I haven't driven my Sportsman 400 for a couple of weeks and I woke up to a glorious snowfall this morning. I went out to the garage and sparked 'er up and put on my plow when I noticed some fluid on the floor where it had been parked. Upon closer inspection, there was a blackish-green fluid on the inside of wheel that had run off over the rim and onto the tire and floor. There is nothing on the outside of the rim/wheel so I presume that it's not hub fluid although I'm not 100% certain of that. I cannot readily visualize a drip of anysort but it seems to be dripping down directly onto the inner rim of the wheel. Any suggestions as to the source of the drip/leak as well as a solution to the problem?? I look forward to the insight of someone who knows more than me!!

Damon

 

The greenish color that you speak of is the same as Tire Slime.. has your tire ever been filled with slime... just do a fluid check before riding, engine oil, hubs, breaks

 

The Greenish fluid is the locking hub fluid. Your inner spindle seal is damaged. You should fix this because there is only about 2.5 OZ of fluid so there is not much to run out. You can check the fluid level by lifting the tire off the ground and un-doing the set screw (3/16 Allen) on the outside of the hub and rotate the hole until you are at a 10 or 2 o’clock position. The fluid should start to seep out. I usually fill it up at 12 o’clock and then rotate to let the excess run out. If oil can get out water can get in...

 

Thanks for the feedback - is an inner spindle seal something that is easy to fix oneself or is it something to take to the dealer and if so, do you expect that it is an expensive fix? Could a change in the weather - going from warm to cold make the seal shrink and have the problem show up?

 

I found a website and was able to get an exploded view of the wheel:



Is it part #3 on this schematic? The front hub seal.

DamonClick here for the website

 

The problem is definitely your hub seal. It needs to be replaced. An exploded parts view tells you what’s in there but it doesn’t tell you how to do the procedure. It can be a little tricky with proper torque specs and such. I don’t know how mechanical you are so I’m not trying to talk you out of doing it but dealers do them all the time and it’s not a real expensive repair.

 

Thanks for the info Floodrunner. I called and I'm going to take it in next week - best to have it done right than kick myself later!

Damon