I recently purchesed an 04 Sportsman 500 HO. 265 miles on it and the first (2) rides I've had it out on I've gotten water in the belt housing. Once it caused the belt to slip and I had to drain it on the trail, the 2nd time it required draining the following day.

is there any sure fire way to keepn this houseing dry? I ride with guys that have 600/700 and a 800 none of which took on ANY water even after traversing the same wet spot's that I did.

 

well first off you have to make sure your rope start is seated properly but it sounds like the seal on the clutch housing is leaking.....you can check your belt at the same time

 

are you flying threw it faster than the others just a lil bit faster can splash up tons of water in teh vent. but it is prob your seal like miniexcavator

 

First check the belt housing for loose bolts,
Second make sure all the fittings and clamps are tight on the intake and exhaust vents for the belt housing. It is posible that they may be loose and seeping water.
Then as mentioned earlier, pull the belt housing and check/replace the gasket, not a big deal.

 

Loose/missing bolts or a bad/missing gasket are my best guesses. You never know what's been done to it before you bought it. I've been in water up to the racks without any problems. One guy told me that mice like to nest in there too.

 

interesting thought Jumbo, never even gave it a thought, but it would be a perfect spot for mice to nest! A screen of some sort may not be a bad idea

 

I met two guys probably in their early fifties who were brothers. One had an old Sportsman 400 2-stroke and the other had a 500. I went over to ask which was faster. One guy said with his crazy brother on it was fastest, even when they switched. I guess the quads were pretty evenly matched.

But then one guy says to me have I ever had any critters in the belt housing? He said they had mice in at least one, both I think. I'm pretty sure he said after they started the first one with mice in it they took the cover off the other one and cleaned it out. The mice found some kind of insulation, from a car I think, and had a nice nest with a snorkel on it to keep the water out. Not bad for "stupid" rodents. He said they put a piece of hardware cloth or window screen, just like you said jokout, over the outtake hole and that was that. They could survive a winter in my quad outdoors, and at the time I rode evey other weekend year-round so I felt pretty safe without the mouseproof mod.

 

I had the same problem. The reason was broken other side of casing where bolts go. Silicone helped [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

mwright mice and gophers do make their nests in some of the craziest places , i once found one in of all places the airbox on my old Honda Foreman ; and i rode it once a week ( Go Figure ) i not only installed some of the large holed screen wire and set a few rat trap's to keep them out of my Quads !

And by all means check your belt housing side plate , air box and pull starter housing ; and replace the gaskets and side plate if nessary and like some do use some silacon chauking around the pull rope and housing !

Man i hate mice and gophers they can do untold destruction to anything , and don't forget Dirt Dobbers ; i've seen the huge nests they can make mainly in the exhaust so here's hoping you get the Quads leak stopped and welcome to the forums !........

 

On my hose connection to my belt housing I removed the cheap plastic tie straps and replaced them with steel hose clamps. On my belt housing I used the old seal but added blue goo sealant as a back up. the only way water is getting in is if I crack the plastic hose or housing or just go in too deep of water.