I'm thinking of buying a 1996 400 4x4. I test drove it last night and it seems to run fine. It appears to be an all stock machine. Any problems with the 400 and this model year in particular? I wanted a 500, but they're all too much money. I never rode a 400 until last night and was suprised how much power they have. Do they foul plugs easily? Is the oil injection reliable? Do aftermarket pipes make a noticeable difference in power? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

I had a '98 400 and it was a great quad. No problems with it at all. Never fouled a plug either. I bought it used and I new the previous owner and he never had problems with it either. When I got it, it was on the original plug so I changed it just for the fun of it. Never had to touch it again.

I ended up selling it and it still had the original belt on it.

The 400's can be modded a lot easier and cheaper than the 500's. For about $1000 you can have yourself a 72hp beast....try that with a 4 stroke and it just won't happen. You can pick up what they call an RcR Stage 1 Performance kit for about $300 and it comes with a pipe, silencer, clutch spring, airbox mod w/filter, and the proper jets. Bolt that on and it really wakes the Polaris up (although it's pretty snappy in stock form).

I haven't heard of any oil injection problems on them...although I'm sure there have been a few cases like with any other brand. If you are worried, they make a oil injection block off kit so you can remove everything and mix directly in the tank.

You can also pick them up pretty cheap...I let my '98 go for $2100 and it was almost mint and it ran perfect. It was a 2wd so you might pay a few hundred more if you go to the 4wd, but for a '96 I would guess it is somewhere in the very low $2's. However, keep in mind that they do depreciate rather quickly, so that is a negative thing if you go to sell it.

I think that you would be very happy with one compared to your Wolverine...my buddy has a Warrior and stock for stock mine would beat it pretty bad in a straight line race (faster top end too). That margine grew when I put my mods on.

Anyway, that is up to you to decide.

Thanks,

-Josh

 

The 400 is a good motor. After they get a lot of miles on them, they are prone to cracking the piston, though. However, for about $200 and an afternoon's work, you can replace the piston with a new aftermarket one that is much more durable. rittercycle.com is where I got mine.
For the record, my 400 had over 5000 miles when I did this, and was still running fine. I swapped the piston more as a preventive measure. If the piston cracks, and you are the unlucky sort, a bit of the skirt may fall into the gust of the engine, and do all sorts of damage (potentially over $1000 worth if you are REALLY unlucky). I figure $200 every 5000 miles isn't too much to pay for piece of mind.
I figured it this way, my machine was almost $1000 less than a competetive machine in similar shape, because for some reason the 2 strokes depreciate faster. I can put in 5 pistons (for a total of over 25,000 miles of use) before I am out any money. Now how many 4 cycle ATV engines are gonna go 25,000 miles?

Farmr

 

I have a 96 Scram 4x4....it's a good unit, but fawk am I wearing chains and sprockets out this year! Just got back from a nasty mud run on the weekend.....had to run 2 wheel drive all day since the front/front drive sprocket decided to have no teeth on it after the first muck hole! Oh well, another couple of sprockets and another chain, she'll be good for a few more rides of beating up on the "big quads".

 

If you wanted to look for a newer model the 98 and up models came with the Reliable, low-maintenance Concentric Drive System for better traction, braking and optimum power transfer to the ground. I believe all Scrambler’s were 4x4 models until '00. I have been looking to get one myself. Hard to find around Utah and Nevada. cycletrader.com is a great site to find used ones. I sure like my 500. Good luck.

 

I have to agree with scramblerman (depending on how good of a deal you are getting)
I would look at the 99s and up for the better reliability and less maintainance of concentric drive. ALso note that 2000MY added more suspension travel in the rear (from 8.2" up to 10.5&quot
Also somewere along the line the 4x4 went to shaft drive replacing the front Chain drive. I am not sure what year but my 2000 is shaft drive in the front, and concentric chain on the rear. The Front chain drive scares me a little and I think a lot of people eliminate the 4x4 on those models.

The 400 engine is great and yes big power gains are available (OVER 70 HP for about $1500.00)
RCR makes a nice stage 1 kit that will add about 10hp for $325.00 (BEST PRICE ON THE MARKET for pipe,silencer, air box mod and clutching)

 

Is the chain drive really that unreliable? On my Wolverine, it seems that the shaft U-joints always get play in them after a while. This makes it sloppy when you pull out or change directions. I figured that the chain drive could be adjusted to take up slack when the chain stretches. And if you need to change sprockets and a chain it would be easier and probably cheaper than pulling a drive shaft and changing U-joints. Am I right? I can get this 96 for $2000, if I go with a 98 or newer model, I'll be spending at least $3000. It's more than I want to spend, but if it's really worth it, I can do it. I figured for $2000, if I end up not liking it, I should be able to get my money back out of it after a year. That's something harder to do with a new machine.

 

I think $2000 is a pretty fair price if it is in good physical and mechanical shape. It is hard to find a decent quad, especially a high performance 4x4 at that price so I would go for it unless you have an extra grand or so burning a hole in your pocket.

Even if you buy the quad and decide you don't like it you should be able to get your money back without too much of a problem.

 

Thanks for the information. But I just called and said I would take it and it was sold last night. So if anyone knows of any 400 or 500 4x4 Scramblers for under $3000, let me know.

 

Agh, sorry to hear about that man. That happens all to often.

I just saw a 1999 Scram 500 4x4 go for $3000 up here.

Right now in the paper there is a 1999 Scram 500 (I'm guessing 2x4) for $2200.

-Josh