I'm out on the trails and my wifes 500 Touring got hot while doing some low speed climbing. I noticed her fan was not turning on. I've hot wired her fan to remain on and that fixed the overheating issue. So my question is will I burn up this fan letting it run till we get home, and any idea where to look for the problem of the fan not turning on?

 

it sounds like the thurmal sensor locater at the bottom right of the rad i just replased one on my 500 sp polaris part is probly to much so i used a napa it works perfect if you need the part number i will look for it if you like

 

you can run the fan for a while like that most likely w/ out too much issue but you need to find the probelm. w/ the bike off unhook the wire from the sensor and the fan should come right on. if it does come on, i would guess the sensor would be bad. you need to put the wiring back to normal to try this if you already didnt. there is a test to test the senor w/ an ohm tester i do beleave nut would have to look it iup to tell you. imo

 

Based on my experience with my 2000 SP500....

As Xplorerman said, the thermal sensor that turns the radiator fan on/off is located at bottom of the radiator, opposite side as the radiator drain spicket. I bought the OEM part online and replaced it myself... and while replacing it is fairly easy, it does require draining the entire cooling system. Also, just to note, you said it "got hot". Well, know that there is a second sensor on the engine that turns the overheat light on/off... so, if you just saw the light come on... you might want to double check the temp vs sensor. Could just be a bad sensor. then again, if the overflow was bubbling... it's most likely that fan switch in the radiator.

Also, when I went to replace that sensor, I was somewhat concerned about how "shitty" the wiring connectors were in between the sensor, fan, and harness. All were very corroded and dirty... and I didn't like what i saw. So, rightly or wrongfully, I cut out the connectors and spliced the wires together using solder... then heat shrink tubing... then a layer of liquid tape. I also replaced the fan while I was in there - you can get it direct from SPAL for pretty cheap - ~$60.

Last, since I was sick of randomly overheating and getting stranded... and beyond what I describe above, I also installed a Quadavator cooling fan override switch from Quadovator... and a small temp gauge from the local autoparts store. The switch is illuminated... and lights whenever the fan is on... either by the fan switch in the radiator (so u can visually see if/when the fan is on)... and when you hit the switch to override. The temp gauge is just ice to have - peace of mind.

http://www.quadovator.com/1618702.html

 

Thanks, guys. We made it bac k to camp, so i guess it's time to start running some checks. I looked for a sensor on the radiatoer and couldn't see one, guess i'll have to look harder.

 

dont know about the 500's but mine is on the side of the engine.

 

While on the topic. I recently aquired a 200 Scrambler 400 2X4 which had a bad radiator and fan. Apparently the fan wore a hole in the rad.

I recently installed a new radiator. I have yet to get a fan blade. I am waiting to see if the motor needs to be replaced as well.

After filling the rad and letting the quad get up to temp, I noticed the motor never kicked on. The rad was pretty hot to the touch but I could keep my hand on it. It must have been running for approximately 15 minutes. I even let my son ride it around the yard to see if we could get it hotter to start the fan motor. The motor never kicked on. It was around 50 degrees outside temp.

I guess my question is, how often does the fan kick on? The previous owner said that the only time he remembers it running is when it just sat at an idle for any length of time.

Is the motor just a 12 volt motor? Can I wire it directly to simply test it to see if it works?

Your help would be appreciated.

 

yes its only a 12 volt fan and you should be able to test it easy enough to see if it works. just make sure you get all the air out of the system when you changed it over. the bike most likely will get up to around 200 degrees before the fan kicks on if the sensor is working(guessing on the temp as its 210 for my bike).

 

i've been having the same problem with my 08 touring 500. take a look at my recent post. I still haven't been able to find out what the problem is.

http://forums.atvconnection.co...tid=11&threadid=560536

 

don't overlook the obvious here, if you do any wet work, river crossings, wet trails, actual mudding, it is fairly easy to plug up a good portion of the rad, especially the back of the rad where you don't see the blockage or wash it out regularly...make sure to take the time to wash out the back side of the rad. while your washing up the rest of the bike!
This may not be the problem, but is an easy first step!

Also: Found out the hard way that the corroded connections in this area can cause all kinds of funky stuff to happen! A good dose of dielectric grease works wonders here and is a little less invasive then Killjoy's solution...