I am clueless on where the oil dipstick is on my 08 Sportsman 400 HO. I just got it broken in, and need to change the oil, but I can only find the oil filter, nothing else. Looking to do this tomorrow, so any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Its inside the tank - black plastic - in the left front wheel well. Attached to the cap.

Did you drain the oil in this tank or just out of the crankcase, it is the main oil storage area?

Be sure to follow the instructions in the owners manual. Very important.

 

if you do a complete change and drain everything, make sure to bleed the air out. as mongrol said, read and follow the instructions to the letter. imo

 

well, i bought the quad with 0 miles on it, and currently have 9.2 hours on it, and in the owners manual it states 10 hours to just change the engine oil (was told from dealer the break-in was 20 hours). This weekend me and a few buddies will be out riding some more hours, so after this weekend, i plan on changing the oil. In the morning I will check to see if I can find the oil dipstick and such. ALSO, when I was searching for it before work, i happened to find a red toggle right beside the gear shifter (R,N,H). It reminds me of a fuel on/off/reserve, but have no idea what it is, and it was hid behind the black knee protector which i removed in my search. any light to what this could be? thanks for the help!

 

the toggle switch is the fuel line on/off switch. your supposed to shut it when transporting the quad.

and you may want to pick up a wrench style oil filter wrench. first time i changed my 98 400, no filter wrench would fit between filter and chasis....

 

most likely the oil filter will be on extremly tight from the factory so you wont be able to just use your hands to take it off unless your lucky or HEman lol. anyways, only retighten the new one hnad tight as thats all it needs to put it back on and don't forget to oil the rubber seal onthe filter before installing.

 

PLEASE RE READ YOUR OWNERS MANUAL. All the stuff you're asking is very basic and covered in the manual. It can't be stressed enough about the basics. You;ll be happy that you did it.

 

I really appreciate the help! I just re-read the owners manual and your correct mongrel, all the questions are located in there, haha. Whoops! And from reading again, it states the break-in is the first 10 hours, but to do the first engine oil change at 20H and then gear oil and all the others after 25H. The only thing the manual didnt locate was the drain plug for the engine oil, but from previous experiences I am willing to bet it will be on the bottom of the engine, or close by to the dipstick. Im going to check the oil, coolant, and all other oils today as well, as I have not checked anything yet, figuring the dealer I bought it from was not lieing when he said they checked all levels before it left the floor.

Once again, thanks for the fast help, and already love this forum! Thanks!!

 

I hope I didn't sound rude, but there is some stuff in the manual that is really important if you want to get the most reliable performance. My 400HO has given me tons of totally reliable fun. I usually ride alone, 20 mi from nowhere & its getting me home is what I count on so if you follow the proceedures in the manual, you do ok.

Oh yeah, there are 2 oil drain plugs. One is on the crankcase and the other is on the bottom of the dry sump tank in the wheel well - left front.

 

Ok well I did half of it today (oil change) and the owners manual was really no help in locating the drain screws. The first one I unscrewed was 14mm socket, and was in what I believe was the oil pump or dry sump or something? If you look at the oil resevoir in the front left wheel well where the dipstick is, there are two lines going into something, and on the bottom through the skidplate is the screw. Well im estimating 1/2 quart of oil came out or so. not too much. So re-reading the manual it says the oil drain screw is a 6mm allen wrench bolt, but dont see that anywhere, so I just took out the screw from the resevoir tank with the dipstick. took that one out of the bottom of it with the 14mm socket again. well I think I got it all out but I dunno. Also tried to take the filter off and no luck, even tried mangling it with a screwdriver and hammer to no luck, tomorrow will use channellocks. but did I get the oil out right??