# HS928 WA drive belt replacement/adjustment



## Wiz (Dec 23, 2017)

Hi I need some details on replacing and adjusting the drive belt on a HS 928 WA. The blower stopped moving this week. I pulled off the pully cover to see that the drive belt was chewed up. Purchased a new drive belt and auger belt from my local dealer. Tonight I pulled the machine apart and replaced both belts. When I tested it after putting it back together, the drive belt popped off again after moving 2 feet. 
I wanted to buy the shop manual at the dealer but he was out. Is there an adjustment procedure or something else I need to check?


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## JnC (Feb 21, 2014)

The drive belt shouldnt come off of the pulley as there are retainers on either side of the pulley and a belt retainer on the HST transmission itself. 

The idler can be adjust for tension on the belt when engaged but it wouldnt help with retaining the belt on the HST and engine pulley.


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## Wiz (Dec 23, 2017)

OK, I have the machine split apart, the belt is on but I have two issues.
1. There is a spring that is not attached. One end should go to the drive or auger cable (need to run downstairs and check which one) I can't identify for sure where the other end goes.
2. The idler pullies don't seem to align vertically. They are half off the pulleys. 

I'm going to go take some pictures. 
So far I can't find a shop manually locally. None of the dealers have one.


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## Wiz (Dec 23, 2017)

Looking down. Note idler does not line up with belts























Where does this spring go?







assuming one end of spring goes here.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

They could not,would not print a exploded diagram sheet out for you so you could finish fixing it?????????????????????????????? 

It looks as if you have a failed snubber pulley and bearing judging by the inner snubber 
pulley and all the nasty rubber dust you have there.

Did you have to split the snow blower to get the belts out??????

That spring has to go horizontally from the arm attached to the pulleys to an adjacent hole to create the tension needed to provide contact on the flat side of the belt to allow the belts to power the transmission and drive system. 
Its probably buried in rubber dust so you /we cannot see it there. Can you wash it out with some how water to clear all that rubber dust off it?


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

ahhhhhh pictures ......that helps. ya. leonz is right. need to do some cleaning. 

there are 4 springs. 2 on top . 2 on bottom. it may be able to see where they hook up when it is all clean. ya, that idler don't look right. is the bearing gone? or did it get tweeked when the belt broke? once again , if it is cleaned up a little it may be easier to tell.

the diagram should show how the springs go. believe me , i have done this before. the first time was a PITA but now it is easier.

BTW, on this Honda, the machine has to be split for the auger belt replacement but NOT for the drive belt. it is easier to work on the idlers and assembly with the bucket off. the drive belt can be changed from underneath if you take the belt keeper off on the bottom and just pull it off from top. 

anyway, leonz is right again that the dealer should have printed out the driven pulley page of the shop manual for you. if you could look at a similar machine at the dealer and take a picture for reference , that may help. it's the least they should let you do.

if that bearing is bad on the idler, i would just change the whole idler with a used one if you can find one. i may have an extra one laying around. if it was tweeked , maybe it can be twisted back into correct position but make sure it is close to perfect. I have done that before and it worked but don;t have very much experience as some of the Honda experts here.

maybe others will chime in.


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## Wiz (Dec 23, 2017)

Yeah, I think some cleaning would help. I think the bearings on the pulleys are good, and the arm got moved when the belt came apart. 
I think I have figured out the springs and have the drive belt springs top and bottom reattached. The big spring was the upper drive belt spring. I've still got the upper auger spring to attach. Looks like I'll have to stretch it some to attach it. Not looking forward to that. 
While messing with it, I managed to disconnect the auger brake spring (#3 above) that wraps around the shaft. I tried every way I could to get the idler arm assembly off but I couldn't. I finally was able to rehook it. While doing that though I discovered the idler arm has two permanently mounted bolts that go through the frame with nuts on the outside (#17 & #12 in the parts diagram above.) They allow enough play that I will be able to align the idler pulleys. 

I didn't ask the dealer for help when I got the belts, they were the only dealer open Christmas Eve day. Their really a motorsports dealer, cycles, quads, and snowmobiles. Today I called every dealer within 50 miles to try to get a manual, everyone said it would be at least a couple of weeks.  An amazon reseller wants $59 for one..without Prime). Hopefully I can get it back together tomorrow and clear the foot of snow off my 500' driveway.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

Wiz said:


> ...I wanted to buy the shop manual at the dealer but he was out. Is there an adjustment procedure or something else I need to check?


