Hopefully someone can give me some answers as to what might be wrong.

I have a 2000 Polaris Sportsman 500. It hasn't been riden in about 6 months and has been riden very lightly before that. When I went to start it up today, It had lots of oil in the air filter box. With the radiator cap off, it was blowing air and water out cap (not from being hot) at a very fast pace immediately after starting it. I ran a compression test on it and it only shows about 65 psi. I ran a Leak down test and all the pressure dropped immediately. It could be audibly heard leaking inside the engine without the use of a stethescope. It does idle but just barely. If you let it idle for more than a few minutes, it shuts down. I drove it about a quarter mile to out it up and it feels like it still has lots of power. I goosed it a little and it was able to kick the back end out from under me on a gravel road without any hesitation.

I am thinking that it is rings, but I have some other people teling me head gasket since it is blowing out the radiator. Also noticed a steady drip from the waterpump weep hole. I know I have major upper engine problems. Anyone else have any input or suggestions.

I also have a friend who has a 500 H.O. thta he will sell me for $500 so I am debating wether I should just put that in. Thinking it might be cheaper in the long run and give me a big power boost to boot. If it is something I can fix pretty easy on mine, I would just as soon keep my engine since it has always been an incredibly strong engine, but I don't want to get stuck out in the middle of the woods either.

Thanks for any advice.
Regards,
Brian

 

water pump is going bad if its leaking out the hole. i agree it could be a head gasket or a cracked head. sounds like you know what your doing in checking all those things. i dont beleave the compression rings are bad w/ all the power it sounds like it has. as far as buying you friends for 500.00 is it junk, dont run, older model, whats wrong w/ it to sell so cheap? i would buy it just for the parts if its good for that price.if its an older one then it will have less power then yours being it wouldnt be an HO.

 

You should be able to tell if it's the rings by the leakdown. If it's coming out the crankcase it's the rings. If it's coming out the side of the head or boiling the radiator it's the head gasket.
If it were me I would fix your engine and buy the core for a bonsai build up.

 

The engine he has runs strong. I saw it running before it was pulled out of the atv. It was parted out cus soem insurance deal. It was reported as stolen and then they found it after they got the money. They didn't want to be caught with it.

I talked to the dealership about replacing the head gasket and they said it was very difficult to do. They said changing the engine would probably be cheaper by the time I spent all the money for parts for overhaulin mine.

 

i cant beleave its thAt hard to change the head gasket vs changine the enignes.