Any advice or suggestions would be welcome regarding my 2002 Polaris Xpedition 425 (632 miles) which broke down in the bush the other day. It was running perfectly. I had just gotten stuck with it and after getting unstuck was proceeding down the trail when it simply died. It did not overheat (according to the dummy light which did not illuminate) but the electric fan was running when it died. My first impression was that I had lost all compression. I tried the starter and it seemed to spin over real easy but would not fire. I tried the pull start as well with the same result. It has spark. I had to be towed out of the bush and upon returning home discovered that there was no oil showing from the filler cap. I had just changed the oil two days before. I inspected the oil filter and drain plug, both of which were dry. However, I did note that there is a metal tube coming out of the crankcase which was wet with oil. I topped the oil up to the required level (5 plus quarts) and when I engage the starter it leaks profusely from this spot. I did a compression test on it and it will go up to 60lbs of pressure. I dumped the oil to inspect for metal filings and it appeared clean.

Anybody have any suggestions as to what could be wrong with it? Stuck valve, head gasket, broken ring, hole in piston, timing chain? Which of these ideas could be the problem but would still give me 60lbs of pressure? It would appear that the oil leak caused all of the oil to leak out which after stressing it from getting stuck caused some sort of malfunction. I’ve got a service manual for this on order but don’t know if I am capable of tearing down a 4 stroke.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Most likely the engine is wasted because it was ran with no oil.

60lbs of compresson is not enough for it to run. No engine will run on less than 80lbs and it should read way over 100.

 

That’s a sad story, sorry to hear of your troubles. First of all that machine only takes two quarts of oil (US), not five. Did you put five in it when you changed it two days earlier? It sounds to me like you ran it out of oil, not good. With proper maintenance that 425 motor is good for 15000 miles or more, not 632.

 

Thanks for the reply. Actually it does take 5.5 quarts (5.2 litres) according to the owners manual. I've also found that you keep adding oil to it until it reaches the bottom of the dipstick and for this particular model that won't happen until you've got over 5 quarts in it.

Having changed the oil in it two days previous I knew it was completely topped up. Since the oil change I probably put on about 20 miles and it ran perfectly as usual. There is no telling when the oil leak occured during this time and so I have no idea how long I had been low on oil. It did not overheat,, sound or feel any different. I didn't seize up. It turns over right easy (that being the problem!!) I fully expect that I am probably going to have to rebuild the top end with a rebore, new piston/rings, etc. Just thought that maybe somebody may have had a similar experience and could give me some insight as to what I'm looking at here.

In any case, I appreciate the reply and agree with you that if properly maintained this thing should last a good long while.

Mike

 

The Xpedition is a rare quad. I have worked one one in my life. Our local dealer has been in business since 92 and I think he had sold one or two at the most.