Hi guys,

I have a '96 Sportsman 500 in the Polaris Shop that was being checked out.
They said they found a metal thing in the bottom of the engine. They said they can see it when they take the flywheel off through one of the little holes. They said to take the engine apart and put it back together will be maybe 350-400$. Is that worth the money? This is why the fourwheeler is SO RATTLING and annoying.

I also am having them fix the 4wd and CV Boot.

Please give me a price range of what is good and what is too high for all of that.

 

Each dealers cost is different,plus it's a 17 year old atv. Most people don't keep cars that long. Rattling noise could be from a worn out cam chain, piston or valve train wear.As to what's in the bottom of the engine??The charge they quoted you is for tear down and reassembly,plus you have to add what parts needed that they might find. With most shops now charging between $80-$95 an hour,you can tie up a lot of money in a short period of time. The more you can do yourself on the older ones,OR even on newer ones the better off you are. It's your call on this as to what you can afford. I've had some spend $$$ on worn out machines even with me warning them,others just decided to part ways with em and get a later model with less problems.

 

There,s a peep hole behind the flywheel to look inside the crankcase? What kind of loose metal part can rattle inside a crankcase and not instantly self destruct the motor?

Actually taking a motor out of the ATV and tearing it apart and putting it all back together and reinstalling back into the ATV for $350-$400 is not a bad price.

Put it this way, "if" the entire bill was say $1200-$2000 after they fix everything and its up and running great.
Where are you going to buy a 500 4x4 ATV for that price?
A used 250 2wd can cost that much or more and a new one is much much more and you still have a much lesser ATV.

 

I told them just to go ahead and fix the CV Boot and i'll take it back there in a few weeks for the engine break down. I've ridden this thing alot, it still runs good. Think it's still safe to ride?

 

As far as safe? This would be a wild guess for anyone. It could be anything in the engine,oil baffle plate screw,piece of a bearing?? That is if they saw anything.Plus could be a worn cam chain or piston making the noise? Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse
If you're going to keep it and have it repaired you might as well let em tear it down now to find out what's wrong before any worse damage might happen.