Normally when codes are activated mine will run flawlessly but I've had a few times cold where it died after a minute or so, a few times after a hot run and restart where it began to idle really low and went into limp mode and only once while riding did it began to miss and run really weak. On the latter event I just wiggled wired on end of T-Bap and it went back to normal running. Overall....I just need Polaris to fix this issue for me and my 700 will be perfect. I have no other complaints. My dealer is great and offered no issues if I bring it in and have the harness replaced...but I am holding out for the simple, quick and non-invasive fix.

 

Dammit!!! I do remember reading that in a post or the manual about the codes clearing! Sheeit! Thanks! I forgot about that one...If I only had a shop to work in, I'd go right out there and open it all back up!

So, is the answer to the question of "what's it gonna do if the connection IS flaky" that it will run weird to a noticeable extent? What are the indications of this wire being bad, other than obvious looseness or complete separation?

 

I can't say definitively on what it will do. 99% of the time mine runs great....but then I get a gremlin event like those listed in my previous message. It it does begin to run rough or idle low.... try pushing the wires into the T-BAP connector with a little force. It may also go into limp mode where performance will be severely degraded and it will begin to snap and pop from the exhaust. I've also heard that T-BAP completely disconnected will allow it to run fine...albeit probably not optimally.

 

Ok...if your dealer offered to replace your weakened harness, why not let them? It's just the harness, right? I guess I'm not understanding your reasoning for reluctance here...if my dealer was offering the same deal, I'd let'em go ahead and do it.

I think you answered my previous question about "what's it gonna do if the wiring's bad"...

 

Dealer will have to tear out all of my wire looming and cut all of my zip ties. I guess I am **** about avoiding wire chaffing which is why did all of this work. I may consider taking it in after sledding season if plug kit isn't available at that time.. Too much snow to ride the 700 right now....so it hasn't been at the top of my list. That and ATV trailer is sitting in 3 feet of snow at cabin right now so can't take it if I wanted to. :-)

 

Now this I've gotta check out! Interesting! I bet it just won't adjust to alttitude changes like it should, and whatever else it's supposed to do when T-BAP sensor's working right.

The indications you described are exactly what I experienced yesterday...went into limp mode twice. I haven't heard anyone say their sensor was bad...only wiring. On another site, a guy (i think a dealer) offered to warranty it for me to save me the bucks for a new harness. That's how sure he was! Pretty awesome dealer if he is one, eh?

 

In my experience you can run with the T-Bap completely disconnected and the machine will seem to run fine. But once you hook it back up hang on to the handlebars because you’ll suddenly have significantly more power. But a sensor with an intermittent connection is worse, as you guys have experienced.

Not sure what the deal is on the “dealer” offer to fix your problem “under warranty” without replacing the main harness but here’s my guess. He’ll do his own wiring patch, like I did, and turn the repair in to Polaris as a warranty claim for replacing the entire harness. He’ll get a free harness out of the deal and get paid for replacing it, even though he just did a patch. Is this a bad thing? Hell no. It was a bad design, Polaris is aware of it but hasn’t offered an alternative yet. You’d get your machine fixed and he’d be paid for his trouble and ingenuity.

Okay, so here’s your bulletproof fix. You’re going to need to buy a common automotive trailer connector, or four-terminal “flat plug.” You need to get both sides, the one that goes on the vehicle and the one that goes on the trailer. There are four wires going to the T-Bap. You need to manually connect one side of the flat plug to the T-Bap and the other side to the wiring loom that goes to it. This is going to require some soldering so if you can’t do that don’t even try, or enlist the help of someone who can.

Unscrew the T-Bap and draw yourself a diagram or “map” for which colored wires go to which terminals on the sensor. The sensor has numbers on the plastic that correspond to the terminals. Unplug the connector. You’ll see there are four flat spade terminals on the sensor down inside a protective plastic sheath that the connector plugs into. You’re going to have to cut this sheath off to work on the spade terminals. It’s only about 1/16” plastic. You can use a knife or hacksaw to carefully cut through it all the way around without damaging the terminals. Once the sheath is removed to expose the terminals drill a 1/16” hole in each terminal and tin them with solder.

The flat plug wire colors aren’t the same as the wiring loom so you have to decide which color replaces which (white becomes pink, etc). Amend your drawn diagram so there’s no confusion as to which colors go to which terminals, making sure that the original wires get connected to the correct terminals on the sensor after they go through the flat plug. Slip a piece of heat shrink tubing over the wire on the plug, solder it to the proper spade terminal at the hole you drilled, slide the shrink tube down and heat it up to seal the connection. Do the same for the other three wires. Now you have a T-Bap that has a built-in connector. I brushed a couple layers of Plasti-Dip around my connections on the sensor just to be on the safe side.

Cut the original connector off the wiring loom. Allowing more length than Polaris did, cut the wiring on the other half of your flat plug so you’ll be working with a finished length. Slip shrink tube over each of the wires and solder them to the flat plug wires using your diagram to match up the right colors. Seal your connections with the shrink tube, reinstall your T-Bap, put some dielectric grease on the flat plug terminals, connect the plugs together and ride.

If you get confused as to which color wire goes to which terminal on the sensor anyone with a factory service manual will be able to tell you by reading the schematic (including me).

 

Flood,

That's awesome! A simple, relatively easy, and a bulletproof fix. That's awesome! Thanks MUCHO!

Thanks a bunch! The more I thought about it last night, and the intermittent "limp" mode, the more sense the idea of a bum wire made to me.

Thanks for all your help!

Tom

 

Floodrunner,

I did the suggested electrical mod (workaround) you explained. The only thing that didn't go well was the soldering of the wires to the spade connectors on the sensor. They were solid connections, but VERY difficult to do w/out a small tip for the solder iron. I bought one of those "cold heat" solder irons for the job. I wasn't impressed with it's operation at all. If you've ever tried one, you know what I mean. Other than that, I've very pleased with the cleanliness of the job.

I've only one concern. That is another code I got once I hooked up the connector and started the machine. I ran it, let it warm up, then shut it down and ran the diagnostics. It came up with a code I'd not yet encountered, "41"...

So, I pulled the battery lead to clear out the code (which I should have done in the first place before starting it), then ran diagnostics to make sure the code cleared, it did. Then I started the engine once again and let it run for a few minutes while I impatiently smoked a cigarette. I shut it down again then ran diagnostics. No code. I ran the diagnostics again, just to be sure. No code.

Gosh, I hope this solves the problem for at least another 18 months. We'll see.

Thanks again Flood, you squared me away!

Tom

 

I was afraid of this...

I'm afraid I didn't quite get it solid when I recreated the connections on the T-BAP sensor fix. Now I've got a CODE "46"...dammit!

The problem seems to be intermittent, so I just think it's a connection problem with my splice connectors. I'll add some dielectric grease to the 4-way connections and then figure out which wire is the one that causes a "46" to pop up and redo the connection.

On the trip this weekend, the code appearred on the second day, and came and went. There was never any indication something was wrong, except the "check engine" indicator popped up. The machine drove flawlessly (no limp mode).

Fun fun fun...I'm sure I'll end up replacing the EFI harness and T-BAP sensor soon if I'm not able to rectify the problem.

Any thoughts, Floodrunner???