I know this has already been covered on some model year 500 H.O.s but I didn't see anything for 2008. I have no four wheel drive in forward or reverse. I'm stuck in the snow and if I don't get the 4x4 working it's going to sit there until spring. Does mine have a reverse limiter module that I can unplug? I can't work on anything complicated but I can pull a wire.

P.S. The indicator on the pod says it's in 4x4.

 

Check that you show 12 volts to the power wire leading to the front diff connector when in gear,awd switched on. If you don't you may be able to jump the brown/white wire in the speedo harness to a good ground bypassing the speedo and see if you have power. IF you have power to the front diff,then it could be the problems with the plastic roll cage,armature plate or the coil itself.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Thanks OPT. We have rain and snow coming so I'll wait for better weather to check it out.

 

I finally got a chance to look at it and I couldn't see or reach the end of the wire on the front diff to check the voltage. I took the front rack off so I could see better and that didn't do me much good so I'll just wait for a thaw to get it unstuck and take it to the dealer. Thanks anyway.

 

Same problem

 

I had no AWD on my 2008 500 one time and the dealer hooked it up to a laptop to run a diagnostic test and it was a broken/craked wire. One replaced, it was running perfect. I know that doesn't help you much with your bike stuck in the bush but if you are handy electrically you might want to check the wires running from the awd switch on the handle bar all the way down and see if you can find a bad wire.

 

I took it in to the dealer a while ago and just heard back from them today. They said it was a bad 2WD/4WD/ADC switch on the handlebars. I don't know how the switch could be bad when the indicator on the speedo said it was in 4x4. If I knew that's all it was I would have fixed it myself, but I thought that meant the switch was good. I thought for sure it was something more serious like the plastic roll cage breaking.

 

You're getting power through the switch if it lights up on the speedo,but not down to the diff evidently. Either because of a bad ground not going through speedo or a bad ground on the diff itself I would think?? Strange that they said switch?

 

I just picked it up yesterday. The 4x4 symbol doesn't come on but they said the 4x4 worked without it. I got it home and jacked the rear end up and it didn't work. When I put it on ADC it fell off the jack so it appeared to work then. I've never had problems with this dealer before but now I wonder if they really know what they're doing. I took it back today and still suspect a loose wire somewhere. I'll update when I know something in case someone else has this problem.

 

Just jack it up with all tires off the ground and test the awd then. If it works they could have jumped a new wire from the speedo brown/white to another ground wire bypassing the speedo entirely.Could be why the awd light isn't on? What some people have usually been doing,but wouldn't think a shop would do this? Think they'd try to hit you up for a new speedo?