i was in some deep water with my 05 sportsman 500 and my belt started to slip. so water must be getting in somewhere but do i need to pull the clutches off and seal the back with silicone or can i just go around the cover with silicon or something? i really don't wanna pull the clutches off i don't even have the tools. -thanks

 

It might just be a bad gasket behind the cover. Just take the cover off and look at it.

 

ok if it looks good what should i do?

 

As jumbofrank said it could be the cover seal or to check further,it could be the seal behind the front clutch. These were bad about sticks puncturing the seal and leaking water also. Item #5 or #17.Plus if deep enough you can get water in through the clutch air exhaust snorkel tube.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

I know a lot of people check there belt housings for leaks by slowly filling them with water and seeing where it leaks out. It is a common problem for the back side of the cover to leak from the factory.

 

Check the easy cheap stuff first. Belt cover seal to back plate and vent hose connections ,one behind back plate and one on housing belt cover.

After that it likely the seals behind the two clutches. Might as well change both if you have the clutches off.

I had my Polaris dealer do it last summer on mine because of a fishing trip coming up.
They cleaned the clutches put on a new belt and changed both rear seals behind the two clutches for $320 Canadian which I though was not to bad.
Turned it back into a submarine.LOL

 

thanks for the info, i'll look into it more