Hey Guys.

I was riding my 05 Sportsman 600 a few weeks ago and in the middle of a simple ride on a dirt road when my battery light started flashing. We were about 30 mins from camp, so I just let the machine run till we got back to camp. It flashed all the way back and when I finally turned it off it wouldn't start again like a dead battery. I put the battery on a charger for a few hours thinking the battery was shot and got just enough juice to start up so I could load it into my trailer and get it home. It is the original battery, but I haven't had any problems with it so far.

At home, the battery took several hours to get a full charge and doesn't seem to hold one any more as it always is flashing that battery light now once I get it running. I was just planning on picking up a new battery tomorrow, but after doing a little research on the forum I realized my machine is part of some ECM recall. Could that be my issue? I'll have to keep researching to find out what the ECM is supposed to do I guess.

I've got a trip to Moab coming up next Thursday and I really need this thing to be in tip-top shape for that event. I'll be calling the dealer tomorrow to get an appointment, but they are usually a couple weeks to do anything this time of year.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

Dane

 

if it's under the recall it might be, I would try the battery first, because i would think yours could be a little tired
and if you have time before the trip get the ECM replaced I've heard of weird things happening
Good Luck

 

Yes, could be ECM. Check your battery volts when idle, should be about 13vdc and when you are on the throttle it should read no more than 14-15vdc. Your batttery light will only kick on when the volts drop too low or go too high. I bet your charging sytem is not working, maybe ECM related?

 

Could be a bad battery, possibly it isn't charging which could be alternator or voltage regulator. Battery voltage with the engine off should be about 12.4. Engine running at 3000-4000 Rpm it should be 13-14.6. If the battery is getting tired and you operate alot at low engine RPM you may just be working it below the "break even" RPM range which will discharge the battery. You say it isn't taking a charge very well? When you charge the battery are you disconnecting it from the ATV. You should anyway, but If not you may have excessive key off power draw. You can check the key off draw by connecting an ammmeter in-between the negative cable and the neg. battery post. I don't know the specs for a '05 600 but for my 800 it was 10 milliamps, probably the same for yours,are close to it. Again, make sure the key is off when you do the test.
The ECM maybe discharging the battery while parked, but I would think that it just would be dead one day when you went to start it in that case. IIRC that ECM recall is because of a possiblity of fire isn't it? If so I think they reccomend you disconnect the battery when not in use. Weren't some catching fire while parked? Don't get too alarmed I could be wrong,better safe than sorry though.

 

Thanks for the great replies guys. My volts are low across the system, so I'm going to get the ECM replaced. Luckily the Polaris dealer just said that I can bring it by anytime and they'll swap it out while I wait with a little notice. I just ordered a YUASA battery as well so I'll do both at the same time. Hopefully with that I'll be back in business.

Not having a pull-start back-up freaks me out a little, but at least I'll be with other riders and will be sure to carry my jumper cables just in case.

Thanks again!

Dane