Just dropped off my 2006 500 EFI to be repaired. The plastic on the side panel, rear fender and botom of the seat melted because the muffler is too close to the plastic. Anyone having the same problems? and does Polaris have a fix for it?
This wheeler gets so hot it burns my leg when I ride. The plastic melted so bad that is was dripping down and almost burned my leg.
Any one know what Polaris will do?
Thanks
Jimmy

 

If it is any help, I had a 2002 Xplorer and it melted the storage box under the rear rack. I'm not sure what Polaris will do but another fix would be to get the foil backed insulation they use to wrap air ducts with and wrap the muffler with it. Could use twist ties or wire to keep it on. If it melts take it off. I never did get around to the local Home Depot to get some but think it should work.

 

This is a common problem with the spt and Polaris knows about it. They have sent out a service bulletin and have a fix for it under warranty. My 800 did it and they fixed it under the warranty. A member on here was campaigning to get everyone to report this to the consumer proptection board that covers atv's and get a recall so you might look back on the topics and see his post. I believe it was within the last month.

 

I just bought a new 2006 sportsman 500 HO this weekend and I noticed the front of the right rear fender was getting really hot. Why can't they put a fix in place before they sell you the machine???

 

It has happened to mine twice. The second time the dealer said that he would wait until Polaris had a fix for it to replace the plastics. I took the pipes off of both our machines and had them Jet-Hot coated and also made some nice aluminum diamond plate heat shields for them. I have been out of state for a few months so haven't had the chance to take them back in for new plastics but the combination of the Jet-Hot and new heat shields really made a difference to the point that the plastics hardly even get warm now. As for the plastic almost burning your leg, Polaris told me that it is just a cosmetic problem, not a safety problem. keep on them to fix it right!

 

So how did you fasten the diamond plate to the muffler and what gage dimond plate did you use.
My heat sheild only has a quarter in clearance now to the plastic.
Do you have to take off the muffler and header to get them jet coated or do they do it with the muffler on the wheeler?
I wonder when Polaris is going to have a fix for this problem/
thanks for the feed back

 

Yes i did have to take the pipes off the quads to get them Jet-Hot coated. It really reduces the heat a lot, check out their website and see what its all about. The Jet-Hot was around $120.00 US for both machines, but I also had them done in black ( cost 20 bucks more than silver). The diamond plate I used was 16 guage, I bent it to clear the pipe by about 1/16th of an inch and made brackets that attached to the pipes to secure them. I still only have 1/4 inch or less clearance from the plastic but it doesn't get hot at all. From what I understand, Polaris has a new and improved heat shield for them and also a new program for the EFI that makes it run a lot cooler. I'll find out what exactly they will do in another month when i get home and take our quads back in. Good luck on the melting plastics, i had to fight the second time to get them to do anything to the extent of talking to Polaris Technical service and finally got an answer that they would fix them properly as soon as a fix was out.

 

Speedy Thanks for the feed back please let me know if you hear anything from Polaris on the fix please let me know. This is my fourth sportsman and I have never had ths problem on my other wheelers. The program you talked about is that some new soft ware they will install? also do you have a number for polaris tech service?
Thanks again for the information.


2006 Sportsman 500 EFI

 

Speedy just found out today that my dealer is going to install all new plastic and he said polaris has a new heat shield and heat protector material they are going to install. The dealer also did not like the K&N filter I had on my wheeler, he claims that it makes the machine run leaner. I guess I will go back to a stock filter.
Jim

 

Is this problem with melting plastics just on the EFI machines or is anyone seeing it on the carb models?