Greetings , I have done several searches and could not find my answer . I am attempting to change the oil in my new Sportsman 500 X2 . My manual said to remove the screen fitting and clean the screen . I have several pieces of equipment that I maintain but this one has got me . The bracket that the battery sits on is in the way and the screen fitting cannot be unscrewed unless the bracket is removed or the oil tank is removed . The manual does not show what to do and neither did the instructions that came with the oil and filter kit . All the instructions say is to unscrew the fitting . Yeh right ! I cannot believe they would make it where one or the other would have to be removed to unscrew the fitting . Am I missing something here ? Thank You !!!

 

I hope other members give you a better answer than mine. I have 4000 miles on 2 of ours and have never cleaned the screen and many members here say they do not.

 

I went through the this with my 09 X2, I ignored cleaning the screen the first oil change, it bugged me that I didn't, so the last oil change I did clean the screen. there was ZERO contamination in it. I won't be cleaning it any time soon.
To clean the screen I undid the to retaining bolts on the reservior, pushed the box up to unclip it, then pulled it down to get at the hose clamp and unscrew the fitting. I counted the revolutions that the fitting unscrewed, put petro tape on the threads and put it back in the original position. Be sure to prime your pump by pinching the line at the top of the reservior (not the line you just removed) as per instructions in your user's manual.
In my case it was a waste of time

 

It was a waste of time. I thought with mine having on 200 miles on it there could be some contaminates since I just bought it and who knows how it was broken in. I spent a lot of time to check the screen for nothing. but it does give you piece of mind. I will not be removing the screen anytime soon. Don't forget to pince the oil hose and prim the pump like the instructions say.

Also if you bought one of those Polaris oil change kits don't add all the oil they give you. You don't need nearly that much.

 

I moved the oil tank over and got the screen out . Like the the rest of you said CLEAN SCREEN . All the work for nothing . The manual was very vague on the where abouts of the breather tube too. All the manual would have had to have said was locate the breather tube at the top of the oil tank . I used both quarts of oil and after checking the oil the level was at the "min" level on the stick . Ran it a couple miles and checked it again a couple hours later and it was at the top of the bottom mark. Guess I could use a few more ounces ?? Thank for your help !!!!!!!!