If you PM me, I'll send you 3 PDFs of the shop manual that covers this. One PDF is just a zoom-in of the spring hook-up detail...but it's clear as mud.


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## Wiz (Dec 23, 2017)

Update 2017-12-27 8:56 PM
-------------------
I just looked at the drive belt again. The drive belt is turning the drive pulley all the time. The idler pulley is not pushing on the belt. 
I can't find the plastic part bag but I see the belt is marked SA-29 so it seems to be the correct one.
Is there another adjustment I may have missed?
----------------------
I got the blower put back together with the new belts and now the drive belt moves all the time. The only way to stop the blower moving is in neutral or to the drive disengage lever. What's weird is the tensioner pulley seems to be working correctly. It's not pushing on the belt unless I pull the drive handle. The belt was a pretty tight fit. I'm wondering if I got one a bit too short so it's making contact all the time.


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## JimmyD (Nov 20, 2016)

Wiz, it seems you've hooked up or assembled something incorrectly. Give me half an hour and I'll take some pictures of my 624, everything is basically the same inside and I just happen to have the bucket off.

Don't continue using it, though, or you'll pooch your new belt.


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## JimmyD (Nov 20, 2016)

Okay. I'm doing this from mobile because I locked myself out of signing in on my desktop... So, apologies...

Looking at your pictures, it looks as if your output pulleys aren't lining up with your idler pulleys. Not sure why that is; did you remove these when changing the belt? Your issue is likely the belt riding on the edge of the idler instead of the inside of it. 

Is there any play in the idler, back and forth? The bushings in these are a known wear item. 

The spring with the bigger coil should be for your auger idler. I've attached a picture or three.

What all did you remove/alter to get the belt off? If you fixed the issue with the pulley, it might just be a cable adjustment. I've also attempted to attach the page from my manual... Adjustments *should* be the same for yours, but I would absolutely verify with an actual manual for a 928.


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## Wiz (Dec 23, 2017)

JimmyD said:


> Wiz, it seems you've hooked up or assembled something incorrectly. Give me half an hour and I'll take some pictures of my 624, everything is basically the same inside and I just happen to have the bucket off.
> 
> Don't continue using it, though, or you'll pooch your new belt.


Thanks! Looking forward to the pictures. I can't think what could be wrong, I didn't mess with the pulleys.


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## JimmyD (Nov 20, 2016)

My phone defaulted everything to landscape, so maybe save those to your computer and then rotate them.

Double check my pictures to make sure your springs are set up like mine, and let me know if your pulleys have any excessive play.

As for the belt, you have the right one (I think). IIRC the SA-29 fits most of the newer HS hydrostatic driven models.


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## Wiz (Dec 23, 2017)

The weird thing is, the idler pulley doesn't spin with the belt and pulley. I've added a link to short video, not sure if it will work.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mice03GuApRWyy6g2
The pictures previously posted were before I was able to realign the idler arm. You'll see in the video they line up much better now.

I was able to rotate and print the pages and images.


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## JimmyD (Nov 20, 2016)

Yes, I saw the post about you realigning the idlers now. But something still isn't right there. Did you move that metal belt retainer at all? Have you tried putting the springs on differently? It looks to me like something is putting tension on the belt, but it aint the pulley.

I seem to recall I had an issue like this the first time I took mine apart. I didn't put the springs in the right way... rather, I had the springs in the right order but they weren't put in the right way.

I think I solved it by rotating the spring around (instead of putting the hook in from the front, I put it in from the other side of the pulley.... or vice versa?).


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## Wiz (Dec 23, 2017)

JimmyD said:


> Yes, I saw the post about you realigning the idlers now. But something still isn't right there. Did you move that metal belt retainer at all? Have you tried putting the springs on differently? It looks to me like something is putting tension on the belt, but it aint the pulley.
> 
> I seem to recall I had an issue like this the first time I took mine apart. I didn't put the springs in the right way... rather, I had the springs in the right order but they weren't put in the right way.
> 
> I think I solved it by rotating the spring around (instead of putting the hook in from the front, I put it in from the other side of the pulley.... or vice versa?).


I very likely could have the springs reversed. I'm going to pull the bucket off in the morning to get a full view of the pulleys and belt.


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