I just purchased a used 2007Polaris Predator 500 from an Ohio dealer. I ran it for the 1st time last week & it ran great (2hours) until 5 min before bringing it in for the week. It looked like it was low on gas. I filled it with premium gas & it started fine. I attempted to take it back out today & it would not idle. My attempt to start it killed the battery therefore I had to use a jumper box. After looking a little deeper I found that the air filter and the thin sponge were saturated with oil (about 1/2" of oil in the air box). I also notice a small hose came off of the carb. I put that back in place. I removed the filter & cleaned out the oil still didn't run properly (sputtered and required to throttle to keep any idle). I found that it would idle without the filter (or if I lifter the cover a little letting me know the filter was too oily). Because it's Sunday I can't get a new filter until Monday. My attempts to clean the filter were unsuccessful. What would cause so much oil and fuel to get into the air filter box? I traveled about 10 hours with it on the back of my pickup but it was relatively level &strapped down securely. I'm afraid to say I also smelled a hint of gas.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

If you hauled your preddy at say a 45 degree angle or above, it will get oil in the air box. You just have to clean the air filter thoroughly to remove all the oil and probably clean the carb too, as there is likely oil in there now as well.

 

Only 30 degree or more angle - was taking it on and off the pickup truck. Is that enough to do it or does it need to be at an angle longer?

BTW thanks for the response.

 

Hard to say. I guess it could "slosh" around and end up there even at a 30 degree angle. It's happened to me when hauling it at a 45 degree angle. To prevent it from happening again, make sure you turn the fuel off, plug or pinch off the oil return line from the oil reservoir, and remove the air filter (precautionary).

 

OH, and you're welcome. There aren't very many preddy owners on here, mostly sportsmans, so getting a response can take some time. predatorowners.com is another forum for predators only. It is a good site, but not as popular as this one.

 

What a bummer. No offense but that site isn't nothin like this one. I don't see a seach engine for it.

But... thanks for the info. I will keep an eye on that site also.

I guess I need to puchase a Sportsman... I was planning on it in the future anyhow..

 

"Nezz-I read your other post about the oil in the air box too. I had the same thing with my 04 Sportsman when I bought it used. I have a K&N filter on mine, nice filters, better air flow and they are reusable. Recharge kit is about 15 bucks, comes with cleaner and oil.

As for more oil, I don't think it will affect the K&N. The are designed for oil, unlike stock paper filters.

For the oil in the air box..a few things will cause this in addition to the what was mentioned.
Rollover, blow by which is probably unlikely with a newer machine, over filling of the oil. My 700 doesn't have a res tank, it's all in the crank case. When I did my first oil change, I put in exactly 2 qts, which was a little high but not bad until I forgot to turn the gas off when I trailered it out to my hunting spot. Ran through the woods, and would you know, the gas washed through to the crank case overfilling it and causing it to blow back to the air box. Changed the oil and made sure it was good and haven't had that problem since.

Make sure you go through your carb and check your plugs, it took a while for mine, but I ended up fouling out the plugs and I had reminents of oil/gas on top of the diaphram that should be dry.

If you dig in, might as well check your compression for piece of mind.

Kevan "
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Funny you should mention too much oil. I thought there was too much oil in the resovior - but chalked it up to so many attempted starts and oil not settling. It will be sitting at least over night and that will be the first thing I check.
I'm an old guy (I guess going through my mid-life crisis) and new to ATVs (just two rides under my belt)... with that said.. What's this about turning off the gas when loading on a pickup? I didn't do that. I didn't do that nor do I know how (no manual).

 

It might have a bad needle and seat in the carb so the gas doesnt stop when you shut the motor off, check the engine oil, if its overfull, change it and get a new needle and seat. Also, turn the gas off whenever your not riding , this will make the needle and seat last for a long time.

 

I'm up and running again. I cleaned the air box thouroughly, washed and dried the pre-filter and replaced the oil satuated paper filter with a K&N.

She's running great (maybe a little too great for my skill level :-) ). On the trail we ride I can barely get to 4th gear.

The dealer said that taking it on and off a pickup (40 degree angle) can cause it.

Thanks for all the help. I will keep an eye on that "oil in the air box" thing. I'm sure to turn off the gas when it isn't ridden.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: knezz

What a bummer. No offense but that site isn't nothin like this one. I don't see a seach engine for it.



But... thanks for the info. I will keep an eye on that site also.



I guess I need to puchase a Sportsman... I was planning on it in the future anyhow..</end quote></div>

There is a search engine, it just doesn't jump out at you like this one! It is definetely not as good as this forum, but I have found answers to questions on there I'm sure wouldn't get answered here simply because it is a predator/outlaw only site. It does get some good traffic and there are some pro racers on there that have a wealth of info.