Variator wear/coloration By prvrbs35 (Read 2,205 times)

[prvrbs35]

I am wondering if the pictures below show normal wear and coloration of the variator? Because of the hesitation/sputtering issue, I am wondering if my belt may be sticking to the variator as my scooter heats up. I tend to drive hard and have been dealing with hesitation/sputtering especially at red lights and a few times during deceleration. The past two days I decided to drive at or under 40mph and did not notice the hesitation/sputtering as drastic during my commuter to and from work.


There are belt markings toward the center.
This is a continuation of my post "Dies when starting at red light."

[Alleyoop]

Get some fine emery cloth and clean it up, the blue markings indicate it is running really hot.
The Dieing at stop lights and harder to start is usually an indicator that your valves are to tight. Adjust your valves and that should solve that problem.
Alleyoop

[dannicus]

Emery will get it off but it's probably just a coat of rubber on there. Some carb cleaner and a rag should buff it off. Blueing is highly unlikely due to those faces probably being aluminum, not to mention if they were getting hot enough to actually blue an alloy, then your belt would be a gooey wad.

[Bashan]

That is NOT normal wear. You are slipping and sticking for some reason. I dismantled the CVT on my Rat not too long ago and I had a little bit of that which I thought was to be expected. I used some steel wool to take it off, emery would work fine too. I don't think you'd want to make the surface too slick though, it does have to pull the belt. But I digress, you are depositing WAY too much belt material on the facings, I'm not sure why. I know we've discussed your problem but I can't remember all of the specifics so I'll just put some ideas out there. Is the variator true, i.e., can you see any wobble when you slowly turn it or at idle? Are the rollers or sliders in correctly? Is the clutch housing bluish at all? That could indicate too much heat and something wrong with the back end. Maybe just a faulty belt? That would be a nice easy fix. Any iideas out there gang? Rich

[prvrbs35]

I took apart the CVT again yesterday after this posting. The clutch housing does not show any blue coloring. The internal surface is very polished looking. The clutch pads smooth looking. The belt is a Bando 835 standard size.

Here is what I did. Replaced contra spring with 1500 rpm. The original seems to be the same tension. However, it is shorter than the 1500. Did not change clutch springs. Looks to difficult w/o proper tools. Roughed up the clutch pads w/sandpaper. Changed belt from other scooter. It is an old belt but I thought that I would give it a try. I took the variator off and polished the roller races with Mothers aluminum polish. I also polished the risers where the "V" clips slide. The risers did have vertical scratch marks and felt as if the "V" clips may stick as they slide up and down the risers. I did not want to mess with the surface of the variator. I do not want to introduce any new issues if I may the surface too slick to cause belt slippage. Cleaned rollers with rag. Put everything back together and went out for a short 1/2 ride to the store and back. No problems. Today, I will try to "push it" a little harder to see what happens.
Oh, BTW I have not noticed any slipping.
I will be ordering a new variator and sliders as well as a belt in the near future. Too many once a year expenses this month.

Thanks for all the insight.

[dannicus]

I was gonna ask if you had changed your main spring to a heavier one before all of this. That can tend to put more heat into a belt. Nevermind, tho. ;D

Oh, did you make sure the cooling air intake for the CVT was clean and clear? That can cause overheating for sure.

Btw, let us know how it performs with that new main spring.

[Alleyoop]

On the CVT cooling intake if it has a piece of foam take the foam out, that restricts a lot of air from entering into your cvt for cooling.
Alleyoop

[prvrbs35]

I took out the plastic filter cover to the CVT and left it open. I was thinking about drilling holes in the cover.

I adjusted the valves first when I started having this problem with the hesitation. I thought that may be the case. Usually, when my valves go out of adjustment I have a hard time starting the scooter and my gas mileage drops. I monitor my mpg at every fill up (I have an app for that). Still getting 68mpg with my hard driving.

Drove it hard today. Took a lot longer before I started having hesitation issues. But not like the original. I am also getting a sudden stall and a backfire. A few things I noticed today was the my rpms seem higher than before. This is done by sound. I wish I had a tachometer. I think a tach would help greatly. I also use to have a (do not know how to explain) warble sound when running a constant speed. That went away but I do notice a different high rev sound. The more I think about this, the belt may be sticking or slipping as the CVT heats up. Without a tach it is hard to tell. Here's my theory. As I go from stop the belt may slip slightly and then when it grabs completely or partially the engine sputters. The rollers may have a slight transition in direction which may cause the variator to open and close ever so slightly and then I get this jerky action which may stall the engine. Just a theory.
It is hard to tell if the contra spring has made a difference. The engine/CVT combination really improved since yesterdays little tune up.
I work the next three days so no tinkering on the scooter. Just driving conservatively to get me to and from work. Maybe I should request some OT for new parts.