My buddy from IL bought a 500 from a friend here in MN and is going to keep it here for hunting. It needs some work like Brake pads,disc and has some heating issues which may involve a new fan motor and thermal switch. A dealer quoted him about $1000. Well I told him I would do it for him in my spare time. They said it would need all new fluids since they probably weren't chaged for awhile. What fluids do I need to get for this machine and were can I find a service manual for cheap on this machine? Is there any tricks to replace the fan motor or thermal switch? Thanks for any help provided.

 

I recently replace the fan motor on my 97 SP 500. It is not for the novice. I found a Clymer service manual on ebay for about $25 and it was a huge help. I also found a used fan motor on ebay for about $50 with the mount, wire harness and fan. As for the fluids, I would change them. You'll be replacing most of your coolant anyway when you remove the radiator. Check your hoses too while you have the thing apart. Brake pads all the way around will cost you $40 - $60 depending on the brand and if you have done a brake job on a car/truck then you can handle the quad.

Good Luck

 

OH yeah, I forgot one.

To check if the fan motor is working, take off the front compartment under the front rack and you will see the radiator. The thermal switch for my '97 was right on the top part of the radiator with two leads coming out of it. I turned the ignition on and shorted the two leads with a screwdriver. It should start the fan motor. In my case it just sparked so I knew the fan was bad. Also the fan was hard to turn by hand. I should spin fairly easy.

 

I was going to test the fan when I get some time but when I tried to move it it wasn't really easyy to move. I am not worried about the brakes since I have done them before on my other wheelers but you have me worried on the fan. What is the hardest part when replacing the motor? Hard to get to or is there a lot to take apart? I have been watching Ebay but haven't seen anything yet. I will probably get new parts since I know someone I can get a discount on them.

 

you'll need fluid for the hubs in the front, the differentials, the tranny, engine oil, and radiator coolent. i think thats it. you'll probebly want a tube of grease aswell. the old Sportsmans have an ungodly large ammount of grease zerks. theres like atleast 1 at every joint

 

One thing you can try on the fan if its hard to turn is drill out the bearing caps and spray some WD40 in there, you cant hurt it its bad now[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Spyder, what are the actual oil weights for the engine and tranny. Could I use Amsoil even if it is a older machine? I know on higher mileage vehicles they don't recommend switching to Amsoil if you didn't use it in the beginning because it could mess with seals.

 

NemadjiJim,

Nothing hard about removing and replacing the fan motor. Just takes time. Like I mentioned you have to take off the front rack, remove all of the bolts holding the front cab (fenders) in place so you can slide it up a bit to get at the radiator. You may have to remove the pod too, I can't remember. The front bumper had to go. There is a bracket that holds the radiator in place that needs to come off. Remove the two hoses and pull the radiator up and out. And then you can get at the fan motor. I took me like 1 1/2 hour to get the fan completely out of the machine, but I was being careful. Putting it back together, if you keep your parts and bolts organized, is about 1 hour. The Clymer manual I bought helped tremendously and I do suggest you get one. Just take your time.

 

Well I finally got to take a look under the hood so to speak and hopefully you guys can answer some ?'s. First off the wire going to the Thermal switch on top of the radiator was not plugged in because one of the post on it was broken off. They had the 2 wires plugged to each other. It also looked like a wire going to the fan motor was disconnected. This connection was round.. What exactly does the thermal switch do? Does it tell the fan it is hot and turns the fan on?Could I be lucky enough that this is what is causing the temp light to come on after awhile?