Any body have any ideas why my 04 SP 500 is always killing the battery, when I say killed I mean killed, it won't even recharge. Service at local dealership says there nothing wrong with the bike but I think 8 batteries in 2 years is a little extreme. Also I have problems with the front springs squeaking. Wd-40 helps but doesn't quite cure the problem. Any help on these issues would be appreciated.

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

If it is an 2004.5 model year then I would suspect your ECM or electronic control module. It could be over charging your battery. Put a voltmeter on the battery while running the engine at 3000 rpms. It should not be much over 13 or 14 volts depending on the state of charge of your battery.
Are you charging your new batteries before you put them in service?

 

do the 04.5's have the service screen on the pod that will tell you the voltage?
you might want to try this

1. with quad turned off place in neutral
2. start quad while holding in the override button
now you should have a whole bunch of screens that you can cycle through
by pushing the the override button as long as you dont put it in gear
you should find the screen that has the voltage on it then rev your quad up to
about 4000 rpms like Charlie said it should not go over 14 volts.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I do charge the batteries before install and they do OK for a few weeks but if I don't ride it for a week or so the battery is shot. I recently installed a Battery Minder to see if that helps but I will also do the checks you guys suggested.

 

Oh and by the way, the dealer service department did install a new ECM already which didn't help.

 

On the speedo readout thing, do you know if '05's do it too? I would check mine, but you'd have to first read my other listing about SP 800 doubts to understand![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

i know my 05 500 has it.

 

The creaking suspension was prevalent on the 01 SP. The fix is to take the upper strut ball joint apart and grease both ball sections with a good silicon grease.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] I have a 2005 polaris sportsman 500 ho wich had a recall on the controll module or ecm. Anyway i took it and had it replaced wich it worked fine. Well when i got it back ad about 4 or 5 riding hours later the new ecm started smokeing and blew wich is what the recall was for. I was Told i had to purchas a new one myself and i think this is wrong and unfair. I was just wondering if anyone else has had the same problem and if they could help me out.

 

That is effing retarded right there!!

The only issue I've had with mine so far is the left footwell chafing the LE paint off the rear fender. After nearly a year the fenders are finally in (actually been in since December, but nobody bothered to call), so I'm having them picked up and holding on to them for another time.

Good luck to you in getting your ecm replaced again [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]