I just bought a Polaris Sportsman 800X2. I love the machine and the ride is great, however there is a popping / binding which seems to be coming from the right rear. This occurs on any terrain but is more noticeable on pavement and in corners. For instance, while driving down the paved road it will feel like it starts to pull to the right then there is this pop from the rear end and the back end will sway dramatically and everything will be fine for a short period. If I am in a curve on the road to the left it repeats quite frequently during the curve, curving to the right it will still do it but not as frequent. This happens whether in Turf mode, 2x4 or 4 wheel drive. I also jacked up the back end and had it in Turf mode and tried to turn the rear wheels independently and they would not. Am I incorrect in my understanding that Turf mode unlocks the differential in the rear?

2007 Polaris Sportsman 800 X2
2,000 miles

 

If you can eliminate a drive shaft as being the problem,then possible it's the trans sub assy. In turf mode the wheels should turn independent. If it's locked up,then you may have to have it checked out. Quite a few parts involved.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Old Polaris Tech, thank you for the response. Please forgive my newbie ignorance, but by driveshaft I am assuming you mean the CV shaft and joints. I have replaced the inner CV on that side and as that didn't fix it I am waiting for the outer one to come in so I can replace it also. (I say I replaced but it's actually my local dealer that does the work...lol) So again with my newbie ignorance, do the CV joints come with a new shaft or is that completely irrelevant? Also, sorry for the string of questions, but do you think the Turf mode problem and the popping are related or are they two different problems? Thanks again for your allowing me to pick your brain.

 

Plunging joint and outer cv joint as a complete unit is called a rear drive shaft assy. Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse If this doesn't solve the problem then it could be in the gear case sub assy.

 

Thanks for all the info. I'll keep you posted if you don't mind.

 

Still waiting for my outer CV to arrive at the dealer, taking longer than I thought it should. On a side note of the same issue. My wife and I were up on the trails this past Sunday and we were crossing a dry river bed, it was kind of technical so we were in low 4x4 and got hung up on a rock. I put it in reverse to try and back off and my rear tires were kind of on a sand base and the right one got up against a fairly large rock, approximately 16-18" in diameter. Anyway, NOT using the yellow over ride button to engage 4 wheel drive in reverse I started backing off the rock, when my rear tires would start to spin, I would hear a pop from the rearend, then the right one would stop spinning. I then would let off the throttle and try again, this would repeat every time. (I did have the selector in 4x4 on my right grip but 4x4 doesn't work in reverse without pressing the over ride button) My concern is that there is something going wrong with the differential.

 

One thing I completely forgot about was the solenoid on the transmission that can go out. Had to replace a few of these on different models that were sticking,locking up the rear ends.That could be the problem you're having on the turf mode. Item #11 Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Ok, so I talked to the techs at the dealer, they told me Thursday that my part was in and asked me to bring it in Saturday morning and they would swap out the outer CV. After a lengthy conversation with the service manager and expressing my concerns that the outer CV would not be the fix he convinced me to bring it in and replace it anyway and he would check some other things while he had it apart. Of course they are replacing parts on their dime and I was just going to pay labor so I wasn't concerned that they were trying to "rip me off". Anyway, I still wasn't convinced that it was the CV, but was leaning more towards the solenoid that you pointed out to me. So Friday night I started with checking the plug for voltage, and iit had it so I knew we were getting power to the solenoid, then I put a multimeter on it and the voltage was sufficient, so I took the solenoid out, although it looks easy to get to it was kind of tricky trying to find the right tool to turn it and get it loose enough to take out by hand. Once I got it out it was obvious that was the problem. It was stuck about 3/4 of the way out (judging by pictures I had seen) and would not budge. I have seen stuck solenoids before and sometimes you can get them to move by working them and loosening them up, so I set this one in my vise and tried gently tapping on it with a brass hammer...wouldn't move...I ended up using my vise as a press, this moved it in but I was never able to get it to extract again. Anyway, resolved that I would have to by a new one, I took a screw driver and inserted it into the hole that the solenoid came out of and gently pushed, I heard a light click and then the screw driver stopped. I put the solenoid back in place, put everything back on the rearend, took it out and tried it and viola.....no popping. Although It has only 2x4 and 4 wheel drive with no turf saver at this point, I do have a new solenoid on order. I am confused about one thing though. When the solenoid is actually working, how does it pull back whatever it was that I pushed in to get the rear differential locked? (Sorry about this being so lengthy.)

 

Kinda though it might be the solenoid either shorted out or stuck/locked in one position when I finally remembered about them. Suspect a solenoid problem if you don't hear one click! Can't remember exactly how the plunger retracts,but believe when power is removed from turf mode on the selector switch, the solenoid plunger retracts from the rear diff pivot shift fork and allows both axles to lock in again.Item #13.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

There may be more to this than meets the proverbial eye. I see that there is a return torsion spring a midst the "fork" and the "dog" in this assembly. Makes me wonder why when I pushed it in, why it didn't come right back out.