I have an ATV that the power steering will sometimes cut out on after 5-10 minutes of riding. If I turn it off and restart it, it comes back for a bit, but then cuts out again.

The battery is new and fully charged. I measure 14.2-14.4V at the battery at idle. I've cleaned the fuse contacts and the EPS relay contacts as best I could, and sprayed some FluidFlim in to prevent corrosion. The fuse and relay seem good. Battery voltage seems good after the run.

Am I correct that the EPS relay is the one I've zip-tied on the right? I can't for the life of me figure out why it would only work sometimes. Is there any reason not to just wire the relay on whenever the engine is running??

It really feels like the computer is making some decision to disable the EPS, and I can't figure out what conditions could be triggering that. Is there anywhere the computer's behavior is documented under what conditions?

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I am boggled.

I have the owner's manual, but it doesn't mention EPS in the troubleshooting or error codes section. The check-engine light isn't on, so I can't see any codes coming up. Is there a repair manual I can download somewhere? Code reader...? I'm familiar with cars and motorcycles, but a modern ATV is a different beast...

Any help would be much appreciated; this is maddening.

 

Welcome to the forums.

Can't help on the actual problem, but service manuals should be available online. Ebay is where I have gotten mine before

 

Still diggin'. I've got the service manual (well, for an 850, which I think is similar) and I'm gonna poke more deeply.
My money's on water getting into the connector on top of the unit, which causes a bit of a short, which causes the ECU to freak out and turn it off and trigger the light.

Some research:

Electrical diagnosis - https://www.polarisatvforums.com/thr...working.30661/

Water in the unit - https://atvconnection.com/forums/pol...l-issue-5.html

Internals - https://www.polarisatvforums.com/thr...ssembly.30894/