I have a 2001 sportsman 500 DUSE with a ticking noise in the top end. I have read some other postings with similiar complaints. It seems this is quite common on Polaris engines. My dealer said the noise resides in the oil pump and to ignore it. He says he has serviced some with over 10,000 miles, still making the noise. I think he is guessing. The noise seems to come from the top end. My guess is in the rocker assembly or the decompressor system.

My question is has anyone investigated a fix for this. I have had a tough time accepting the fact Polaris has not rectified this condition. It is my only complaint on this great quad. I have a few thoughts on trying to eliminate the noise. If anyone has tried any of these, please let me know so I do not waste my time.

1. Tightening valves to .006 when engine is warm. Factory service manual says .006 cold and I checked mine to be right, but it is about .008 when warm. My engine is completely quiet when stone cold making me wonder???

2. Eliminating some of the rocker arm end play on the rocker shaft. The manual speaks nothing about what is tolerable amount. The rocker arms seem to have more than I would have guessed.

3. Installing a higher thermostat. The noise goes away if I am running hard and it is good and warmed up, but if I let it sit and idle for a little while the noise reemerges.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

I just bought a 02 scrambler 500, it does the same thing exactly. Have looked at lots of used 500's and they all seem to sound the same.

 

I have an 04' 500 ho and it is the same way. It bothered me quite a bit at first, but it runs fine, and it seems like every other that I have listened to has the same sound. It can be rather annoying, but I'm not sure what you can do about it...