05 sportsman 500... was driving around the house and just died on me. Currently have no power on the dash and nothing happens when I turn the key. However the winch will work for for like 5 seconds then it dies also. But if i turn the key off and back on I will get another 5 seconds out of the winch and then it stops working again. Battery is fully charged and it started with no problems at first.

 

Sounds like the common old ecm problem as it contains all the circuit breakers,controls charging,battery protection circuits,etc.IF you still have the BLACK Chinese module(some still floating around that do) the recall is free to replace it with a silver finned Sure Power module. Call your dealer with your vin# and set up an appointment."IF" it's already been replaced,another common thing is for the US made ones to fail also. I installed several ecms on the same machines.Here's the original recall.Polaris Industries Expands Recall of ATVs Due to Fire Hazard | CPSC.gov Plus here's the correct one for your 500 if you have to pay for it yourself.http://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-2006-Polaris-Sportsman-and-Scrambler-400-450-500-OEM-Surepower-ECM-2005-PDM-/171576768506?fits=Make%3APolaris&hash=item27f2c5b7fa&vxp=mtr

 

The quad has had the recall done and I actually had to replace that ecm again very recently (less than 5 hours of riding ago). The previous time was because of a flashing battery light on the dash due to incorrect charging voltage at the battery. I posted on here and replaced it at your advice actually, and it did solve that problem.

 

Check your connections at the battery,winch and the ecm,plus see what you're reading at the battery a little above an idle. If it's charging at 14 volts or more that part of the ecm is ok. Could be a simple short in the winch wiring,a bad ground,but I still wouldn't rule out another blame ecm module. Just controls too many functions and has too many circuit breakers that can over heat.Hope it's something simple.Plus make sure you don't have anything on the key fob,had some people just weigh the key down with a lot of other stuff that just caused the ignition switch to tun a little and shut off. Best to have just the key fob and nothing else. Plus you might want to check wiring at the ignition switch and especially around the headlight area. Had several machines like this that shorted out where these tie into the main harness.Headlight area is really prone to shorts because of the bends of the wiring. Hope you find the problem.