I just picked up a polaris scrambler 400 96' for $1500, its in very good shape, engine runs perfect, everything is in very good condition. I found one problem... I was in 4-wheel drive climbing up a hill and noticed only my front right tire was giving power... the front left was just coasting along... I switched the 4x4 switch on and off... when in reverse, forward.. anything I could do to get it to lock in. . . It just would not budge. I took the front hood off the quad and looked at the electrical board, followed the wires down to the strut and it all looks ok... connect in the right spot, brown and grey wires are plugged in fine, I cleaned the connectors, but it still will not work. I noticed while I have the key on and 4x4 switch on and I connect the strut wires up to the board, I get a little spark... I get the same spark if I disconnect and reconnect the right wheel too... so I guess its getting resistance as if the wires are alright. Im starting to think I might have a mechanical problem ( sigh... )... What do you suggest I look at first? I am willing to take it apart to fix... I am unfamiliar in how the 4x4 works on the polaris machines... I was reading around on google, the connection is made by a coil... something something, im not sure, can someone help me out? thanks...

 

ok, buy a manual, and do a search on all wheel drive, or hubs or something like that. the most likely problem is that you have little or no fluid in the hub. check both. use polaris on-demand drive fluid or mobil one synthetic atf. you might want to clean everything out with brake cleaner also. read the manual and you should have no problem getting the hubs apart and back together. it's pretty easy, just time consuming the first few times (i'm at about 10-12). after you clean them fill them up to the point where it just starts to drain out at 4 0'clock.

hope that helps.

bruce.

 

It could be a number of things. Hate to scrae you but if its not the hub fluid thing, it could be that the magnets arn't aaaaa how do i put this, there just not working maybe. Polaris uses a magnet to enforce the AWD. When power goes through everything down by the hub it inforces the magnets that lock to somthing, i forgot but they lock into somthing which makes AWD. Maybe its a short down by the hub. I would act like om changing the boots, if u know how to change the boots on there. When u pull everything apart u can see the AWD system of magnets and every thing, inspect them and maybe try flicking the AWD on to see if they do anything. Om not sure though cause u dont have no hub fluid in.

 

Alright thanks ! .. I'll tear into things tomorrow and post here how it goes. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Hope it goes over well..

 

once you pull everything apart, turn on the key, put it in forward, and put it in all wheel drive. then get a screwdriver and hold it at the axle/hub area. you should feel a strong magnetic pull from both sides. if the wheel that doesn't work doesn't pull, then i think it is either a short somewhere, or a bad hub coil.

also, check the armature plates. if they are bent/grooved/warped they won't work. plus, they're only $8 apiece.

bruce.

 

From what I've seen its usuall the magnets

 

Basically three common problems with a 4th not as common. First and foremost is the fluid. Take everything apart and lay it out on some clean cardboard so you can get it back in the right way, clean the inside of the hub and all the parts with brake cleaner put it all back together and use polaris demand drive fluid. If you can't get the polaris stuff then Mobil1 Synthetic ATF can be used with good results. Don't use anything else in the hubs no grease,regular atf, motor oil, etc. If that doesn't work then look at the armature plates and the hub coil(magnet) Less common is the snake spring that goes around the hub clutch.

 

All good advice here,also do the search on this subject has been beat to death here.

Also if you want to check for a broken wire to the hub coil.un plug it under the front hood, and put a multimeter on it. brown wire to grey wire 28 ohms. if open , broken wire, if higher reading, shot coil.

 

Thought I would share my experience to anyone who needs help in the future.

My front left tire was not engaging. Turned out to be a weak coil. When 12 volts was applied, the magnet was working, just not strong enough. With the hub off, you can easily test the strength; the armature plate should rotate freely with no voltage but should be very hard to rotate with the voltage on.

Replacing the coil appears to be a pain. I just bought an entire strut assembly off ebay for $90 and problem was fixed.

 

Coils can weaken over time,but very few times did I have to replace the coil itself unless I broke one removing a hub strut sleeve. Most of the awd problems in this area was wear on the face of the hub strut sleeve that surrounds the coil. If you have a positive 12 volts to the coil and ohms resistance between the coil gray wire(power wire) and brown(ground) is between 25-30 ohms the coil isn't the problem. Even with a new armature plate if the sleeve face is worn and in worst cases if the inner pole of the strut assembly where the coil slips over is worn down,(both areas where the armature plate has the wear rings) awd would be erratic.This is because the armature plate wouldn't run flush against both points,weakening the magnetic pull on the plate.Some plates I've removed were also slightly bent because of this. Yes I've had to replace strut assemblies when they were dry of fluid and the strut was damaged beyond repair.But again like you said replacing the sleeve is tedious and you can end up damaging the coil if you're not careful. Main thing is that you have it fixed and 90 bucks for a good condition strut is better than paying over $300 at online suppliers for a new one as long as it works. http://www.cyclepartswarehouse.com/f...1995&fveh=5397