I have an '05 700 Sportsman, but I think these problems will be similar on the '04 model and for sure on the '06....

The plug wire coming off the coil will rub against the frame and cause it to short. I looked at other units and they were similar to mine and also someone else posted in my recent thread that they had the same problem. Check the outside plug wire for clearance and see if it is getting warn. When it wears through, it will arc to the frame/guard that is towards the front and cause an error code 51 which is for fuel injector #1.

Another issue, there is a mount on the right side for the exhaust that keeps vibration from the exhaust. This is towards the header/front and it has a rubber pad on the top of it that pushes up on a plate on the exhaust. My rubber pad fell out and causes an annoying rattle from the exhaust when the pieces of steel clang together.

 

Thanks for the heads up, I already had the dealer replace that rubber pad. Time to check the plug wires...

Bill

 

this will also pertain to most 500's - 800's, i think the rubber pad and coil is mounted the same way...some may be spaced slightly different than others from what i noticed at the dealer on the coil....just slightly more room on some than other...but a good think to keep an eye out for

 

clarification of the plug wire issue

if you read my original post about my ECU, etc., you will find out that it was actually the plug wire that was arcing against the frame coming out of the coil.....well I just pulled it all off, including the electrical tape that the dealer put on it....I thought it had rubbed against the frame, but there were no rub marks on the plug wire....what i believe is happening is **** poor plug wires and they are shorting out of the cap at the coil and shorting to the frame....path of least resistance...

if you look at your coil, check and see if it is turned on the mount and the plug wires are close to the front part of the frame, towards the front of the machine....there is a mud shield or something there, thin steel....if they are close, you cannot tighten the one nut that holds the coil to the mount, you need to remove both bolts that mount the mount to the frame...

once you free it, look at the way the coil was aligned and turn the hole coil to get the plug wires away from the frame....you will need to remove the plug wires from the coil, make sure you mark which one is which....and tighten down the coil in the new position, you will be able to access the bolt from the back side to hold it in place while tightening the nut....

then, put the coil and mount back up against the frame....you can tighten down the bolts through the mount....with the coil wires in place you can't get to the front bolt, thats why you need to have the wires off....once tightened down, put the plug wires back on, back one first....

also, look at how much play is in the wire, there is a tie wrap not far down...push some of the wire back through the frame, but don't put stress on the plug cap at the coil....you may want to add another tie wrap to hold it all in place....

i'm guessing this are bad wires, not high quality, thats why they will arc to the frame out of the cap.....

everyone needs to check this, not only if you have an EFI, but any model that has the coil mounted like this...but I'm guessing it has to do with the poor quality wires, so check all 2005 500's, 600's, 700's and 800's.....

I would think you people that drive in water alot will experience more problems....

if anyone wants me to take a pic, let me know and I will do it....I ordered new plug wires, but the ones in there don't look bad, but it obviously arc's out of the cap...well so the dealer says, i pulled off the electrical tape and put it back in and don't see any arcing, but its seemed to do it alot only when it heated up....not sure, it is really strange.

update: looked at it again, the plug wire is arcing against the upper shock mount frame....not that I seen it arc, but supposedly that is where it was arcing against

 

I think the plug wire is a Polaris recall. My 400 died in the woods and they fixed it no charge, just a rerouted new wire.

 

yep... exact exhaust post rubber came off on mine too.... dealer wanted me to pay for it, asked me what the hell I was doing to the machine to cause that to happen!??!?! go figure...

 

not a good design at all, i ordered a couple....the dealer wanted $10.xx and polarisoemparts.com lists the MSRP as $6.99....interesting how a dealer an mark their parts more than 30% higher than MSRP

 

if enough people complain on the newer machines, they should recall...

i really think it may be a grounding issue, i'm going to look at the schematics tonight to see if the coil is supposed to be grounded to the frame...mine was loose and i tightened it, i also repositioned the coil and pulled the slack out of the plug wires on the coil end....i don't think the problem will happen again, but its something everyone needs to be aware of....

 

I concur with you, in fact what you are finding after all the running around on your bike, is it appears to be identical to my issue. Perhaps its just a grounding issue, because my dealer didn't find anything wrong after all the running around/testing/swapping.... They simply took the coil off, checked it, replugged it back in, and they said they couldn't find anything wrong. I haven't been riding since I got it back, but my hope is that it will run fine. They may have fixed it by not fixing it...

 

i think what you need to look at is the single bolt that goes through the coil for the mount....can you turn your coils, or move them...rotate them on the single coil mounting bolt? If you can, remove the two coil plate mounting bolts, remove the plug wires from the coil, tighten the coil mounting bolt so that it stays away from the shock frame mount, retighten, then install the plate mounting bolts, then install the plug wires on the coil...