Hi guys

I recently bought a 2008 Scambler 500, wiring was a bit of a basket case and I've been fixing it all the past few days. Followed all the wires to the tee in the manual and where they all go.

Upon first connecting the battery, bike will start, run fine, charge fine, fan comes on great, etc.

If I turn the key off, and back on again within ~15 secs, I can start the bike again fine. If I wait longer than ~15 seconds, it seems like the SurePower unit is going into some sort of protection mode, and if I try to turn the ignition on again after that 15 seconds, I get no neutral light, my Acewell dash comes on then goes off right away, and the bike will not start.

To reset it, I need to unplug the power from the SurePower unit and connect it again, then everything works fine.

I'm running with no big connector right now, just straight pins from the connector with heat shrink over them onto their mating pins on the unit (long story, the connector was hacked up).

Also took the SurePower unit apart last night and there was a small trace of water infiltration at the bottom...I cleaned the board with vinegar and washed with distilled water last night, waited for it to dry obviously...The board wasn't badly corroded to begin with.

Also, to get past this issue, I tried connecting the orange on the ignition switch to the constant red supply from the battery, and that solved my erratic tach and the ignition problems after waiting 15 seconds. The bike would also start up, but no charging and no fan...

Does this sound like a permanent fault in the SurePower unit? I don't know why it's going into this god damn protection mode every time I turn the ignition off and wait 15 seconds, while everything clearly works and it's driving me nuts.

And finally, does anyone know the differences between SurePower units between Sportsman and Scrambler models? My unit clearly says Scrambler 500 on it, but I'm sure units from other ATV's could be used? They seem to be extremely simple. I don't care if the pins are in different places...means nothing to me with the way I have it set up and will probably leave it.

Any help or guidance if any of you have encountered this problem before would be greatly appreciated.

 

Too many circuit breakers along with different controls for charging,fan operation,battery protection circuit,accessory power, etc. You tamper with an ecm and you take a chance of burning the atv to the ground. Get a new one.4011700 Polaris Controller, Module $220.87 - 2WheelPros

 

​​​​​Meh, I haven't "tampered" with anything per say. Looking like that's what I'll have to do. Still don't see any units for sale cheaper than that for a Scrambler​ 500. I'll probably buy the famous kit made for the Sportsman 500 and wire it into mine. Judging from the wiring diagrams the units are identical apart from a few wires moved around. Gonna hook up my PDM to my uncle's 2006 Sportsman and see if it runs.

 

You'll just take a chance on burning up another ecm or the wiring harness if it's different than the one called for.The original recall on the earlier models kept a lot of mechanics busy on ecm replacement. I replaced more of these faulty ecms than I ever want to remember and had enough problems even with the correct ones that would sometimes fail again.

 

Alright just a quick update and solution for anyone having this problem as well.

I ended up wiring in a 40A automotive relay in line with the battery power wire to the PDM, activated by the ignition switch. Now every time I turn the ignition off, power is cut off to the PDM, and turning it on re-energizes it, thus "resetting" it. I have no more errors so far and the bike will start every time even with the "faulty" PDM.

For anyone having the same problem with the PDM on their bikes, this is an easy fix, although you will need to cut and solder wires together, as well as a relay.

I also said **** it to the connector since mine was broken, cleaned everything thoroughly, tinned all the wires and pins, and soldered the wires directly to the pins themselves, then filled the entire thing with epoxy/potting compound. Won't get better connections than this with any type of pin connection...

I have zero issues with doing this because the PDM is already fucked, so you can't **** it anymore by doing this, and even if it does fail in a year, it was worth it compared to buying a new PDM and connector for $250+ CAD.





If you have some basic electrical knowledge you can do this pretty easily yourself as well. Yeah it's not a Polaris "authorized fix" or whatever, but hey if you like throwing money and parts at something that otherwise works well, this is not the fix for you.

 

Best of luck. Hope it holds up for you..Many of the ones I got a hold of failed like this one and easier or the average mechanic to chunk it and replace it.

 

I believe this is the first time I've seem anyone get rid of the connector and wire anything direct like that. If the ECM dies are you going to be able to unhook it without cutting the wires?

 

He said the connector was broken,but you could probably find one at one of these places.Motorcycle Connectors Connectors

 

Like old polaris tech said, my old connector was completely scrapped by the previous owner, wires were hacked together and the female pins weren't in great shape either. Cutting them shorter & soldering them on was a much better option for me.

And no if the ECM dies I won't be able to unhook it, but I'll just cut the wires flush with the ECM and be back at square 1 where I was before the bike was working. Then I'll order the kit that comes with a new ECU and wiring harness and splice it in. If this ECM dies, having a connector on it won't do me much good other than making it faster to change out...but I would have had to put the connector on in the first place...

I ran the bike today, finally got it all back together, relay wired in, new oil in front diff, hubs, greased everything, bike runs great. Gonna go ride it on the trails tomorrow!

The goal of this project was to get it running reliably for as cheap as possible (while not being a hack doing it). Got the bike for $800, $250 registration, and no money into it really other than some grease, welding supplies, and oil.

I also made the battery box larger today to fit the bigger battery that I had, and pressure washed it to get the crap out that the P.O. had accumulated over the years.

I guess the battery box looks kinda hack-ish, but it's strong and serves its purpose...I don't care about looks that much on an ATV that's going to be dirty instantly.

 

Looks good... Good idea on the battery box mod.