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I have an 04.5 sportsman 400 and am having AWD issures.
I am going to have to tear the front diff. apart and want to know what else has to be removed first. Does the rad and fan have to come out? What side is easier to take the diff out from. Sometimes it will engage but usually a lot of spinning of the rear wheels is needed and then it engages and I assume if I keep doing this I am going to break something else. The front diff. was full of water for about 2 weeks until I checked it after going through deep water, I flushed it with gas, and then brake cleaner and refilled but it is still not operating right. I plan on using john deere parts. Also for the last year it has not been disengaging after engaging in reverse, the only way I could get it to disengage was switch to 2 X 4 and continue reversing.

 

drive roll pin out of front drive line from right side, remove front drive line ,take ball joints loose pull both front axles, un bolt diff from under neath , it will come out right side too use the john deer parts but replace armature plate also, sounds like its magnetized

 

Plastic roller cage guaranteed.

 

Well I got it out and the rad had to come out, no way it would come out otherwise. I actually did not have to remove the axle shaft, just poped both of them out of the gearcase and they wiggled out as I moved the gear case around. When I got it apart the inner 7 roller bearings were a bit rusted and the outer 7 were perfect. The bearings seem a bit rough so I will change them. The neck of the ring gear has some surface rust but will clean up good. The only other thing I noticed was the large black bushing that lines the inside of the gearcase that the ring gear turn in, look like little bits are broken from where it bottoms out, the ring gear gear turns smooth inside, should I replace this, on the john deere website you cannot add this to cart and there is no part number. Polaris part online shops list part number 1341344 but says call for pricing. Also bearings at local quality bearing shop are approx. 10 bucks each, john deere wants 33 and polaris wants over 40. The bearing shop has the seals as well for around 4-5 bucks each. Pinion bearing is a 6306 and the shaft bearings are 6008's. I wonder if you could get sealed bearings and pop out the inner seal so diff. fluid gets to bearings, would this help seal water out on the outboard side or does the shaft seal need oil for lubrication?

 

I also noticed john deere diagram has a shim where the ring gear neck bottoms out whereas the polaris diagram has no shim, wonder why?

 

Also I should mention that the cage is not broken or wore at all, and the armature plate is not magnetized, not even worn, a bit of paint worn off but no metal.