So in another post i mentioned that my cams gone on my 1997 sportsman 500, i'm just wondering will a cam from an 01 or 02 fit right into my quad? someone told me that an 02 sportsman cam will give me abit more power. good idea or not?

 

The 2001 500 HO had a higher lift cam,bigger carb,etc. I always replaced the cam the engine called for,but I'm sure others have installed the HO cam. I wouldn't expect any great difference in power because your limited by your engine.Most techs don't experiment or swap parts around. OPT

 

can it hurt anything to put an HO cam in?

 

or if i put in the same kind of cam is there any risk in it going anytime soon? what would you guys personally do?

 

You've got two posts going at the same time on basically the same thing! First off if you haven't checked for cam wear or had it measured (1.276 in inches,not mm) is the absolute minimum for the intake and exhaust cam lobes. Cams don't just go out over night and start popping back through air boxes,etc. It's a gradual thing,starts with power loss first depending on how worn an exhaust cam lobe might be. I've found them partially worn down to all the way to where they were ground completely down to where they would idle but no power at all. You said it can get up to 40 mph sometimes? Can be cam is partially worn down and exhaust valves won't open far enough to have full power??.

Problems in the clutches can mimic almost the same sort of thing as a cam problem can,loss of power,slow takeoff,top end speed may feel limited,etc. You also need to eliminate the clutches as the problem on power also(guide buttons in the front clutch, worn ramp buttons,broken spring,etc in the secondary clutch,even the belt itself. Plus I've even had carb diaphragm springs knotted up not allowing the slide to move up fully,which can cause power loss. Even the reverse limiter module can start to fail and cause limiting in forward gear not just reverse as it was designed to do. As far as your original question on the HO cam,you're not going to benefit that much if you do use it. From all the sources I found some have installed the cam,but you don't have the head flow,carburetion,etc to make full use of it like the HO engine does. "IF" the cam is the problem and not the clutches or anything else,I would stick with the #3086212 replacement cam for your model 500. OPT

 

ok, well the dealer and my dad looked at the clutch and replaced buttons and such, so i don't know how it could be that. so i might not get any more benefits from the HO cam but if i can only find a cheap HO cam would it work just as well as the original in my quad?

 

a guy said he can sell me a used but good condition cam for my quad for 100 bucks, and polaris wanted over $300, should i buy it and just see if it solves my problem? also what would i want cam bearings gaskets etc.?

 

Don't trust used engine parts,especially camshafts if you can't measure the lobes and cam shaft journals. Could be getting one worse than what you may have. There are no separate bearings. The cam journals ride in the milled head cutouts. Look here under "intake and exhaust" under your 97 model.Browse OPT

 

ok, should i ask him if its worn at all or forget about it?

 

Forget about used cams if you are not able to check it out before you buy it!!! OPT