I have a 2004.5 Polaris Sportsman with a pull starter problem. The electric starter will not work so I have been using the pull starter. The pull starter will barely pull out. Just happened the other day. Parked it fine, the next day the pull starter would hardly pull out. Took the case off, no visual problems. Any ideas

 

maybe your hitting the compression stroke and cant pull it past it? try holding steady pressure on the rope to see if it will push the piston past the compression. then you should be able to give it a good yank to turn the motor over.
our the rope could have gotten wadded up on the recoil pully.

 

Is the battery dead? Is that why the starter doesnt work? If so dont ride it that way for long as it will cause other electrical problem for you to fix.

 

The battery is not dead. Everything works lights and winch. I use it to plow. It is not stuck on the comression stroke. The starter on it is shot(it just clicks at the solenoid) That is why I was using the pull starter. It takes all of my energy to pull it. It feels like something is frozen up. The quad always pulled easy. I used it to plow for 20 minutes let it sit and it would not pull again. It has 200 miles on it and it is kept in a heated garage. Any other tips?

 

if you took off the pull starter did you try pulling it to see if it pulled freely and the dogs were extending out to catch and start the cage? if it works fine the maybe the engine is stuck?? try taking the spark lpug out to see you can pull it over. if its not decompressed it would be hard to crank over by hand i would guess. make sure the starter didnt start to engage and is now stuck on the fly wheel.

 

The pull starter does pull free when it is off. I pulled the plug and it is still very hard to pull. There is 1 or 2 times that I pulled ,it almost started. I was too tired by than to keep pulling. Is there any type of decompression switch that is malfunctioning?

 

The de-compression button is on the cam shaft, I have never seen these have problems, the engine is full of oil? It's hard to pull with the spark plug removed? That tells me the engine is trying to sieze, did it rattle or make any strange noises last time it ran?

 

With the plug out the decompression assy doesn't matter because all the resistance caused by compression goes right out the spark plug hole. Valves wouldn't matter either if the plug is out.
The inner clutch cover seal can tear and get lodged between the clutch and the cover. Makes them pull very hard. Can even lock a motor to not turn at all. Ever shelled a belt on it?

 

Never had a problem. Like I said it has 200 miles. It never made a noise or act strange at all. I plowed for 20 minutes, backed it in the garage and the next day it would not pull.

 

Is the starter locked and preventing the motor from turning over? Remove the starter and try to pull motor?