Hey all new guy here.
I have a 2003 Polaris sportsman 700. Just got an new ignition kit from babbits after reading posts in this forum. Took off the stator flywheel cover to replace and evidence of a SLOW leak of coolent around some of the bolts on the flywheel cover, to the top right right beside the coolant pump. I assume there is a seal that needs replaced??? Or is this from loose bolts from the stator/ flywheel cover. They almost seem to be one in the same??? Any response would be appreciated!! Thanks guys!!

 

welcome! Best time to replace the seal is now before you replace the stator! You will be down to the separate cover any way and just go ahead and pull it. Will be easy then to replace the water pump seal and oil seal at the same time rather than trying to replace em later with the water pump/oil pump shaft in the way that could be damaged! All you have to do is pop the oil seal out,drive the water pump seal out and install new seals,then replace the cover.Then you can do the stator update. OPT

 

I've got a leak that sounds similar on a '02 Sportsman 700. I've got my stator cover off because I had to replace my bendix because of a sheared tooth. That seems to ultimately be the fault of a my poor Ducati ignition system. My battery didn't have enough umph to turn the starter and it broke a tooth on the bendix trying. I had the starter tested and it checked out good so I took my battery in to be tested. I went to battery shop, that's all they do is batteries, and my battery was dry. It still had 12.3 volts but the guy there told me it was junk because it was dry. I keep a Yuasa battery tender on it and the guy said that was a good thing to do. He said the battery was overcharged and is why it was dry and failed. I've been following threads on this forum, OPT's stuff in particular, and it sure does sound like I've got one of those junk Ducati ignitions and it overcharged my battery. Incidentally, does those 3 way headlight setups (diode and 2 wires) hurt the already poor ignition? I had one in my 700 for the first 4 years but took it out because I had concerns that I over worked my system. My speedo needle would blink and my fan would kick on much more frequently than my buddy's would on his '03 600.

Anyways, I'm way off topic. I'm in the process of putting things back together, not replacing the ignition system until I have the money hopefully this summer, and noticed 1 bolt hole wet with coolant. The bolt is the 2 or 3 o'clock position from the top of the stator housing next to water pump housing. I know it can't be right to have coolant in the bolt hole. I had the water pump seal, oil seal, head gasket, and base gasket all replaced 4 years ago. What seal or gasket do I have leaking now?

 

As far as hurting the Ducati system,I don't think any thing you've done could hurt an already crappy ignition system! They all fail sooner or later. As far as the bolt with the coolant,it's possible the water pump gasket could be seeping as I've had this happen too. As long as you don't notice any coolant in the oil,I wouldn't worry that much about it. When you do replace the Ducati with the Kokusan kit,since you will have the stator off,I would just pull the cover and replace the oil seal, water pump seal along with the water pump cover gasket to make sure.It's a lot easier that way than to try to do it after it's all back together. http://www.cyclepartswarehouse.com/f...2002&fveh=5601

 

I'm going to dump the oil and look for coolant. Expecting I won't find any I'll do as you say and leave it alone until I do the ignition system, gladly! Thanks for your help.

 

It's not leaking through the weep hole of the water pump. Did you find the issue? I haven't pulled the stator housing yet, but I'm thinking either a gasket failed or there's a crack allowing coolant to seep to the bolt hole.

 

Where else could coolant come from above water pump? It's seeping through through the bolts hole with washers on it.

Where would coolant come from to get to the bolt with washers on it in the pic? I spaced it out with the washers to mimic the cover width, put thread seal on it, and lost all coolant overnight. I'm going to pull stator cover to inspect, but would appreciate anyone who has come across this. The leak is not coming from the water pump seal / weep hole.