Both front hubs are leaking on the inside of my wife's 05 Scrambler 500 4x4. I know I need to replace some seals, but are the seals on the hub itself, or the inside of the strut housing ? How bad are they to fix ? I know I have to pull the front shafts, brake calipers, etc., but do I have to mess with whatever that electronic hub locking mechanism is ?

Thanks.

 

You have seals on both the hub and strut housing. You have to drop the a arm at the ball joint area,remove the tie rod from the strut,pull the strut out enough to bend the drive shaft out. You can just use a cheap seal puller to remove the strut seal and tap the new one back in. Don't go too far on this seal or it will distort and leak. Just measure the clearance from the old seal to the strut opening or just mark around the old seal to use as a guide.
The front hub has to have the rotor removed and you can knock the old seal out you don't have to mess with the hilliard and bearings,BUT since you're there I would replace the armature plates. You have to have a press to install the new seal!!. You can't use a hammer or you will damage it! I've had a lot of people do this and bring em to me for replacement. Look here under "strut" and "front wheel" for the seals and armature plates. Browse
OPT

 

I had one leak it turned out to be a $14 seal #23 below pic Part#3610028. My manual told me how to change it and it was not hard at all. Just make sure you get the torque spec on the castle nut spot on. 11 ft/lbs to 14 ft/lbs I think.

I changed it in less then a Hour out side in the back yard.
Here is a video on taking and putting the hub together. All strut AWD Polaris have the same set up so dont worry that its a 1999 or even if it was a Sportsman.

He does not show the back of hub but once the castle nut is off the the whole shaft slips out and you can put on the rear seal.

 

Thanks for the info guys !!!! That doesn't look to hard to do. My local dealer wants $400 to do it...with a labor rate of $90/ hr.

 

He should be embarrass to charge that much.Its a hour job and the seal is only $20.

You should buy a manual though ,even a after market "Clymler" one is well worth the money.

My Dealer charged me $350 Canadian and changed two rear clutch seals which cost more and are harder to change and that included a new belt.

 

You said both sides are leaking, is it leaking around the inside of the hubs or is the oil around the inside of the strut area or around both? You can get both strut seals,both hub seals and both new armature plates from Cycle Parts Warehouse for about $70. Just from what I've experienced,because I hated to have to go back into redo a job that still leaked,was to replace both seals and also armature plates on each side because you're already there! You have to pull the hubs to get to the strut seals and the plates are right there also. You can take the hubs and most places will charge you about 10 bucks to press in new hub seals (at least that's what I charged customers). You've got about $80 total plus your labor and you shouldn't have to go back in either side for years! Just my on this one,because after I had to go back on a couple that still leaked,it's just best to do it all the first time. You may not want to spend this much and I understand,but do you want to have to go back in when an armature plate magnetizes or a seal you didn't replace leaks? Guess I was a mechanic too long OPT

 

OPT,

I appreciate the advice, and I totally agree. I only want to go in there once. When I say "both sides are leaking", I meant both the left wheel and the right wheel. Both have a small stream of fluid running from about 1" inside the rim, down the inside of the tire to the ground. The rear seal (I assume the strut seal) is wet. I can fill up the hubs in the morning, and if the bike isn't ridden, the hubs will be empty in about 24 hrs. If we ride, then they'll be empty in about 4 hrs.

So based on the drawings above, I had already planned to replace both the strut and hub seals, and check the bearings, etc while I was in there. If they looked worn, they'll get replaced too. If you think replacing the armature plates is a good idea while I'm there, they'll get replaced too. I know nothing about those Hilliard setups, so I have no idea how long they are supposed to last, maintainence, etc. We bought the bike in 10, but I rode with the guy we bought it from. So I know the history, and how it has been taken care of, and until this year, very little (other than routine maintainence) has had to be done to it. But If a few dollars now will save me money and time in the future, I have no problem with taking care of things while I'm in there. I'm a firm believer in preventative maitainence and only doing a job once.

 

I've been snake bit once on this in the past and wouldn't ever do a partial repair again! You have to consider too that if only one seal is leaking,both seals are being worn equally and it's just a matter of time before the other seal would leak. Plus taking hubs off and on isn't good on the hub seals themselves. Over a period of time plates can magnetize and allow awd to engage even with the switch off! Usually this happens when hubs are cool first thing in the morning,from either too thick or old fluid (Use Polaris Hub fluid) OR plates that need to be replaced. I over shot the price on seals and armature plates. You may be able to find all 4 seals and the two armature plates cheaper at Ebay,etc,but there a little less than $50 bucks total instead of $70 that I posted earlier at Cycle Parts Warehouse. Good luck. OPT

 

Finally got around to replacing the seals today. Eveything went fine EXCEPT now the right hub will not engage unless I leave the spindle nut really loose.

I don't get it. It worked fine before I took everything apart. I torqued the spindle nuts to 12 ft/lbs, did a bench test, and no go. Figured it probably needed fluid in it, so put the spindle cap on it, filled with fluid, and still no go. By accident, I discovered if I leave the nut just fingre tight on the spindle, the hub will engage as it should. The problem is, by doing this I don't think the bearings are seated tight enough. Any suggestions ??

 

Over torque the hub nut to 25 foot pounds(this pre loads the bearings and seats them) then back off 1 turn or until nut is loose,then torque to a final 12 foot pounds. Jack up front and rear of the atv and then see if the wheel engages when in awd mode.
If it doesn't engage check that you have 12 volts going to the gray wire leading to the coil with the red lead of a multi tester and the black lead to the ground(brown wire).If you don't have 12 volts you can check the connector itself for voltage on the gray and brown wire. You can also jump this brown wire to a known good ground to see if it's a grounding issue.
If voltage is good,then you need to pull the hub off and check the coil sleeve and inner pole of the strut for damage. If neither shows to be ground down or damaged,use a straight edge across the coil sleeve. The sleeve and inner coil pole of the strut (two places where the armature plate touches) must either be flush with each other or no more than .001 clearance measured with a feeler gauge. Hope this helps. OPT