What is the correct procedure for bleeding the emergency (foot) brake on the sportsman?
I had my son pump up the foot brake and I loosend the correct bleeder and got a good bit
of air outta it..done this several times and it still doesent hold right...any help will be
appreciated....

 

Hi Perky
I'm having the same problem I think. Noticed it one day while riding, I stopped to talk to the wife on a slight grade and was holding the foot brake and suddenly I was rolling backwards. It seems that the rear master cylinder is leaking by internally I think. When I first press the brake it feels firm and good (which makes me think it isn't air in the system) then it slowly goes down to the floorboard. Is this what yours is doing? I tried bleeding mine to and it didn't seem to make any difference. The local dealer called Polaris and they tried to blame it on me for over using the rear brake and boiling the brake fluid bla bla bla. I told them no way, I think it was doing it since day one, but I didn't notice it until that one day. Hell my quad only has ten hours on it. Anyway I took it ny the dealer a couple days before Labor day and we decided that since he couldn't even get to it for two weeks that I would take it back home and try bleeding the brakes. If that didn't work we would go from there. I think he tended to agree with my diagnosis of an internal leaking by in the master cylinder. I've been reluctant to take it to the Polaris dealer in my town as he is actually a lawn mower shop with no inside storage and he says it will take at least a couple of weeks to get to it as they only have Dave the Lonely Mechanic working by himself. The dealer where I bought the quad is 90 minutes away and I haven't talked to them yet. I hate to leave the 800 anywhere but my garage! I tried to talk them into just ordering a master cylinder but they wouldn't go for it without first diagnosing it properly (leaving it outside in there yard for two or three weeks). I would be happy if they would just give me the part and I could install it myself. Anyway my bleeding process seemed to be a lot like yours. Seemed to have lots of air but I did get fluid out of it eventually and had to top off the master cylinder. didn't seem to make any differenc. When I pump the pedal and let off I can actually see fluid movement in the reservoir, I really think it is leaking by an o-ring internally. I read somewhere on here about raising the back of the quad way up into the air before bleeding so the air bubbles could rise but as firm as my pedal is at first I really don't think it's air in the system
Andy

 

you know my buddy just bought a new 2005 500ho and it has the same problem...what gives?

 

Well I talked to the dealer I bought mine from on Saturday (not the crummy dealer in my town) and he saw one like it recently and replaced the master cylinder under warranty no prob. I will be taking mine there today. His terminology was "the master cylinder is bypassing", he says there are no rebuild kits available. The fix is to replace the master cylinder and warranty covers it. I will keep you informed after I take mine in. He said they may actually be able to replace it while I go get lunch or something.
Andy

 

Well so much for replacing it while I go get lunch. They had to order the master cylinder, said it would be in wed. or thurs. The plan is for me to go back and pick it up next Monday. Will keep you posted.

 

Just got the call from my mechanic, 800 is done. New master cylinder installed under warranty, will probably pick it up tomorrow.

 

Picked up my quad today. They replaced the rear master cylinder under warranty. Rear brake is perfect now. Mechanic said this was the third one he's seen.

 

my dealer told me that the foot brake ( emergency brake) shouldnt work unless there is a by pass at the lever brake...sounds like horse shi* to me......what do you guys think...maybe next quad,new dealer

 

your dealer lied, mine works perfect now

 

Most times I have found the foot brake master cylinder is good. I have bled many with a tool called Mighty Vac. Its a hand held vacuum pump that bleeds them in seconds. I havent replaced a foot brake master cylinder in a long time.