I have a 2008 polaris sportsman 500 x2 with adc i bought about 6 months ago. The adc has always made a grinding noise when i tried to engage it but no noise in normal 4x4 mode. About 6 weeks ago i noticed the 4x4 wasnt working when i got out in the snow. I brought it to a shop and they replaced the main wiring harness expecting that to be the issue as there were some other electrical problems and harness had been in spots.still no 4x4 with new harness installed. He tested the switch and the plug and had 12 volts at the switch and on the red wire ( i think) on the plug goin to the front diff. I brough bike home and removed the front diff after reading lots of forumsnon here about the broken cage. Sure enough cage was in shambles. Replaced the cage and the armature plate just in case and put it all back together and still no 4x4 light in cluster and front wheels not engaging in 4x4. Does power run from switch to diff and then up to cluster to activate light or does it go from switch to cluster then to diff. Any other ideas of where to start would be greatly appreciated.

 

Might be the awd ground going through the speedo that's causing the problem. Jump the brown/white wire to the brown in the speedo connector harness or to a good frame ground and see if that helps on awd engagement.This bypasses the speedo.

 

I have taken my instrument cluster out and put it on my buddies 800 and 4x4 lights up when in gear on his machine.

 

The problem can also be in your awd ground wire or the pins in the connector itself. Jumping the brown wire may still solve the problem even if you don't have the speedo hooked up or even if you do.Plenty of people have had to do this even on working speedos.The awd ground circuit going through the speedo was a bad idea to begin with.

 

Ok i will try this. Just hessitant on hacking up a new harness lol. But willing to try anything ty

 

Don't have to hack up the wiring. Just slice a little sheathing on the brown white wire,wrap a wire around this bare spot and ground the end to the coil mount or frame ground with the other grounds. Just a temporary way to see if the awd light works along with the front wheel drive. If it does you can make a permanent fix.

 

The brown/white wire you are talking about is on the plug coming out of the diff correct?

 

NO, the ground wire in the speedo connector harness that eventually ends up at the diff.All you're doing is making positive grounding before it make the loop through the speedo.

 

So i ran a wire from the brown/white wire in the main harness out to the frame where all the other grounds are and still have nothing. Any other ideas?

 

Somebody else mentioned the magnet switch in the diff but i am trying to check everything i can before i take the whole diff out again.