Unidentified chatter from front left under load. Any ideas?

[ViperMan]

On my 2014 RTX SE with about 6K miles, I'm hearing a light "chatter" noise starting at about 10 - 15 mph with RPM's in the 4K - 5K range. Anything beyond this the chatter gets drowned out by ambient noise. I notice only under acceleration (slight load on engine) and for a short while once I take finger off throttle. I do not hear when coasting or under "no load". This is a subtle chatter and not a vibration or anything I can feel. It could be body or chassis related but I just had sled completely looked over, and it seems like its from clutch area. My concern is that it's possibly a bearing on it's way out and I'm sure the noise ain't going to fix itself! Hoping to resolve before a failure. Anyone experience similar symptoms? Or have thoughts on where or what I should be checking for? Thanks in advance! - ViperMan

 

[Snowfun]

Check your belt and make sure that you haven’t put a burn groove in it. Try another belt to see if that is what is giving you the noise/vibration.

 

[RX-1MAN]

+1 ^
Does sound like belt issue as bearing I'd think you'd hear most, if not all, of the time.

 

[Yamasledder]

I've got a 2020 LTX with 550 miles on it and it does the same thing. I believe it's the drive clutch. My 2006 Nytro and 2014 Viper RTX did exactly the same thing. Lot's of people on here have tried to reduce or eliminate that clatter with shims and other attempts at remedies. It seems that if you can reduce the noise, it's only temporary and will come back before long. I've learned to live with it and have accepted it as part of the design of the sled. A agree that it is annoying as hell but I've never heard of a clutch failing because of this noise.

 

[ViperMan]

Thanks guys, I will check belt and keep you posted. The annoying thing is that this just recently developed and was never an issue in the past. Something has changed to create this sound and I'd like to get to the bottom of it.

 

[grizztracks]

+1 ^
Does sound like belt issue as bearing I'd think you'd hear most, if not all, of the time.

A dry jackshaft or drive bearing can make the noise described. Under load there's increased stress on the bearing and if dry or worn it may click or rumble until the load is lessened. Much like how a bad car wheel bearing will change pitch if the car is swerved from side to side loading and unloading the bearing. I had a bad jackshaft bearing on a Viper with only 1,500 miles on it and I'd hear it clicking every time I slowed then accelerated out of a corner.

The belt and clutches definitely need to be checked over but it's important to periodically inspect, clean and repack these bearings before failure. Also, because sounds can be deceiving don't rule out a problem in the chain case or even skid bearing problems (idler, tri hub bearings)