Riddle me this

[1petezrinski]

I own a 2021 and brand new 2022 Yamaha Drive 2 PTV EFI (I'm building one for my parents). The 2021 is 17 months old, 181 hours, estimated 2500 miles that is used primarily on pavement with little use on grass (golf courses). After only 1 month of use, I could hear a slight clicking noise from 5mph to 15mph (top speed 25). The clicking has now grown louder and is accompanied by some squealing, so I took the belt off, put in neutral and revved the engine and no adverse sounds. The drive belt has worn down 1/16th, so I swapped the belt off the 2022 and presto, no noises. Here is the riddle(took me long enough), I put the worn belt on my 2022 and no noises either. How can the belt make a noise on one cart so early in it's existence and nothing on another cart?

[Leon willis]

Different secondary clutch?

[1petezrinski]

No, both carts have the same secondary clutch.

[1petezrinski]

The service manual says to change the belt at 27 millimeters but the belt was only at 28.5. Should you change a belt that is whining and producing other noises even though it's not recommended per the manual? Are you possibly doing some damage to the drive system by running with a worn belt? Now, it only cost me $39 for the new belt, so the answer was easy for me but in the future, should I just wait until the belt hits 27 millimeters and deal with the noise?

[slonomo]

Hard to say what the cause was. If the new belt solved the issue then just be glad? I wish most issues could be that easy of a fix But seriously, maybe is there a wear pattern on the clutches that might look different? Could the belt have had something on it like grease/oil? I wonder if you reinstalled the belt, would the noise come back?

[CP241]

I’d be curious to swap it back and see if the noise returns. There’s a better than not chance there may have been a piece of some type of debris or a hard spot in the belt that wore off or disappeared when it switched to the other clutch.

[1petezrinski]

Wanted to wait a few days to gather more data with the new belt. Unfortunately, the clicking noise has returned but is hardly noticeable. The good news is that there is no squealing. Took you suggestions and put back the old belt and the clicking is much louder, along with the squealing.

[SandbaggerYDRA]

Could it possibly be coming from the primary clutch? Springs, weights etc have been known to cause clicking noises when they wear out or need lubrication.

[1petezrinski]

Had a local cart mechanic take it for a ride and he said that without pulling the clutches, he wouldn't know for certain but it's probably the weights in the primary. He has seen this in several hundreds of carts in The Villages, FL.