Last time the hose I could see turned out to be the CVT intake, and the heat was on the probe I’d named Ambient. This time the tip was supposed to go in the hose that leaves the clutch.
Saturday I put it there. The belt died on the way home. The log has a pretty spike, but I didn’t need the log.. I heard it.
The Tip
ThermoPro on the bay plastic, three tips live before we rolled. The clutch tip went in above the slotted housing, next to the quilted heat shield.. outlet air this time, not cabin air. Names on the ride: Engine bay, Clutch, Ambient. In the right plugs.
The Ride
Out of Four Corners, south on River Road, all the way down Axtell / Anceney to Amsterdam, and backroads back to pavement. Forty-five minutes of that. Then 84, and the last climb into Four Corners from the west. 65+ up a long hill. That’s where it gave.
58 minutes, 36.6 miles. The clutch outlet cruised around 115–134° on the loop. Then the hill: 126°, 140°, 151°, 164°. Engine was fine. I could hear the belt shredding.
The app held up.. session, GPS, even a Bluetooth drop early on. It just didn’t see it coming any sooner than my ears did.
What Came Apart
A CVT belt has cogs on both sides and a cord running through the middle. The cord went, and the cogs started peeling off. That fluff in the tunnel is the cord, blown into fiber. Same stuff packed the outlet duct.. the one my probe was sitting in.
I pulled the fiber out of the duct and drove it home at 50.
The belt was nine years old, and the machine lives outside in Montana.. twenty below, then a hundred. It was a timebomb. Saturday it went off.
I’m not going to run that loop again to see what a new belt looks like on the chart. I’m putting a new belt in so I can drive the thing.
Live: utvtron.vercel.app
Update, Aug 20: belt’s in. Short break-in ride, tips in the right ducts.