Hello All

I have a 2002 Polaris 700; I have been slowly loosing coolant since the day I bought it. Neither I, nor the dealer could ever find a leak or evidence where the coolant was pooling or dripping. But after a couple of weeks riding, I would have to fill up the overflow bottle. Finally about a week ago, I noticed coolant on the cardboard sheet I kept under the bike for just that purpose. I was easily able to find the leak now. It is leaking coolant at the very bottom front bolt of the water pump. I do not have a maintenance manual, and could not find a clear diagram of what it looks like behind that cover. Also, I tried tightening the cover bolts, but this did not help. I do not believe there is any coolant coming from the weep hole.

Is there more than a gasket seal that would need to be replaced? Is this something that I could do? I do minor work on the other 4 wheelers and equipment I have. I do not tear down engines though (I can never get them back together without extra parts [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]! Does anyone know what part number(s) I would need? Does anyone have a diagram that would help? Thanks!

Chip

 

might try putting some thread sealer on the bolt ,worth a try.

 

Do you have the updated waterpump kit for that? The kit to 'fix' that problem consists of a metal plate, bolts, and a new o-ring seal for the waterpump cover. The metal plate bolts over the plastic waterpump cover. Be sure to not over tighten those bolts because they thread into aluminum.

More than likely the waterpump cover is not the only troubled area. Chances are your mechanical seal in the waterpump itself is bad. This seals keeps engine oil on one side of the waterpump shaft and coolant on the other side. It's a ceramic seal and its pretty costly for what it is. I think it costs about $35. It's hard to say whether or not you can fix it yourself. I did mine and it was not that bad, but it does help to have some decent tools. You will need a gear puller to get the flywheel off plus some general tools. In my humble opinion, this mechanical seal is somewhat of a weak spot for this otherwise awesome quad (SP 600 and 700s). If you are interested, there is a member of this forum that house outlined his 'fix' for making that seal last as long as possible.

Hope that helps.

 

I did not know there was an update kit! One would think Polaris would have sent out a notice to owners. I agree that the water pump seal and the cover gasket should normally last a lot longer then it did. I will try using some thread sealant on the bolt while the update kit is on order. Since I'll already be tearing into it (taking off all the plastic, etc. to get at the water pump), I think I'll go ahead and replace the water pump seal at the same time. I'll take a look at the thread this "other guy" wrote, and see if it has information that will help. Thank you both for your ideas!


Chip

 

Do you need any torque specs for the bolts or do you need to see any pictures from the manual? If so, I can send them to you. Let me know if you have any questions about the job at hand. Its pretty easy.

And you are right, Polaris needs to be better about letting the customer know about the kit. The kit should be free - your dealer should not charge you. And if you bought the quad from the dealer, he should do the labor portion also.

 

Hey polaridoo,
Like almost everyone else's 600/700, mine shows a drop of coolant coming from the weep hole every now
and then.... usually only in very cold weather after it has been sitting for a month or so... My dealer said he
would fix it under warranty if it will actually leak for them when they are checking it. But now you've got me
worried... could I be getting coolant in my oil??? It never leaks more than a drop or two, But If it's getting
into the oil than I'd sure rather just replace it myself! Boy this thing sure has been high maintenance!!!
even so, I love this machine!!!

 

Try the upgraded waterpump cover first. I just did mine on my 02 700 and it cured the problem. The cover I got was completely metal and bolted on evenly. My dealer gave me the cover after I asked about any recall/updates. Be careful putting the cover on. Mine was a tight fit. The plastic flywheel cover gets in the way. I ended up filing one of the ears down slightly to get it to fit.

 

Call your dealer first to see if they will cover it, there were many 02 700's with that plastic cover that leaked, that's why they came up with the kit. Reason they probably didn't contact everyone is because not all of them were bad. Unfortunately you got one of them, but you got by for quite awhile. Give your dealer a call to see what they say, there may have been a bulletin on this issue if i remember right.

 

DanO39-

The leak you are describing on your SP 600 seems to be the more 'typical' one. All but one (the '02 700) in our group pretty much do that. I am not so sure I would worry about the leak you are seeing until it actually starts to leak fast - to the point you have to start adding some coolant. Only at that point would I be more apt to change the mechanical seal. I also don't think you will have to worry about antifreeze mixing with your oil when the leak is as small as it is. Again, when/if the seal starts leaking badly past the weep hole, then I would be concerned about oil and antifreeze contamination. Here is my take on that mechanical seal... I think by about 300-400 miles, most of the twins will get the smallest leak at the weep hole. But, I also think it is more 'superficial' at this point. If you notice (just like your dealer did) that it's almost impossible to catch it leak/drip even once. My brothers SP 600 will maybe... maybe have one drop suspended from the weep hole when it sits in the cold garage for 3 weeks. The drip won't even make it to the ground (his has 600 miles on it). So, I think the issue with the mechanical seal is more of a nuisance rather than a serious problem. I also notice that after a long ride, when we get back to the truck, there are NO drips coming from the weep hole. So, I tend to think once the ATV has been ridden, oil has been circulated, coolant has been circulated, the parts heat up/expand, everything tends to 'fit' again and the leak is gone. Then the cycle will repeat itself if the ATV sits around in the cold garage for 3 weeks.


Now my 2002 SP 700 was a different story. The '02 finally started leaking pretty heavy (at about 700 miles) so my dealer gave me (for free) the updated waterpump cover. Unfortunately that did not fix the problem; turned out to be the mechanical seal (ceramic). So I replaced the bad seals, put it back together and everything was/is perfect (and has been with about 100 miles since the fix). So, only time will tell if that will start leaking again too. I did notice that Polaris had upgraded the seal and slightly modified its design, so maybe they realized the weakness and since addressed the issue.


If I can find the post by one of the forum members, I will post it soon, but in a nutshell, his opinion is that mud, dirt, debris will make it's way into the weephole and slowly contaminate the mechanical seal. Without actually testing this theory, it makes a lot of sense. Afterall, the weep hole is an 'entry' point for dirt or an 'exit' point for coolant if the seal goes bad. So, if you are constantly running the quad in 18" of water and mud, some of that is bad to get to the mechanical seal.. and with as many RPMs as the engine turns (and the seal too), it is probably grinding that dirt into the seal and wearing it out. Without specifics, his fix was to attach a fitting or nipple to the weephole and then attach a tube to it and route the tube to a high place where dirt would not be as easily entered. Even if it does not work, it definitely cannot hurt and I think I will probably try it on my new '04 700. The good news so far about my '04 700 is that I don't even seen the smallest indication of leakage at 450 miles yet. Maybe by the latest production models they have got the seal issue completely addressed.

Good luck.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I want to try putting thread sealant on the one bolt, until I figure something out with the dealer, and then schedule the work. My 02 700 is leaking badly, it needs the update kit.

What type of sealant do you recommend for the bottom front bolt on the pump cover: RTV Blue Silicon, or Red Loc-Tite, or something else? Thanks again for the help.


Chip