Damn I'm frustrated! My 500 is barely over a year old and it's dead. The digital speedometer and gauge comes on and off intermitently. I wait until it stops blinking then try to start it and hear a click in the solinoid then everything is dead. In other words, I turn on the ignition key and the guage comes on then goes off, then will come on and stay on until I try to start. Then the guage goes dead again. The low battery icon does NOT come on BTW.

So I pulled the sealed battery and let it charge for about 4 hours. Voltage was 12.42. Checked all negative and positive cable connections, in fact I took off the front cargo rack and front body cover and checked every wire connection I could find. All seemed tight. Also started from the tail light and worked forward, no visable wire breaks or wear spots and again, all connections are tight. The fusable link wire looks good and is tight too.

So then I searched past forum posts and found several that mention about checking the circut breakers in a black pouch. I do not see any such pouch. I have a 2004.5 model 500 HO, I looked everywhere especially by the top of the radiator.

Another question, I downloaded the Polaris 2004 Parts Manual and in the electrical section (page C11) they show a rough scetch of the wiring harness that has a 10 amp and a 20 amp circut breaker shown. Can someone please tell me where these breakers are?!? The owners manual also mentions resetting a breaker but that's all it says. <a great help> What style breaker are they? Like those colored plastic car fuses or the older glass cylider type?

I'm trickle charging the battery again overnight for at least 20 hours (per manual instructions).

Anyone have any ideas? I don't really want to take it to a dealer for $68 per hour and I'd rather not start replacing electrical componets without more information. It's really weird, with the key on, I tried wiggling wires and connections and that doesn't seem to make any difference. It seems like a short, but I see no bare wire spots. At this point I suspect one of the electrical componets might be bad. There is the solenoid (by the battery), and a black box next to the frame right above the left rear tire that has about 6 or more wires connected to it (don't know what this is).

Then up front above the radiator there is the control module, a load shed module, a black plastic box with one multiple wire connector on the one end, then the rest is just harness connectors like for the cooling fan.

ANY help would be greatly appreciate guys. Thank you!

RC
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

I can almost GUARENTY that your problem is the "control module", the little black box that you speak of. There's a recall on your bike. Take it to your dealer and it shouldn't cost you a dime. I have a grin on my face as I read your post because I had the identical problem on my ex-2004.5 500HO. Trust me, it's a bad control module !!!

 

sounds like a broken ground wire or power wire, check your wiring where it goes from the headlight pod down into the front end where the mess of wires are look for a brown wire(ground). Buddies machine was doing what sounds the same as yours it was his ground wire.

 

See if your VIN# falls into the recall,





CPSC, Polaris Industries Announces Recall of Select Model Year 2004.5 and 2005 Sportsman and 2005 Model Year Scrambler ATVs

The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Consumers should stop using the product immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of product: Polaris 2004.5 Sportsman 500, 2005 Sportsman 400, Sportsman 500, Sportsman 600, Sportsman 700, and 2005 Scrambler 500

Units: About 14,882

Manufactuer/Importer: Polaris Industries, Inc., of Medina, Minnesota

Hazard: Some 2004.5 and 2005 Model Year Sportsman and 2005 Model Year Scrambler 500 ATVs were assembled with possibly defective Electronic Control Modules (ECM) which may fail and overheat. If this were to occur, excessive heat could cause a fire, possibly resulting in serious injury or death. Affected units can be verified by comparing the last six digits of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to the serial number range in bold type below. NOTE: Not all 2004.5 and 2005 vehicles are affected. Please review the affected unit table below.

Incidents/Injuries: Polaris has received 26 reports of the ECM overheating. No injuries have been reported.

Description: Only select model year Polaris ATVs are part of this recall. The Sportsman ATV model and serial number identification decal is located on the front side of the front radiator covering. The Scrambler 500 ATV model and serial number identification decal is located on top of the front cab cover. The VIN, or serial number is permanently stamped into the left frame rail behind the left front wheel of all Polaris ATVs.

Model(s) Affected Model Number(s) Serial Number Range-(last six numbers of VIN)
2004.5 SPORTSMAN 500 A04CH50AR AXACH50A*4 407617 - 407876

2005 SPORTSMAN 400 A05MH42AB 4XAMH42A*5A 354270 - 354759, 360481 - 360630
4XAMH42A*5B 411353 - 412822
4XAMH42A*5A 353730 - 354269, 360631 - 360780
4XAMH42A*5B 411832 - 411832, 413068 - 413137

2005 SPORTSMAN 500 A05MH50AB
A05MH50AC
A05MH50AG
A05MH50AH 4XAMH50A*5A 350562 - 351321, 355431 - 355580, 359016 - 359730, 362935 - 362979
4XAMH50A*5B 407877 - 408216, 411873 - 411912, 415275 - 416014, 417015 - 417299
4XAMH50A*5A 355581 - 355835, 358431 - 358715, 359831 - 360290
4XAMH50A*5B 411913 - 412207, 415350 - 415419, 416015 - 416279, 417315 - 417614, 418310
4XAMH50A*5A 350342 - 351590, 355280 - 355430, 358716 - 359790
4XAMH50A*5B 408217 - 408556, 411833 - 411872, 415200 - 415274, 416280 - 416564, 417615 - 418114
4XAMH50A*5A 350782 - 351051, 355130 - 355279, 359231 - 359630, 362765 - 362854
4XAMH50A*5B 412208 - 412332, 415420 - 415754, 416715 - 417014, 418510 - 418704

2005 SPORTSMAN 600 A05MH59AK 4XAMH59A*5A 349790 - 350341

2005 SPORTSMAN 700 A05MH68AK
A05MH68AN
A05MH68AP 4XAMH68A*5A 349720 - 349789, 351776 - 352060, 353253 - 353487, 356181 - 356390
4XAMH68A*5A 360901 - 361285, 362707 - 362764, 363575 - 363646
4XAMH68A*5A 349719, 351591 - 351775, 353488 - 353729, 355836 - 356180
4XAMH68A*5A 360781 - 360900, 361286 - 361545, 362582 - 362706
4XAMH68A*5A 362597 - 362609

2005 SCRAMBLER 500 A05BG50AA 4XABG50A*52 523011 - 523889, 527617 - 528602
*=Check Digit. This could be either a letter or a number

 

My Dad's 04.5 500 had a bad control module and his wasn't listed on the recall either. He had a week left on the warranty when it finally died. His only symptoms prior to that were the machine killing and eventually restarting. BTW, his build date was 11/03.

 

Looks like I take it up the a$$ AGAIN! Great, my VIN is just prior to the recall, 4XACH50A34B39####

Same thing happened to me with my '99 Silverado tailgate cables; only "some" of the '99 model year was included in GMs recall of faulty tailgate cables that rusted through and broke in two (which mine did). BUT, that one only costed me $35.00. Replacing a Polaris Electronic Control Module (ECM) will cost over $100 just for the part alone. I also checked polarisOEMparts.com and they are only a few dollars cheaper than the dealer.

Dealing with faulty products and getting stuck with the bill is really getting old....


Thanks everyone for all the information though, you were very helpful. A local dealer has a ECM in stock so hopefully that is the problem and I will be back to riding tomorrow. Especially since this is a long weekend.

RC

 

The ground wire to the speedometer cluster was broken. I replaced the brown ground wire and it is now working fine.