Hi, I'm about to take my 500 touring in for warranty work. It suddenly died on the trails and immediately blew the main fuse. Earlier that day my kids took it into a muddy pond - not that deep but it did spray a bunch of water on it.

I've gone about cleaning out the mud splatter from inside the storage compartment, air box, under the seat, etc. I've heard stories (none first hand) about guys going into the dealer and getting hassled about water being where it wasn't supposed to be, thus voiding the warranty.

I'm not even certain that the water caused the problem but don't want to take any chances. Better to thoroughly clean it but you know how hard it can be to get every nook and cranny.

btw - I was sort of surprised that the main fuse box was not protected better from spray. It is completely open from below.

 

Take the seat off,air filter out and drain the air box,it has a drain tube at bottom, let the ATV sit in the sun for 1/2 hour and how would they ever know it got wet?

 

Just be sure you get all the mud off even if you have to pull some plastic,I know riders in our club who got the short end of the stick because of mud and had to eat the labor cost although the mud had nothing to do with their break down.If you do your own oil changes ect. keep your receipts and write down the service date and what you performed,pretty much stick by your owners/warranty service interval manual,I have found that helpful on a new sport quad I bought two years ago

 

That would be a huge crock of BS...what are these things made for if they cant be dirty and receive propper warranty work? I would raise holy heck if my dealer gave me the finger because my bike was muddy! EVERYONE would know about it in my small town too. Now, im not talking if you go in and you have snorkels and your rad is up on the rack...im talking about normal riding and getting into a little mud.

 

No need to take to dealership. After sitting around for 2 days, I added yet another main fuse. This time it didn't blow and it started right up.
I was surprised to find how exposed the main fuse box from underneath. There should probably have been a plastic shield or at least a plastic pouch over the box. When I removed the cover I could see straight down to the ground - water would easily get splashed up onto and into the fuse box. I will have to rig up something simple, like a couple of plastic sandwich bags.

 

As soon as the warranty is up You may want to do some corrosion proofing in all the terminals on the fuses and the wires.

 

I have a "2009 polaris sportsman touring" with that same problem. I have aprox. 4500mi. on it. I have replaced the main fuse not less than 25 times. The dealer has not been able to pinpoint the problem. We have come to the conclusion that my problem is being caused by applying the hand brake. If it happens again, before you put the new fuse in, put it in PARK and make sure the PARK BRAKE is not on. Once the fuse is in, start it up and than apply the HAND BRAKE. Mine will burn the fuse instantly! Put a new fuse in and do not use the hand brake for a few miles. It will be good until next time.

 

Hmm...thats weird. It sounds like it might be related to the brake light. On my 07 the brake lights only come on with the hand brake...not the foot pedal. Is that the same on the newer ones? If so i would think that points to a short.

 

Same thing on the 09, brake lights only come on with the hand brake. I have figured that it's a short----but where!