I have a 2005 Polaris Sportsman 500. I have a light growling noise that appears to be coming from the transmission. The noise is not very noticeable at low speeds, but gets a little louder at high speeds. Most people may not notice it all, but I do. The fluid was changed last year, and no problems until recently. The ATV works and drives fine, but something appears to be growling in the transmission. Do you have any idea(s) on what this problem may be?

Thank you

 

Whining could be gear related or either one of the two timing chains could be the source of the noise,but in a lot of cases a worn bearing could be the culprit. If it's barely noticeable to you,I'd continue with it as is. If it gets louder then you may be able to trace it down to a particular worn bearing or gear but the gear case still has to be split and that's a good bit of work. You might check the prop shaft leading to the front diff also. Worn u-joints can make this sort of noise also.

 

Old Polaris Tech,

Thank you for the reply. I will drive as is unless it gets louder. By the way, I did change both u-joints on the front prop shaft. One was slightly worn, so I replaced both. The noise continued though.

Thank you

 

Just happened to remember about his stuff that some old timers used to talk and raved about on quieting noise on manual transmissions,rear ends,etc. Don't normally recommend additives,but this might help get deep into places Agl or other chain case lubricants can't. In a concentrated package and worth a shot.https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/drive...r-concentrate/

 

Have had two bearings go out on the '06. Once was a noise much like you describe that I started with yolks and u-joints. It eventually got loud enough I knew what side of the case that a transmission bearing was bad on. Dam Russia bearings. Might drop your fluid and see if there are a lot of sparkly bits in the oil. Had front diff pinion bearing go out and cause an awful intermittent vibration. Only indication was a little sparkly in the oil, bearing still felt fairly good but it was enough to cause slop.

 

Same thing on a Magnum gear case several years back before I retired. Whining so loud the owner couldn't stand it. I tore in to and it had a mixture of bearings, Chinese, Russian and Koyo Japanese bearings. Of course it was the junk Russian bearings on the output shaft that was causing the noise.I'd prefer a Chinese bearing over the crap that Russia puts out anytime. First time I encountered Russian bearings and if that's an indicator of their best quality,I hate to see what was the worst.Polaris like some other manufacturers source parts from all over now from whoever can give them the best price.Quality,reliability isn't a factor in this.

 

Sure is a heart sinking sound to hear!
It's getting very sad that they perform so well but the 'leading' OEMs continue to skimp out on the little things that make the machines stay on the trail. All of them in the 06 were russia, I took the liberty of buying a whole new set through and online distributor, either NSK or NTN if I remember correctly. Funny part is my 99 has to have 6k+ miles on it will all original bearings!

 

Blame it all on Globalization,Nafta,etc. Profits have to remain high or the board members and investors get all shaky and frantic. All part of the new progressive world we live in that is more concerned with profits rather than quality as in years past. Couldn't help but think of old Merle and this song from years ago. Seems like he knew more than a lot of people did..

 

Old Polaris Tech (or anyone else that can help me),

I've finally decided to fix the growling noise in my 2005 Sportsman 500 transmission after putting up with it for 1 year. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anything obviously wrong and need some help to find the noise. Here's what I've done so far:

1.) Took off the front drive shaft. The growling noise continued, so I ruled out bad u-joints, front differential,...

2.) Took off both rear hubs, and inspected the bearings. They appear to be a little wore, but not that bad. The bearings rotate smoothly and I can't feel any rough spots that would cause a growling noise at high speed.

3.) Pulled the transmission, and split the case. Again, I can't see anything obviously wrong. The chain tensioner, pins, and spring were disassembled, but I think that happened when I split the case. None of the gears look bad and/or worn. I checked all of the 5 bearings that are visible, and none of them appear to be bad. When I rotate the trans by hand, I can hear a slight growl, but can't pinpoint where its coming from.

Any help and guidance finding this growl would be appreciated by anyone.

Thank you

 

That's where a cheap mechanics stethoscope can help pin point bearing noise. If you're really cheap I've heard of some old timers using a long straw in their ear as they checked out each bearing. Mine was similar to this one and less than 5 bucks and I still have it in the tool box. https://www.harborfreight.com/mechan...ope-69913.html