Hi I am new at this quad game, so i am in need of some help please. I have a 96 sportsman 4x4 and my 4 wheel drive is not working correctly. I have only 3 wheels spinning. Both front axles move when in 4 wheel but only the left side wheel turns. I checked the hubs and cleaned then both out and refilled them to proper level. I went on a ride last weekend and 4 wheel drive quit in the middle of the ride, I believe it was due to the battery, because when I put a new battery in one wheel worked again, and after i thought about it only 3 wheels ever worked. cause it would always pull to one direction in reverse while using AWD. anyhow, my question is this, I can not find how many wires are suppose to run to the hub. I have one wire that i can see that runs to the hub down the strut tower. it appears to be intact, but it is siliconed so i do not want to disturb it if there is only one. Next I did notice that the right side hub seal leaks in the back towards the strut. I was wondering if this was my problem, before I buy I new Hillard assembly. Should the AWD work if there is enough fluid at least for a min after I fill it, to check and see if the hub is actually good. also I ended up tearing the whole quad apart plastics ext to do some maintenance. I tightened all 3 chains greased everything that I could find. then I checked the oil for the crankshaft, and I did not get a reading on the dipstick, also it was every muddy. So after this I decided to change the oil but I am not sure that I am in the right place. the book I have has two plugs a smaller on and a bigger one about 2 inches from the smaller one. the book is saying that the bigger one is the drain plug. if this is the case I believe I may be in trouble cause when i took it out nothing came out. it looks like it should be a drain plug. Just need some info please if anyone can help me out I would appreciate it. thanks

 

I Guess it not the 500 if it has chains. Here is a good read (with pics) on the rebuild of the front AWD hub. ATV Time :: View topic - Polaris Demand Drive Hub Q&A Picture Guide to Service

 

Sounds like your working on a 400L, the 500 sportsman has no chains, there should be 2 wires to each hub, a red one and a grey one they connect to a circuit board under the front cover. Sounds like the tranny switch for the awd is bad, lack up all wheels and start machine, turn awd switch on,give it some throttleand see what wheels are working, move the shifter lever around and see if they will engage, low voltage will cayse problems, need a good battery for everything to work

 

Here,s a quote from the link I gave you.

Not sure about needing a good battery, I rode my ATV with a dead battery by pull starting it for a month before getting a new battery and everthing worked normal. I hear its not good for it though.

 

When I got my 2000 sportsman it only had 3 wheel drive. One of the wires going to the hub was broken. Replaced that and everything has been working great.

Jim

 

I have the quad up on blocks and only 3 wheels are moving when I engage AWD. like I said both axles spin when AWD is on but only one of the front wheels is moving. I do only have one wire going to each hub though. and the one side works fine. So maybe it is electrical. I would like to eliminate everything that i can before spending money on things that I do not need. Earlier post I was talking about counterbalance oil not crankshaft. these wires the run right into the back of the hub down strut tower correct. If so I am sure that I only have one wire. now I have the whole back half of the quad apart, so I assume that the circuit board is in the front somewhere, cause I do not see it as of yet

 

yes, take front rack off, then the cover that is over the oil tank, the wires that go to the hubs are red and grey they are small but there should be 2 on each side.

 

Got it fixed tore into the hub itself, and sure enough that was the problem. the bearing with the gator spring was froze up from water and mud probably from the seal in the rear of the hub leaking. got it free and now everything works as it should. I still need to find out how to change the counterbalance oil. I know where the dipstick is, and I know the kind of oil to put in it, just cant find the drain plug. the plug I took out had nothing in it, which may be the case cause the dipstick was dry, but I was expecting to get water mud oil leaves anything but nothing.

 

Part #6 in the pic below is the drain plug.