This is a (long) story of how one thing leads to another…

I ride a 2015 touring 1000 with my 7 year old daughter normally on the back. After bashing the underside of my quad repeatedly on rocks during our Drummond Island riding adventure this past spring, to the point that the skid plate was rubbing on the engine block causing serious vibrations throughout the machine, I decided that I needed more ground clearance.

Conveniently, it was right after that when I noticed that one of my factory Polaris tires had a bulge in the sidewall. I took the opportunity to upgrade from the factory 26" tires to 28" Bearclaw HTR radial tires for an extra inch of ground clearance. The Bearclaws are great, although I don’t see what all the fuss is about radial tires, but whatever. The new tires rubbed on the underside of the rear passenger foot rest area, so I needed to fix that.

After much debating over the available lift kit choices I decided on the High Lifter 2" lift because I didn’t want to have to worry about buying HD axles. I bought the lift and installed it. The parts were high quality, the install was quick and easy with only basic tools required, and I was happy with the results. I now had an extra 3 inches of ground clearance over stock, the machine looked way tougher, and I didn’t have a problem clearing good sized rocks in the trail. I do still get a slight rub when I’m really powering over big whoops in the sand, but nothing that I’m worried about. BUT, on my first or second ride after installing the lift, I started noticing that the front wheels (AWD) would engage when I was hard on the throttle and the front end was light, or if I was crawling through deep sand. Basically it happened whenever the front suspension was extended. I changed the front diff oil because I read that dirty oil could cause the symptoms I was experiencing. There were significant amount of shavings on the magnet, so I cleaned the magnet, put the fresh oil in. The problem was still not solved.

I didn’t think I would need axles with just a 2" lift, but it seemed that I was wrong. Back to the internet I go to research HD axles. I decided on Cobra axles because when I called them, a guy answered immediately who sounded like he was working in a shop. He had the answers to all of my questions. There was no answering service, or secretary, or waiting on hold. I like that kind of business. I bought both front axles and they showed up at my door about 5 days later. Again, installation was pretty straight forward. It took me about an hour and a half to do both but I’d never done axles on a quad before. If I had to do it again tomorrow, I could probably swap out both in a half hour. I also drained and refilled the diff oil again, and again there was a significant amount of metal shavings on the magnet. MUCH to my disappointment, the problem was STILL NOT SOLVED!!:pedro:

I was thinking I was going to have to take the diff out and inspect the internals for damage or wear. I did some research and I was all ready to dig in. I decided to try one more thing before taking the drastic step of pulling the diff. I decided to swap out the Demand Drive fluid for Amsoil synthetic tractor/hydraulic transmission fluid 5w30. This time when I drained the oil, there were very few shavings on the magnet (I had only ridden it about a half mile since the last change though). After adding the Amsoil, I took it for a spin and lo-and-behold the quad stays in 2WD when I have the switch in 2WD mode!!!:guitar: Next I checked 4X4, and that works too!! Woohoo!!

Anyway, I’m not sure if it was the Amsoil itself that fixed the problem, or the repeated oil changes that removed all of the friction causing contamination in the oil, but either way, I’m cautiously optimistic that this will be the long term solution. I got the idea to try the Amsoil from this post. So, I’m not the only one for whom this has apparently worked.

The Amsoil hasn’t been trail tested in my rig yet, but I’m looking forward to the next ride now. After my next ride, I’ll check for shavings again, and if it’s clean, I’ll be happy.

On a side note: if anyone needs a set of stock front axles for a Sportsman 1000 with about 1500 miles on them, let me know.

Yesterday, I picked up the 2017 XP 1000 Stealth…….what a machine! Polaris made some upgrades this year…..i.e., increased front/rear storage box, stainless steel muffler & heat shields to name a few.

I will take it out for its maiden voyage for muzzleloader deer hunting on Monday. Over the weekend, I will be adding extended racks, front/rear bumpers, heated grips, and A-Arm Guards. From just taking it off the trailer to the garage……I am very impressed.

Tried to order a Service Manual and 3500 lb. winch; but was told at the dealership that the manual is not available yet, plus, the 3500 lb. winch has not be designed yet by Polaris for the XP 1000.

?????? Has anyone heard when the manual & winch might be available?

TIA

First, thanks for all the info on this forum – I’ve been stalking for some time. Good stuff here.

2013 Sportsman 500 is overheating. Fan was running in the pasture when the machine overheated, but won’t kick on in the shop at all.

Fan runs on a 12v battery
Fan relay tests out fine
Fuses all good
Breaker was blown, replaced it (dealer sold me an overpriced 20A, said was OK, even though OEM was 10A? Makes me nervous)
New coolant, burped, etc.
When testing the coolant temp sending unit, NOT getting any resistance reading
Have not pulled the thermostat yet, or examined the pump

I read somewhere that if the machine is running and the coolant temp sensor is unplugged, the fan should come on automatically, which makes sense. However, it does not come on.

