Are there any sportsman guru's out there. This is the second time that my speedo has went out and taken the 4wd with it. The first time I was on flat country, this last time I was 16 miles in the back country scouting for elk. I went down a hill that was too steep to come out of without 4wd (while I still had 4wd) on the way out I noticed that the 4wd wasn't working. Anyway thank god I had a winch and extra rope with me. My ? is is there a way I can hot wire my 4wd to work without going through the fried speedo. This has to be the worst designed electrical system, I cannot believe that there is not a fuse. I have the wiring diagram and can't figure out how some stuff is run. After looking at the diagram I figure that if I just jumper the in and out lead for the 4wd it should still work. I am wondering what their(polaris) purpose of running the wires through the speedo was. Anyway thanks for the help in advance. Corey[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

I've replaced a speedo once because the 4wd went out, and it ain't cheap. Last week, my awd light went out and I thought it was the speedo again. Turned out to be a loose connection where the plug goes into the socket by the thumb throttle control. Whew, what a relief!

Aslo, I've rolled around the idea of putting in a relay that would isolate the front wheels from the speedo circuit and put 12 volts to the front locks when I want it to be in 4-wheel for sure. That way, it wouldn't feed back into the speedo and maybe fry it.

It's a pretty dumb system, actually, to hope it kicks in when you really need it, instead of knowing it's engaged before you head into a tight spot.

The service manual has a flow chart to use for tracing down the problem. A bad speedo is at the very end of the list. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a bad connection somewhere. Good luck!

 

I had to replace the speedo cable once, bad sensor at the wheel, was told due to mud etc... Now the speedometer is acting up again but everything else works (4wd) fine. The speedo needle first went out completely now sometimes registers fine other times only registers 10-15 mph no matter how fast I'm going.

 

My 200 SP500 has the exact same problem. Happened right after I installed a new battery. Everything I've read pretty much indicates the speedo is the problem. Guess it's time to take it in and have it fixed, or trade it in [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Kirk

 

Jimmy,
I had a smilar problem with my 2000 sportsman 500. It ended up being metal shavings on the speedo cable end. (it's magnetic) The end by the disc. Try blasting it with brake cleaner or lectric cleaner to remove the shavings.
Good luck

 

polaris did this for the same reson that any other company does, to get more money out of the customer, why charge for a small elctrical issue whan u can make it look big. its not polaris that makes the speedo assy for them, and the company that makes them, made it ieasier for polaris to build the bikes with their speedos in it. selling feature for that company. now guys the only thing that i can tell u to help is that {heres another catch, more money } if u trade up to a 03 or newer, they no longer have this issue, the default to 4X4 if u loose any thing to do with the speedo, and can easily be diagnosed.

later fellas

 

Does any one know what wire that you jump to get the AWD to work on a 2000 500 sportsman? It's my friends and he said the speedo,awd,and the tail light is out.


2003 POLARIS SPORTSMAN 700 TWIN
MODIFCATIONS
1.SUPER DUTY HIGHLIFTER CLUTCH
2.AAEN EXHAUST
3.27'' GBC GATORS
4.DYNOJET KIT
5.REVERSE LIGHT
6.CUSTOM NERFBARS
7.FRONT BRUSHGAURD
8.REAR TUBE BUMPER
9.2500 LB RAMSEY WINCH
10.POLARIS HANDGAURDS
11.GEL GRIPS
12.FUEL GAUGE
13.K&N AIR FILTER
14.3'' WHEEL SPACERS
15.HEADLIGHT MODIFCATION
16.REVERSE OVERRIDE MODIFCATION
17.COIL SPACERS
18. 1'' SPRING SPACERS

 

check your wires under your speedometer unhook the brown and white wire and ground it to your bike ,presto you got your awd again .a 5 minute fix that will save you 300 dollars