On the Polaris 400 2-stroke engines, if the water pump seal goes out, where can the antifreeze leak to other than the counterbalancer? Maybe the recoil housing???? The level of antifreeze in the reservoir dropped from the maximum mark to the minimum mark since I bought it a month ago. I topped it back off, but haven't had a chance to do any real riding since. I know some air in the system bleeds itself out, but I'm wondering if the seal could have gone out and is leaking some where. The 400 doesn't have a weep hole like the sp500 did, so I don't know. Thanks!

Waylan

 

My counterbalance had water sucked into it since the vacume vent line was located very low in stock form & has since been relocated up high. Anyway, the water in the counterbalance fluid rusted the shaft which seals the antifreeze from the cbalance oil & the water pump impeller is on the shaft also. This could have been a very expensive fix but I got off w/o having to replace the shaft but did have to take the motor out & take it to the shop & for $150 have them take the shaft out & sand off the rust & replace the trashed seals. On my 98 their are 2 small holes very low on the seated right side that the antifreeze would leak out of which said my seals were gone. The LT 250 Suzuki & I even think the 250R is the same way. Maybe it's a 2 stoke thing but there is a weep hole on mine. DONT let water sit in the counterbalance fluid. I dont think it can leak into the recoil housing but my concern would be the counterbalance fluid. I think the shaft rusted so badly that the water pump propeller wouldn't spin & was the reason my quad overheated & automatically shut down.
Jim Maloney 98 400 Scrambler

 

it is normal for a new machine to loose coolant it says so right in the owners manual , they manual says to top it off. I thought the same thing but just read the manual and put more in.

 

Your 400 does have a weep hole . It has 2 seals aswell, one to keep antifreeze in , the other to keep oil in, the weep hole is in the middle of these two . If it was leaking the weep hole (if not plugged by mud) would show it .

Check your counterbalance oil for over full condition or milky look . If all is well ride it and see if it goes down again .