so my sportsman 700 has been sitting for a few weeks the battery is a few years old i went to crank it and it was weak so i charged it. then it fired up and ran for a few minutes it shut off now when i turn the key over it makes a awful grinding noise. i charged the battery back up and it still grinds. so is it the battery or starter? ive replaced the starter bendix once about 2 years ago.

 

Welcome! Could be even though the bendix is fairly new it could be trying to stick,not retracting back causing the grinding noise. Could be needing to be greased. Plus if the battery is in doubt have it load tested and replace if necessary,possible that it's just not spinning the starter over fast enough. Could be either of these. Just check the battery out first to eliminate it as the problem and pull the stator cover if necessary to check out the bendix. OPT

 

Ok I bought A new battery today put it in and still have the awful grinding. How hard is it to replace a bendix last time I had the dealer do it, all shops around me are 2-3 weeks behind so if possible I might try doing it.

 

On the 500 you have wiggle room to pull the bendix out,but on the 700 you have to pull the flywheel. You need a steering wheel puller, three 3" 8mm bolts and usually a lot of heat around the crankshaft and best to have an air or electric impact to aid in pulling it. BUT if it just needs a simple greasing you can do that while still installed. You can use basically a good marine type grease and see if that fixes the problem. Check the teeth on the bendix also for worn damaged teeth. If you do need a new one try this place along with Ebay,etc. Doesn't list one but no harm calling. Cheaper than a lot of places on starters and bendix. DB Electrical - Polaris OPT

 

What all needs to come off to be able to grease the bendix?

 

Just the outer cover and stator housing cover has to come off. You can check the condition of the bendix teeth and retract it out by hand and see if it retracts quickly. You can spray electrical cleaner to clean it up if you want to or just grease the shaft,push down on the bendix outer cup and grease this area. Replace the cover and if it still grinds it might need to be replaced. OPT

 

Ok I've been out of town and fixing to go work on it now. I'll inspect the teeth and grease to see if that helps. I'll get back ASAP. On how it goes.
Thanks

 

Ok we'll I took the cover off and my bendix sorta fell out. Not sure if that's good or not. The bendix did have broken teeth and looked wore down. The flywheel looked like its teeth were wore too. Let me ask you this did I screw up by manually turning the flywheel by hand to inspect the teeth? Also I broke one bolt that holds the cover on how big of pain is that going to be to fix?

 

You didn't tear the bendix up by turning it! It can tear apart by itself! Just heat the case up around the broken bolt and use vice grips to remove it. If the bolt is flush you have to use an ease out. The flywheel teeth are harder than the bendix,BUT can be damaged enough to warrant replacing. OPT

 

Ok I'll order a bendix and go from there. I was talking about turning the flywheel, that's what I turned by hand. That's ok to do?