Well went on a 4 day week-end trip (5 hours away) and noticed the Quad steering a bit heavy......so I came across a sand pit area that the highways use , With the Quad in 2X4 stopped at the bottom with the front up on the sand bank and then hammer the throttle.
Sure enough, ALL FOUR WHEELS TURNED!........Caper..
Out with the manual...........Keep you posted......

 

My dad's 06 sportsman 450 did the same thing.The armature plate became magnatized and kept the cage engaged.

 

I am going to do a fluid change ......and then try the Switch again.........There are wear pins than are shown in the manual .....but they say to check if there is NO AWD........I keep you guys/gals posted on this one..................I will check tomorrow after I change the Front Diff. oil......Caper........

 

the polaris awd system operates in away that when the rear tires turn enough rpm and the front tires dont spin it engages the front automaticly this why donuts on ice are a no-no on a polaris --the front can engage hard and wreck the hilliard cage (207$) hope this helps

 

Don't waste your time or money on changing the diff oil.Pull apart the plug between the switch and the front diff.If it still engages the front tires you will need to pull the front diff out.You can also check the to see if the switch is working properly in the diagnostic mode.

 

Well the switch shows AWD icon when in AWD and goes out when in 2wd
As for the front tires engage automaticaly........They should not turn in 2X4 mode ...Correct?
.........Caper.............

 

correct

 

at slow speed -no the front tires wont drive-unless the central hilliard cage is busted you should feel or hear strange crunches /pulls /jerks from front if its broke (ive wrecked at least 7 of them) at power up or speed or a tight corner even in 2wd the front can engage talk to your local dealer

 

Well did some testing in the garage today.......Had all four wheels off the ground,and started up the Quad.
In 2X4 all four wheels were turning.....However I hit the brake ..put in reverse.......spin the tires for about 10 seconds .......Stopped and put back in HIGH to try ........Just the back wheels turned at slow speed .....................Then the front kicked in!!!!......Why.......I am in 2X4???..No 4X4 icon light on the POD either. Showing 2 wheel drive when doing this....

No loud noise or sound from the front end...........Can the Magnet be too close?
Any riders have this trouble before.........I don't want this driving all four wheels all the time!!
Thanks......Caper...........

 

Yea, I can second the DONUT thing.
My cuz was almost med-vac'd out of
our state park when he thought he
would do DONUTS on his 06' SP800
2 years ago. BAD MOVE, not sure how
all this AWD stuff works technically
but he was in 2WD (2x4) going round
and round with increase in speed,
then all of a SUDDEN

-- Flown off the quad about 15ft then the
quad spun around up out of control completly
flipped over. THANK GOD he had is helmet
on! He suffered bad road burn up his shoulder,
arm, back. Gash in the helmet, very dizzy, and
a wrist injury (later found out he broke several
small bones, unrepairable)

To add to that he suffered about 3k of damage to
the Quad. I give him all the respect after about
an hour to recompose and badage up he got back
on his horse and rode another 18+ miles of rough
rocky,gorgy,hard pack trail.

My point is there was no obstruction that his tires hit,
he did not brake suddenly, his quad was new, top shape,
we do not believe that anything failed. What we think is
that the All-demand AWD system detected slippage and
engaged resulting in tire locking or shifting or something?
Then he went flying and the quad went spinning and toppling.
THANK GOD HE WAS NOT UNDER THAT THING! I was about
20 feet just up a little stretch when I looked back and saw the
dust cloud, and then all 4 wheels up in the air, my heart sank
and we ran over only to find him getting up by a fence line brushing
off his pants.

Good thing your addressing Caper, keep us posted Bro!

R'