question - My wife complained that my old zr580 efi (now hers) is lacking some zip. *I did a quick once-over and discovered about 4 "teeth" missing out of the belt. *First, could this account for the power loss (slippage, perhaps?) *second, how did this chunk go AWOL? *Could it be a symptom of another problem? *the belt is an original so it has almost 2,500 miles on it - it really doesn't owe me any favours. *Would it be just wear, in your opinion?

As always, Thanks for your help.

P.S. *Yes, of course I replaced it, but have not tried it yet.

Yes that's probably the cause of power loss. *Not sure why they fly off. *I think it's just age. *The rubber starts to dry out, then they fly off. *I had the same thing happen with our old ElTigre this year. *I also melted a belt on my ZRT when the track froze & I forgot to break it free before I took off. *That melted a 3 - 4 inch chunk on the belt. *It was ok at high rpm because the lugs aren't touching the clutch, but at low rpm's there was a clunking noise & poor performance. *Stupid mistake, $80- lesson, now I always lift & drop the back of the sled even if we only stop for 10 minutes.

I'de be inclined to think it was just waer and old age.Rubber gets hard and cracked after a while.It's like pieces of a fan belt coming off after it's old as well.

2500 miles is great for your belt life . wish I could get that many. I think the heat can take it out of the belt. Put on the new one and break it in, hope you get another 2500. http://www.snowmobileworld.com/forums/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif