Yes, with what you have discribed it could be a lot of things. You might check for something loose in the suspension, don't ask me what down to a specific, as I am terrible at trouble shooting noises without hearing them. Just make suggestions.

Bear

 

This sounds similar to what Maximus was having a problem with. When he posted, he thought it was the motor but later, the rear end. I think he's decided the noise was actually coming from the motor but it was normal running noise. Not suggesting to quit looking for the cause. But maybe it's not something you should try to diagnose. Trust the dealer since the quad has low miles. But by all means, take it to the dealer so he can determine the problem. If you have a good dealer, it shouldn't cost you anything to check it out.
Chuck

 

odd.

 

i beleive the noise tha maximus had posted about was a compression release valve. My 500 has this noise to and it happens during acceleration, especially hard accel. Keester says his happens when he lets off the gas so this is must be different. Here is a link to Maximus' Threadif you want to read it and see if it sounds like what you have, but from what you have said it sounds like something else

 

Mine did the same on my 500 left rear side. i could lift the tire off the ground,grab hold of it and pull back and fourth like trying to pull the wheel off and it would pop. It ended up being the bearing case

 

Well guys...seems like it is coming from the transmission case. I've resigned myself to just ride until something breaks...that way I'll know what it is. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

Sounds like the same problem I had when my AC had about 3500 miles on it. I replaced the rear CV joint assembly. The popping went away for a while. So I was shure I had replaced the right thing. After revoval I looked under the rubber boot for obvious signs of failure - metal shavings and/or dirt in the grease, but found none. I'm ticked off that the new joint is starting to pop now with only about 500 miles on it. It will have to get alot worse till I replace it again since it was about $215. It only took about an hour for me to remove the rear axle and joint and reassemble with the new joint assy. I'm not sure how long it would take to replace a joint on the independent rear end or how to isolate which side it is popping from. When my joint pops I can feel it in my foot pegs at the same time.

 

That is what I was worried about. If I replaced the rear axle assembly, the popping would come back. I'm curious...did it affect the ride any? Did you ride it very long after it started popping? Thanks for the info...

 

Man figuring this out sounds like a pain in the butt for you guys. I have chased things down before such as this and it drove me nuts. Any way, drive the thing with someone walking next to it and try and make it pop. Get a different perspective on where the noise is comming from. Being in the seat may maek it hard if the noise bounces around under the plastic or if it is translated along the frame to another part of the quad. IE the trans.

The last time I went through something similar was on a car. It has a wierd exhaust leak, sounded like a bearing growling, like one was going bad. I went through every accessory on that side of the motor as I was unable to isolate it even with a mechanics stethescope. Figured out it was a slight exhaust leak that poped up under load when the trans was taken out of park. The noise was traveling up an accessory bracket that supported the main bracket which held the alt, A/C, PS pump, and belt tensioner.

Good look.

Brent

 

The popping had no affect on the ride. I drove it for probably 700 mi before doing anything partly because it was so hard to determine where the noise was coming from (like tta583's experience) and driveline parts are too expensive to just start replacing on a guess. It also came on so gradually that I'm sure it had started popping mildly long before I got irritated. So I waited till it got worse and then heard some automotive radio program talking about CV joints popping when a front wheel drive car was turning around corners, so I then had at least an educated guess. The other factor was that I was 99% sure that it was coming from the rear driveline and on the ACT suspensions you only have the rear engine bearing then the CV assy then the rear differential assy. Of the 3 the CV is the cheapest thing to replace.