I have a 96 Sportsman 500. Have problems with overheating. Fluids good, radiator is 4 years old, new thermostat, new head gasket (very recent rebuid) Over heated prior to rebuild. After 30 minutes it starts to over heat. I turned it off to allow it to cool and it wont start. New battery has gone dead. Fan motor pulls 3.8 amps. Battery shows 12.4 volts at idle, 13.1 or 2 volts revved. Over heating seems to coincide with low battery. What should the system be charging at. If I am showing a low charge, what is the possible cause.

Thanks

KN

 

Can someone maybe help out here? I was out wheelin today and my 2003 500 sportsman overheated also I'm not hearing the fan run which is probably the main reason but why might you all think the reason for my battery to keep dying out be? I realize in the winter I plow with it so I put it on my tender afterwards to charge up but if I'm not using the plow what can be draining the battery NEW BATTERY 2 month's ago. Also will a low battery be the culprit for my fan not coming on?
Thanks so much in advance for any help you can spare

Jtspapa

 

Holy Hell!!! Same thing with mine, its been over heating recently and the battery is crap as well! New battery last fall. As I type this, the wheler is sitting in the swamp behind my house, battery toasted, pull starter wont recoil back into its housing, up to mid wheel in nasty mud and framed out on a large rock. Got some work to do when the sun comes back out!!

 

I went through the overheating on my 700 sportsman. The alternator on a car puts out 14 volts so I think the ATV should do the same. On my sportsman there was a seal that went bad inside the side cover that covers the stator and it let motor oil fill that area up. It messed with my charging system. If the battery is low the fan is not going to run up to par and it will run hot. The fan chokes it down pretty good.

 

the battery should be at least 12.5 +- when off and when reved up would be around 13.5 to say no more then 15 volts when the battery is low. if theres not enough juice being put out by charging system then the fan wont work correctly for sure. if it takes 30 minutes or even a little les to overheat then im guessing its a fan issue for sure as it would over heat faster if the rad. is plugged or water pump is gone. imo.