I am a newbe. have a 99 335 Polaris sportsman. awd only works in rev. any starting points to check or any advice is welcome thanks

 

If you haven't done so,first thing is to change hub fluid and go from there. Easier to tell on the awd if you have all 4 tires off the ground. Could be just one wheel affected.You can also pull the black wire from the reverse limiter module(only one with a black wire) under the front panel and see if you then have awd in forward.You'd also have full power and awd in reverse without having to push the over ride button. If this doesn't help you can try regrounding the hub ground wires and see if it helps.

 

I don't think it is a ground issue it works in rev? is it a linkage adjustment? when I first got it. I was having trouble starting it? and after messing around I had a lot more fire in high then nutrael and the guy I bought it from we killed it and I was tring to start it. and he said let me try and put it in gear and fired right up. is there some thing in the shifting lever s/w maybe going on? thanks

 

You have a gear selector switch in the shift box that can cause problems also if worn out. The awd light should come on when you have the machine in gear and the awd button pushed. If it doesn't light up you won't have awd as it completes the circuit. The later models moved this switch to the transmission(where it should have been) I've had problems with these over the years also. Most people left them in high range and after awhile the awd light wouldn't come on unless you pushed a little more forward on the gear shift lever. In low range and reverse the awd would usually work. Part of this reason is wear on the switch and sometimes excessive wear on shift box components. Linkage adjustments may or may not help if you don't have awd in high or even low.Later models had the straight line shifter,gear position switches on the transmission and these problems were a thing of the past.Item #15 is the switch,BUT it may or may not be the main problem as there are a lot of wear parts in the box also.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

I unhooked the the linkage and jacked the shifter around back and forth and still nothing? I have not got in to the shifter box yet. do you have a exspolded view of it and a wire diagram? the more pics the better

 

See if you can down load this service manual. Chapter 8 goes into detail and has pics/wiring diagrams that may help. better than me typing.It's a 96-98 service manual,but the shifter is the same.Index of /ORV Manuals/Polaris/1996-1998 - All Models

 

after doing some more testing I am losing power in the shifting ***. have power in res for awd. losing it in fwd? why cant a guy take power from red/white wire at term board. and drop it to the power on the term board on the grey/ white wire for power .it would still brake the power at the awd s/w? depending on were you get the power u might lose the res. and nutreal light? but the way I see it you wont? I pulled the red / white wire from term bd.and it still started. did not do any more then that. is this going to hurt/ fry some thing? what does/ is the hub safety s/w all about. any views or advice would be great

 

People have tried to work around this high dollar shift switch,haven't heard of much success with out loosing something else in the process. The hub safety module is to keep the awd from engaging above 3000 rpms.

 

I have a 99 spotsman 335 i was having trouble with awd in for. Ended up the s/w in gear box was wore out. Had power in res. So arter doing some tracing and alot of thinking and have the ***** to try it. I just took the power off the main board under head light red/white that feeds the power to shifter s/w and jumped it/plugged it in to the grey and white wire at the board. Witch is the same route it takes after going threw the s/w. And still goes threw the awd s/w to control in/out of hubs.the only thing that happened is the nut. Light stays on . For 100$ for the s/w i can live with the light?

 

Yes you can bypass the switch wiring on the circuit board as I've had some people do at the shop.Only problem is that they were the ones to have the most problems with magnetized armature plates and having one front wheel lock up at speed which can be a bad situation. Yes you can save 100 bucks on the switch,but if you're like the ones that did this,they were constantly working on the awd system. A few gave up and just ordered the switch/repaired the shift box so they wouldn't have to fight it. That's why I never tell anyone to bypass this switch with constant power to the hub coils. If you feel comfortable with this then,be aware that one or the other tire can lock in at speed and can cause injuries.