disassembling comet driven

[robbie]

This is my first comet torque converter, and I need some advice. It burned up the first belt, with a lot more wear on one side than the other. I looked at it and noticed that the front and rear pulleys were not aligned properly. I removed some spacers and put in a thinner one, and then I put the new belt on when it seemed to be properly aligned.

The second belt was working pretty well, but after a while it heated up and disintegrated also. It seemed to wear on both sides.

What are the possible causes of belt destruction? The primary pulley is brand new, and the secondary is old. Is it possible that the secondary pulley may be failing to spread out, causing excessive tension? Now that I'm thinking about it, it seems like the kart never really did shift into high gear when i was driving.

I've pulled it off the shaft and I'm trying to get it apart. What's the trick to getting these things apart? Pull the ring on the outside and separate the halves? I'm having trouble getting the ring out. It doesn't seem to be a snap ring. Instead it's a springy thing that makes two full loops, like a slinky.

What other possible causes are there? The belt is the correct size, and in case somebody wants to look it up I can post the belt number and the shaft distance.

 

[landuse]

Have you had a look at the sticky on cleaning your TC?

http://diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7332
http://www.reliablegokarts.com/transmission.htm

 

[robbie]

Thanks for the links, but these said nothing about disassembling the driven unit. One thing that the article did say is that I'm supposed to be able to pull the driven pulley open, but I'm finding that a bit hard to do. Is it supposed to require a crowbar or lever, or should it be easy enough to pull it open by hand?

 

[robbie]

So, does anybody have anything to say about disassembling the secondary clutch pulley?

 

[Blazkowiez]

Do you need to disassemble it for a specific reason? The clutch once off is disassembled by removing the snap ring, removing the other cover which has the cams for shifting on it. The only reason for disassembling this is when the cam buttons break or you need to change engagement/springs.

 

[robbie]

Thanks for chiming in. Maybe you can tell me if it's possible for a belt to burn up because of the pulley not spreading, or if there's a more likely reason for that. I suppose I could put it on a drill and see what it does when I spin it.

 

[Blazkowiez]

If the driven clutch is stuck it can fail to expand. During disassemble I always clean the bushing with a degreaser/brake cleaner. However re-lubrication is not suggested. As far as the clutch as a whole goes, I've seen drivens so worn that the aluminum cam has notches in it that will lock the nylon cam buttons in place.