Hey fellas, me again, I just changed out the front end gear oil with mobil 1 synthetic 75-90 gear lube and filled to the proper level. My sportsman has 1300 miles on it and occasionally the front end will engage with the switch off, as well as sometimes not disengage after running in awd. When i had first purchased it last summer it only did this once or twice, then this winter i noticed it did it quite frequently. After plowing the driveway i'd go screw around and be doing a donut when the front would engage and really whip it around, while being one heckuva ride im sure its not good for the front to engage suddenly. Back to where I was, I changed the fluid and took it for a ride, using awd off and on mainly just on a sandy hill going slow in low range, reached the top, took it out of awd, drove for a bit then stopped and got on it hard and lo and behold the front end engaged again just as the rear started spinning, backed up, tried it again no engagement. took off in high and rode for a mile or so, went to spin around in a sandy spot instead of a 3 pt turn, front end engages again. Rode for a few more miles, then messed with hill climbing in low and awd, backed up to turn around, turned off awd and rode for a few more miles, on hardpack going ~ 20 i could blast the throttle and it would spin just fine, so i figured the lube is circulated now and all is well. went to take off at the stop sign, spun a bit in gravel, front end grabs again. For normal riding this doesn't bother me all that much because you dont notice it but there are occasions where it would be nice to kick the rear around or throw some mud at the guys behind me ;-) but im worried to ride it too hard because i dont want the front to engage and break something. Anyone else have similar problems?

 

You have put the wrong fluid in your front diff. The hub fluid goes in the diff/gear box on the 2004.5 and newer sportsmans and all 600 and 700s. The hub fluid is similar to ATF, much, much thinner than 75w90.

 

you should use polaris hub oil in the front diff. gear oil is to thick for the the hilliard clutch to work properly ,polaris went to a centalized hilliard in 04 and is located inside the front differential, and requires the use of polaris hub oil which is quite thin oil,when you drain the gear lube make sure you get it all out ,apparently these things are pretty sensitive to the type of lubricant that is used in them.

 

well that burns my rear, thats what the place i bought it from sold me, in my other post treedoc had said the 75-90 would work fine in the 04.5 as thats what he runs in his 04.5. oh well $14 wasted i guess, time to get the right stuff.

 

just got back from a 2 hr trip to get the right lube, bought 2 bottles so i can change it, drive it change it again to hopefully get rid of the wrong junk, while i was out i picked up the Polaris AGL tranny lube as well so off to the garage i go......again.

 

If you have some FORD type F tranny fluid, you could try a few oil changes with that first to dissovle the 75w90, then put in the high buck $tuff. The Polaris Hub fluid is almost the same as type F. I know guys who run ATF type F in the hubs no problem.

 

yeah that 75-90 may be the wrong stuff, but its not going to change anything putting in the right fluid....I have the exact same problem with my 600, worse in the winter but still problems in the summer.....time for polaris to do somthing about this, its rediculous...

 

mine doesnt have the outter hubs, its a central hilliard (dunno how to spell it), i just changed it and let it drain for 15 minutes, rode it for ~7 miles and engaged the awd and got in some mud to make sure it engaged, took it out and drove and to see if it disengaged i would get on it in low and if it spun i would back up and try again, backing up disengages it. I did the forward and reverse thing probably 20 times or so, then rode back in high and on sand from a stop and from a roll i could lay in the throttle and it would only spin the rear with no hint of the front engaging. so i brought it home and changed out the "cleaner" and put in fresh hub fluid, I have enough left over to change it again if i feel like it. the next question is should i go to my dealer and ask them to reimburse me for the $14 bottle of the wrong fluid and return whats left? or should i just chalk this up as a lesson to only use whats in the book?

 

polarisman3 has your always done that? what year is it? This one occasionally would stay engaged, ie front wheels still gripping even at low rpm, but backing up for a few feet would take it right out, then i could take off just fine, hammer on it and it would spin for 50-75 feet, then after plowing all winter no matter what the front tires would kick in and jolt the bars. On a similar note when i drained it the first time the fluid came out black, as opposed to translucent green like the new stuff. The second time I changed it it came out opaque green and slightly thicker than what i put in. After it drained i looked at what internals are visible from the fluid check hole and it looked like all the 75-90 had been taken off, there was'nt a dark film of it anyway. We'll see how it goes from here i guess.

 

well i've logged ~50 miles since this whole fiasco started and now it seems as though the AWD is happy again, engages when i need it, turns off when i dont, and when off nice long burnouts (in dirt of course). I'm hoping all it was was the central hilliard just had some nasty fluid in it (hence the blackness when i drained it) and it took some time to clean it out.