So I have a check engine light showing up on the sportsman I just bought so I checked the codes and came back with a 41, 42 and 22. I figured maybe this was from a battery with low voltage so I unhooked the battery for 15 minutes but the codes came right back after running the machine. I havent checked the voltage on the battery but it seems to be fine since it starts the machine well. The machine runs fine and starts well so tonight I decided to drive it some to make sure the shifting and the clutch operation was ok. I wanted to get it warm enough to make sure the fan came on and didnt have any leaks since this machine has sat for most of the last two years. I warmed it up and it ran fine, but after about 15 minutes of riding, it sputtered some and wanted to die. got it parked and when I revved it up, it acted like it was starving for fuel or losing spark but after I revved it up more, it cleared out and ran fine. The motor warmed up enough to kick the fan on so I was happy there. I have heard that these machines had bad wires on some sensors. The 3 codes are IAT, TPS and Engine Temp Sensor, with them all being open circuit or short to ground. Is there a certain area I should look at for a bad wire? I would think it would be a fluke to have all three sensors having a bad wire so I would lean towards a bad ground wire that is tied into all three. This EFI stuff is all new to me since I'm used to dealing with the old carb models that dont have any sensors. Before I get to carried away, I want to get a new plug, air filter and some fresh gas in the machine to rule those items out. Not saying it might cause some drivability issues, but I have seen cars that have sat for a year run crappy till a fresh tank of gas is ran through them......Computers, technology is supposed to make things better but I dont know how we get by with all these little glitches if something aint quite right, lol.

Thanks,
Mike

 

Common problem on all the efi machines because of thin wiring and connectors. Read the "sticky" post in the expert section about "spilling the beans on 700/800 efi electrical" problems. Applies to the 500 also. Originator of the post started marketing better connectors and wiring harness repair kits than the ones Polaris offered. You can physically check the wiring from the tbap and tps sensors for any shorts and also for any soft feeling wires that may be melted internally. Connectors were a problem also as pins could pull back and not make good contact. Sometimes you can find the bad harness or connector by wiggling the wires while it's at an idle. Most common to fault was the tbap,but the tps harness can do the same thing.Plus sometimes codes may not reflect the actual problem. Look for any shorts/bare wires from the crank sensor that runs under the throttle body also. Found some with small bare wires that would touch the starter intermittently. Didn't really have any problems with the IAC or air temp sensor harnesses. These two codes may show up when either a tbap or tps harness faults and should clear when they are repaired. Here's the site for the heavy duty repair kits.Key in your model and year and available kits will be shown.https://otbpowersports.com/products/ here's a pic of the tbap (pressure sensor) repair kits. Comes with crimp connectors and shrink wrap. Plus efi is a completely different world from the old 400 carb models..

 

Thanks OPT,

I assume the wires that may have the problem will be exposed near the plug or where they might touch and rub on an object? The ones inside the loom wouldn't get much exposure so I think I will concentrate on the area around the TPS and the wire harness around the starter first. I have fought electrical gremlins before in the automotive field. From bad grounds to faulty wires, it seems like one small problem opens up a can of worms. Thank God for my fluke meter and my power probe, lol.

Thanks,
Mike

 

I've found faulty sensor wires in the middle of the wire looms before they enter the main harness along the frame. They don't have to touch metal or even have to have bare spots. Thin as they are they can melt internally and the sheathing can still be intact. Check for the obvious bare wire first,but don't assume that any wire is ok because it looks ok. The probe should help you find any fault whether it's the connector itself or a wire. This should make you appreciate those old simple carb models even more afterwards

 

Thanks OPT,

I should be able to find where the wires go into the main harness and be able to check resistance between there and the plug to narrow it down. Hopefully it is an obvious fix and not something I have to dig to deep into. I downloaded a service manual but the electric schematics are pretty vague for the sensors and only really have diagrams for the speedometer cluster and drive train.

I sure will be happy once this one is done and I can go back into playing on the rebuild on the old 93 350 sitting in my shop, lol.

Thanks,
Mike

 

OPT, you are a wizard,

I had some time tonight to look over the wire harness and it was just as you said, I had two of the harnesses rubbing and one was the tbap. Right where they rubbed it was shorted out so that was the key to my issues. Can I just splice the wires with a butt connector and heat shrink them to seal it or should I solder the wires then heat shrink? I don't know if the crimp style button connectors would effect the readings of the sensors.

Thanks again for your knowledge,
Mike

 

You can repair the wires anyway you like as sooner or later another one will pop up and they don't have to rub against one another.That's what I did at first until the Polaris harness kits were available.
When I saw my first repair kit it had the same connector and same thin wiring and on these I had to keep replacing them no matter how I protected the wiring. When you get tired of repairing these thin wires keep OTB in mind on their repair kits. They sure could have saved me some time..

 

Thanks OPT,

For now I just fixed the wires with solder connectors with heat shrink. The two wires that had rubbed and were bare are the air remove sensor on the air box and one of the yellow wires coming from the crank sensor. I fixed both and rerouted them so they don't rub. The machine runs perfect now and has no symptoms of the faulty tbap harness but the codes did still remain. I inspected the wires for the tps and the tbap but they appear good. Guess I will dig a little deeper into them to see if I missed anything. A mouse (probably a distant cousin of the one who made a home in the clutch) had gotten into the air box and chewed some of the air filter so the throttle body is pretty dirty so a good cleaning is in order. Running to the polaris store this morning for a new filter and some other stuff so hopefully I can be done with the mechanical part of this machine and focus on cleaning it up. If I decide to keep it, I will definitely look into the harness repair kit from OTB.

Thanks,
Mike

 

Glad you found the problem. You can disconnect the battery and see if code 45 goes away. If not I'd check further into the wiring as the wires can melt internally or pins pull out of the connector. You can clean the throttle body but be careful with the tps sensor and don't loosen the screw or remove the sensor or you will have problems.

 

I checked the wiring over pretty good but have yet to find a bad wire. Maybe my sense of feel is getting bad or my eye sight. Even had my reading glasses on but everything checked out. The codes that still show up are 41, 42 and 22. Thing starts great and runs great. Did pull the air temperature sensor and found the end knawed off from the mouse. Will this affect it to throw codes? Little sucker is a hundred bucks, lol. I'll be happy to get the gremlins out of this one and go back to my carb models, lol.

Thanks,
Mike