I thought I had bought a quick flip. It's a 2000 335 Sportsman with 1200 miles. I recovered the seat, put a battery on it and sold it the day after listing it on CL. The guy called me the next day and said he took it to Polaris and they estimated $1800 worth of problems. My first response, was if that's truly the case, then bring it back and I'll refund the money... but I wanted to see the documentation/quote from the dealership... which he didn't have.

Long story short... I think he was full of it and/or the dealership was full of it, but I still took it back and refunded his money. Life's too short and I'll make it on the next one. Unfortunately, The ATV looks like it's been through a war zone now, and has 4 more miles on it... of obvious mud riding.

I now need to figure out what's BS and what's not. He said the dealership stated the head was cracked and the 4wd doesn't work. I know when I sold it the Speedo & Odometer working... and the Odometer obviously still works since I have 4 more miles on it, but I haven't checked the speedo. I'm going to get it out this weekend, clean it back up and wet the concrete to see if the front wheels really aren't spinning. If they aren't, what are some other thing's I can easily look at to troubleshoot the 4x4 besides the speedo sensor.

I've swapped engines, but haven't gone into one. Where do I start to see if the head is indeed cracked? The bike runs great with choke, but does want to die when it's not warm... which didn't alarm me since I bought it in cold rainy weather, and it seemed fine once it warmed up a bit. Figured it just had a little ethonal in carb. I haven't seen any oil or gas mix... but that's what he says is going on. Going to do a compression check also to check that out.

May be a stupid question, but if the head is cracked, could I put a 500 head on it? Other inexpensive options to get this thing ready to flip and not loose my shirt on it?

 

The crank case is similar to the 500,but there's where the similarity ends! This is a two valve engine instead of four valve like the 500 and does have a remote oil tank,but it's oil cooled,not water cooled like the 500 engine! Heads can't be interchanged because of this and the cylinder bore difference. Check compression and the carb as you mentioned. Compression will only be between 60 to 90 psi (nominal) with throttle wide open and cranked over several times because of the exhaust detent on the cam.The cam is similar to the 500 and you can't get a true compression reading.Jack up all 4 wheels and see if the front tires grab in awd mode. Awd on 2000 models and up do go through the speedo and can cause problems. You can jump the brown/white wire to a good ground(brown wire) at the awd switch connector and see if the awd works. If doesn't work, pull the speedo harness and jump the brown/white and brown wire there. Don't overlook the basics such as awd wiring connectors under the front panel that may have come loose,battery has to be good for awd to work in the first place,along with any mechanical problems in the hubs themselves. This was a strange little engine and only made for a short time. OPT

 

Thanks OPT. So is the head a fairly easy swap? If I find that it's cracked, should I just order a used one of Ebay and throw it back on there... or am I over simplifying it?

Also, is there any way to repair a cracked head with any type of engine epoxy?

Again, may be stupid questions... but if I don't ask, then I won't know.

 

It's not a stupid question if you don't know! You can remove the valve cover on your 335 and check the cam lobes also.Valve clearance is .006 intake and exhaust. We didn't sell many of the 335 Sportsmans ,but it's in the same year model range that the Sportsman 500's had soft heat treatment on the cams and would wear down lobes,usually the exhaust (1996-2000 models) and the cam is similar to the one in the 500. If either lobe is ground down,could explain why it only idles and doesn't take the throttle. If the cam is the problem,check the rocker arm pads and replace if scored. If the cam checks out ok and valve setting is ok and after doing the basics:compression check (60-90 psi) carb clean(check for water),replacing plug,checking for wet/clogged air filter and also the fuel for water(since you said the buyer was mudding) then you could be down to a partially blown head gasket or head problem. Any machine shop can magnaflux the head to check for any cracks. As far as Ebay,might be hard to find one,but if you do or if the old head is ok to reuse,best to at least lap the valves and have the valve guide seals replaced since you have the head off. Hopefully it's something simple and doesn't come down to this. OPT