Ok, Recently took apart the front end of my 95 sportsman 500 to change the ball joints, u-joints, bearings, and CV boots. So I just got it put back together and the left hub won't engage.

I had taken apart the hubs and cleaned them all up when everything was off. I tested the connections and I'm getting power to the hub and back from it. I also took everything back apart and the metal piece for the hub was sticking to the strut so the magnet was working.

I'm really kinda lost on what is causing it. Could the magnet not be getting enough juice? or can the hub be worn out? It always worked fine before I took it all apart.

Thanks for any help.

 

A first timers easy mistake when re-building the hub is accidentally bending the armature plate during re-assembly. They only cost a couple of bucks. It is more than likely the armature plate or you re-assembled things incorrectly. I would tear into it, check things out and see what is going on. The armature plate has to be perfectly flat in order to work and things in the hub need to be re-assembled just right, so If you are not using a repair manual to do the job, I would consider getting one.

 

I forgot to mention, if the garter spring is stretched or broken, it can also cause the clutch not to work. Good luck.

 

The armature plate looks nice and flat and sticks to the magnet deal when the AWD is engaged. I have it apart at the moment actually.

When the wheel is off the hub will turn in AWD but I can stop it w/ my hand. The other side works perfectly.

I think this hub unit came out of the other side (switched when apart) and that side was low on fluid and everything was grimey. If the armature plate was worn would that cause it not to work?

 

It could, the armature plate usually will become magnetized when it is worn out, but that usually causes the hub to stick in 4wd. For the cost, I would go ahead and replace it. The rollers can also get worn or the grooves that they go in to lock the hub into 4wd, so check those out real good also. Also make sure you torqued things up right. The castelled nut should be tightened to 100 inch-lbs, then turn the front wheels using the rear axle a few times in each direction. Loosen the nut, then re-tighten to 100 inch-lbs and replace the cotter pin.

 

The armature plate is a very precise component, the clarence between the armature plate the coils inner ring is 0.0015". If you get much more than that it just won't work.

 

Did some investigating today. Swapped the hubs and the left side works now. So I took it apart again and kept the armature plate from the good hub and the rest from the bad hub and it dosen't work.

So it looks like it's the main assembly. I'm thinking it's prolly the gatespring. Hopefully my dealer has one in stock.