I just picked up a used 2002 Sportsman 500 HO, with 600 miles on it.

My problem is that it keeps using coolant. I fill the Res Bottle to Max and run it for a while, then when it cools off the system will such an inch or two of coolant out of the Res and back into the system. This continues until the bottle is empty again.

I checked the Weep hole and it is bone dry, so it is not the seal on the water pump.
There are no visual signs of external leakage anywhere.
I do not smell it burning, and it's not smoking so I assume it is not leaking through the head into the Combustion chamber.
Motor runs fine, It has not overheated, and the fan cycles on and off as needed.

So the millon dollar question is, where is the coolant going? Could the system still be purging air?

Help!

 

Have you checked the radiator itself to see how full it is? Does the oil look milky at all?

 

Radiator was full when I pulled the cap and looked. The oil looks fine on the dipstick. I was going to change it just to get a closer look. With the sportsman being a dry sump oil system how could the coolant be going in there?

 

My 2002 Sp 700 is in the shop right now getting a new base gasket. I went to change the oil 2 weekends ago and when I drained it I saw green coolant in the oil. I filled a liter bottle with the oil and it has been sitting for 2 weeks. There is now 2 inches of something other than oil at the top of the bottle. My dealer said the head bolts only had about 10# of torque on them and that allowed everything to loosen up.

Ironicly the head and base gasket were on backorder.........

SpruceDeuce