So I bought a replacement fan for my polaris 500 (2001) as I think the original might be spinning a bit slow to keep the temps down.
Anyway from the factory it is set up as a "puller" fan...meaning it pulls air thru the radiator. I was thinking maybe a pusher fan would be better...dirt and mud typically gets splashed on the radiator then "pulled" into the fins via wind and the fan. If i turned it to blow forward it would blow the dirt and mud out of the radiator.

I tend to not "race" with it, its a utility quad after all. most speeds are under 20 mph normally, and anything faster than that the fan might not kick on as readily anyway.

Just thinking out of the box here

 

A lot of people run spal fans on the 400ex. Its a mod... Everyone uses a puller. All quads with fans from the factory use pullers. If pushers worked better they would have used them, I guess.
I think a pusher would cover up to much of the rad and make you run hotter.

 

there's a reason why every vehicle- cars, trucks, motorcycles & atv's pull air through the rad instead of pushing it...

I don't think it'll keep your rad any cleaner anyhow- you're either pulling debris into the fins, or pushing debris into the fins. At least the rad is easier to clean with the fan behind it.

are you sure it's your fan? those older popo's are notorious for clogging radiators- I would powerwash the crap out of it with a #40 fan tip (or equivalent) and see if that makes any difference. I powerwash my outlander's rad after every single ride- there's always a river of mud coming out from the fins-

 

my thought was to have the fan still located behiind the rad just blowing forward not pulling inward...maybe it wasnt real clear....i agree if it was "better" factory woulda done it that way...just brainstorming...it would blow the dirt out vs sucking it in.

 

You just have to switch the positive negative leads to revese the fan direction. I d just keep it stock and the way it was intended.
My Canadian dealer wanted $320 for a fan, I bought the exact same OEM Spal fan online for $80 brand new.

They sure have a big mark up on fans at the dealerships .

 

Well I got the new fan installed...I removed the old fan without having to remove anything except the fan, not the bumper rad or any of the front end...I was quite pleased as i expected to hafta remove most of the front end to get to it...
The new fan was off Ebay for 22 bucks. my quad it was going on is a 2001 so its over 11 yrs old. I could tell the new one spins a LOT faster than the old one..AND it had the same, exact bolt spacing as the stock fan. In fact the body of the new fan was EXACTLY the same as the factory fan. Amazing and quite uncanny how it matched...it was exactly the same.
So if anyone has a 10 yr old quad with heating up issues replace the fan..its spinning slower than it was brand new..and i coulda done it under an hour start to finish ! For the record the quad is a 2001 Polaris 500HO.

 

My manual also said to take the front end apart to change the fan. I did it in a half an hour with out removing anything. Super quick and easy. Its also a 2001 500H.O.

That manual also says to remove the clutches to change a starter, that also is a bunch of B.S.

 

LOL...just goes to show, if you use yer brain you can make a difficult job easier...turn yer brain off and you will be doing a lot of werk you don't have to.

 

... that may explain why I'm always so busy

 

That's how the stealerships make their money. 500% parts markup, and then the book calls for 4 hrs labor on a job that takes 30 minutes to do. I understand they got overhead to pay for, but damn.