Well . . . I attempted to remove the pull cord case by taking out all the bolts and tapping the case lightly, but it would not come off. I did not want to tap it too hard as it looks like aluminum. One bolt I did not remove was the large one next to the handle. I had no idea what it was for so I left it. I did drain the starter though.

Anyway, went for a run this weekend and it rained cats & dogs in buckets. The bike fired up the first time ok, but ater that the squeeling kicked in upon starting. Now that she is home she screems like a Banchee (not the Yamaha kind) when trying to start and it seems as if she has difficulty turning over. She won't start either. I tried the pull cord and she won't start either.

Me thinks the starting motor is shot. Can a normal starter rebuilding shop rebuild them or do I have to shell out (gulp) mucho $ for a Polaris one? Are there kits available and is it difficult to rebuild one yourself? Have I missed anthing when attempting to remove the pull cord cover? And finally, how can I avoid this is the future?

Sorry for the long post . . . but I have tried to include all the relevant information up front.

 

take all the bolts around the recoil off, the housing is usually stuck on pretty good. just becareful and take your time it will come off.your polaris dealer should have a 'brush kit' to rebuild your starter,you will probably also need a new bearing for the nose of the starter. to take the starter off you are going to have to take the primary clutch off. when you get it all apart theres a gear assembly that turns the flywheel try soaking this in wd-40 and work it by hand.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will post the results of my "operation"

 

If you get the gear assembly working freely, grease it up. Polaris makes a special starter drive grease just for this. It should help you go longer before you have to do this again.
Farmr