Paid $50 for the cyclepedia manual which does not say squat about the thermal unit except a brief mention under the section on the Power Distribution Module. The thermal unit does not appear anywhere on their wiring schematic. Disappointing.

Question: What are the proper thermal sensor resistances for 2013 Sportsman 500 carbed?

Question: Any ideas why the fan doesn’t kick on when sensor is unplugged?

It seems like a big coincidence that the fan and the thermal unit would both fail at the same time.

I must be missing something. Thanks in advance!

Got a 1998 Grizzly 600. Trying to figure out why my "Oil Temp" light does not come on. From what I can tell, the light should come on while the "Start" button is engaged. Yes, I have checked the bulb. The bulb is getting power, but the ground is not working. The wire is good all the way to the plug that goes into the "Fan Control Unit".

I did not see in my service manual where it tells how to check the FCU. Can anyone tell me? I think I have an idea just be looking at the schematic.

Thanks

I just bought an 07 rincon after driving about 50 miles or so I keep hearing a moaning noise in the drive line it’s worse when I push on the throttle then seems to go away when I let off I thought it was the bearings in the final drive so I took it out and the bearings are fine! Also I wiggled the wheels the wheel bearings all seem to be good! I took sealed bearings
out of the final drive and my new ones are not sealed which do I need any help would be great also could it it be the pinion bearing it seems to spin fine and doesn’t have any play!

I’ll be plowing for the first time with my grizzly this year. I was just curious if anyone has had any parts (ball joints, CV joints etc..) wear out prematurely due to plowing.

Thanks in advance.

My neighbor stopped by yesterday saying his water heater broke and he needed $800 cash. Offered me his 2002 Sportsman 500 HO. Back story was that his dad bought it new and gave it to him when he got sick. Neighbor has had it a couple of years. Last year it started having idling issues after he didn’t winterize it properly so he just parked it under a tree.

It still has the factory tires on it, but the battery was of course dead and no way to tell how many miles were on it. I looked it over and decided it would clean up nicely and figured I could sink $500 or so into it and still have less than half what it’s worth into it.

These things go for over $3k around here.Don’t know anything about Polaris and no idea if it is a good year for them or not.

It cleaned up nice, though…

For Sale: 2010 Honda Rancher AT IRS w/EPS TRX420FPA. This has the independent rear suspension not the solid axle in the rear. Electric Power Steering, Green, 93.7 hours and 303 miles on it. Oil changed along with both front and rear differentials before manufacturers recommended intervals. Last oil change I put synthetic in everything. High Lifter Front and Rear Springs Has a 2500lb warn winch, moose front and rear bumpers. Has some small dents on them I touched up the paint on them as well. Aluminum Products full A-Arm guards and under body skid plate to help protect it. Runs and rides perfectly fine. Stock tires with plenty of tread left on them New battery last summer and kept on battery tender when not in use. I Upgraded to a larger quad.

Sold as-is with no warranty. Have clean regy on hand for a quick sale. $4500. Neg

Will ship myself up to 200 miles from zip code 11040. Anything more will be at buyers expense (already have a crate for it, so you only pay what it costs for the shipping company to ship it to you) I have and will give all the stock parts I took off and still have to the buyer as well. (stock a arm and skid plates and springs)

2010 Honda Rancher AT TRX420FPA IRS w/EPS Album of all pics

I have a superwinch terra 3500 that will only reel out..I replaced the solenoid —when I hit the in switch the solenoid just clicks, checked wiring –good–swap leads at motor….motor will only turn in one direction…..is the motor bad or gears?
Thanks,
Walt

Howdy all! Joined the forum because I’m the proud new owner of a 2002 Sportsman 500HO 4×4. Bought it yesterday from my neighbor who inherited it from his dad, the original owner, and parked it last year when it started having idling issues.

Unfortunately, the guy just parked it under a tree uncovered. It was in pretty bad shape. His water heater in his house went out and he knocked on my door asking if I wanted it for the price of a new water heater installed; $800.

I had just sold a `96 Yamaha Big Bear 350 2wd that I got for a case of IPA that was in much worse shape than this.

My first ATV was a 2001 Yamaha Kodiak 400 that I bought new. Rode it trouble-free for years until my ex-wife took it in the divorce three years ago.

Finally got back on my feet financially and was looking at buying another nice ATV when this thing showed up.

Likely going to just take it to the local powersports shop which has a great reputation(rare these days, it seems) and have them do a complete service, fluid change, new seat cover, rebuild the carb, and get it running perfect.

Four wheelers go for higher prices out here where they are considered essential for exploring the millions of acres of forest in our backyards.

Similar ones to mine on Craigslist are going for $3k+, so after another $500 sunk into it, it should be a solid investment.

Before:

After a good scrubbing: