I have a SPORTSMAN 500 2000. For some reason every time I go down a dirt road it overheats and sprays coolant all over the front of the motor. It doesn't seem to overheat if i am going slow or plowing. Just when I go for a longer period of time steady. I've taken it back to 2 different polaris dealers over 5 times. One dealer said that it had a bad sensor (checked), then it was a clogged radiator (checked), then they finally replaced the head gasket telling me that if there were anymore problems it wouldn't be covered under warranty, Then another dealer said that the first didn't bleed the lines???. After all said and done it still overheats and looses all coolant. I tried calling polaris with no avail. Always a recording, Can't seem to talk to someone breathing. Always machine. Is there anyone out there that knows what is going on or how to fix.
PLEASE HELP!!!!

 

I'm not an expert but I'll try to help...
does the SP 500 have a thermostat??...or is it just a continuous flow system??...if it's got a thermostat have you ever checked it or did the dealer ever check it??...because that is what sends the coolant to the rad to get cooled off, maybe it's broken and wont send the coolant to the rad when the coolant boils. When you go fast the engine gets hotter so the thermostat probably wont open to make the coolant cool down the engine.
I could be totally wrong but let me know.

 

MY BIKE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM, OVERHEATED SO MUCH THAT IT CRACK THE CYLINDER. CALL 1-800-POLARIS
AND LISTEN TO OPTION 1 AND 2 AND WAIT! IT WILL START TO RING AND A LIVE PERSON WILL PICK UP.
YOU CAN ALL SO EMAIL THEM AT THEIR WEB SITE.
AND AS FOR THE WARRANTY YOU HAVE A ONE YEAR FINAL
DRIVE FROM DATE OF PURCHASE. AND AS FOR THE OVER HEATING IT STARTED UNDER WARRANTY AND IT WILL BE FIXED UNDER WARRANTY. GOOD LUCK

 

My father and I both have a Sportsman 500 and we had the same poblem with his. I took it back to the dealer and he said it just had air in the lines and started the atv and let it run. The atv burped the air out and he added anti-freeze as it did no more problems. Hope it helps

 

Does the fan turn on? If not, the fan, wiring and/or the electronic switch may be bad. Does the over-heat light turn on before or after it leaks? It could be a bad radiator cap that doesn't keep pressure. Just some ideas, hope they help you.

As Fred says "I did it all for the nookie..."

 

sporty1,
Well I have had the same problem with my Sportsman 500 at one time and here are a few things you can check and try to see if it works for you.
1. Check to see if the fan is cutting on. You can jump the fan with the key on with a piece of wire and it should run.
2. If you have not replaced your thermostat you need to go ahead a do that due to the over heating problems you have already had it is more than likely bad.
3. If you are losing all your colant you may want to check to make sure that your water pump seal is not leaking it is a slow leak normally and you have to be looking to see it leak underneith the bike.
4. The sensor in the radiator can be bypassed by unhooking it and hooking a toggle switch up to it were you can run the fan constantaly with the exception of when you are in deep water. This allows you to run the fan as soon as you start the bike and under normal conditions it help keep the radiator stay cool and not heat up to the point of over heating and not having a fan strong enough to cool it back down to running temp.
5. You can remove your radiator and blow the mud out of the ribbs of the radiator as they can get clogged up with mud that drys like concreat and wont allow the radiator to breath and cool properly.
These are a few things that I had to do as far as the toggle switch, thermostat, and blowing the ribbs of the radiator out to get my Sportsman to stop running. IF it is a 2000 and still under warranty I would take it back and demand that they fix it or take the bike back. Also note the toggle switch will not void your warranty. Hope this helps if you have any further questions feel free to email me and I will try and help you any way I can.

 

reomve your radiator cap and make sure the bleeder hole is open and unblocked it is at the bottom of the filler neck, it aids in bleeding the cooling system of air, which will cause overheating