in gear, does it squeal or creep forward without the gas being pushed? If not, you are fine. Like Smitty said, make sure it's coming from the belt and not something else burning.


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## kevinryan7 (Jan 31, 2012)

No, everything ran fine. Wasn't creeping when in drive without throttle. Just got back from a weekend ride and everything went fine. Could still catch a whiff of rubber every now and then, but nothing bad at all and the belt looks good. Went ahead and checked it after we got back to the campsite.


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## Polaris425 (Dec 16, 2004)

If your just catching a wiff every now and then when under a load, that's fairly normal.


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## kevinryan7 (Jan 31, 2012)

That seems to be all it is.....no smell at idle or anything like that, only when under a load, and a pretty heavy one at that


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## KMKjr (Jan 9, 2009)

Any crap inside heat shield or around the muffler?


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## Polaris425 (Dec 16, 2004)

kevinryan7 said:


> That seems to be all it is.....no smell at idle or anything like that, only when under a load, and a pretty heavy one at that


thats probably all it is then, its heating up under load and your smelling it b/c its blowing in your face. Mine did that occasionally, and i rode on it pretty hard w/o any issues. someone gave me a new belt once, suppose to be a HD one and I put it on and kept the OEM one as a spare. PhreeBSD blew his belt on a ride w/ his 31's and I gave him the OEM one and he rode it for a while w/o any issues after I had beat on it w/ the 29.5's.


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