I'm having an issue with the front differential on a 2005 sportsman 500. The front wheels would engage in drive but not in reverse. I tested the wiring to the differential and had 11.6 volts and 25 ohms. I removed the diff and found a broken plastic roller cage. I ordered an after market aluminum cage with new bearings, rollers, armature, thrust bearing, clips and seals. I installed the new parts and adjusted the backlash screw. Now I don't have 4x4 in drive or reverse. The 4x4 light comes on the dash and I still have voltage and resistance to the differential. Please Help..
Thanks

 

Welcome to the forums. You might try jumping the diff ground wire to a better ground position and see if awd is restored. If this doesn't help you can run a jumper wire from the brown/white wire in the speedo harness over to the solid brown.This bypasses the diff grounding going into the speedo head and shortens the grounding path run.

 

any known issues with a 2004 sportsman 90? I'm look at one for my son.


Thanks

 

Just like any other machine all depends on how it's been treated. They were good little Taiwan 2 strokes made by Aeon for Polaris. Fairly easy to work on,but top ends like all 2 strokes don't last ,but replacements are on ebay.Some had stator problems because of the slotted stator cover that allowed too much dirt and water to enter especially if the kids loved playing in the water and mud. Later models like the 2004 did have the manual chokes,but some were still hard to start in cold weather. Blocking off the air intake with your thumb helped on cold starts. Again you'd be looking at a 12 year old machine,may not be in perfect shape,but just check it out carefully. Just use this KBB listing as a basis for negotiating.Kelley Blue Book

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

I'm going to dig into this one today. I noticed the two wires are exposed(the wire is bare) where they bend and go into the side of the diff. if I lift the front and rear wheels off the ground will the 4x4 engage the same as it would if I was driving it? in other words do the wheels have to be on the grounds and slipping to make the 4x4 work correctly? Thanks

 

Awd would engage with wheels off the ground. That's the way I tested function on repairs. The protective wire sheathing doesn't go all the way into the diffs which I've always thought was a mistake,possible that you could have a problem there if either wire has a bare spot touching the cover. On that I'd check real close,but I'd still try the jumpers if the wires appear to be okay.

 

is agl fluid the same as angle drive fluid? This is for a 2004 sportsman 90.

 

AGL is a thinner gear case fluid. Angle Drive Fluid is the same as 80/90 gear oil. Much thicker and used for differentials.

 

thanks. so I should agl fluid in the gear case for the sportsman 90 and angle drive fluid in the front differential of the sportsman 500 4x4?