Welch plug/customer service
 

I've been fighting with Polaris for a few months now. Had oil blowing out of the vent line under the headlight. Talked to Polaris and amazingly enough they'd never heard of it. I informed them that I'd done an internet search and came up with the welch plug. They said that it was my main seal and that's a wear item so not covered warranty. I asked them how they are able to diagnose the problem over the phone and why it couldn't be the plug? They said the plug was a "captured plug" and there for could not come out.

When the transmission was removed it was found to be the Welch plug and not the main seal (shock and amazement)(I've got some good pictures of this but don't know how to attach them). When I talked to customer service, again, they said that it's not a manufacturer issued and that it's not covered. They said there was a Service Bulletin on '09 for the upper breather but not on the '10. I pointed out that the 9 and 10 had the same part # so there for it's a know problem. They refused to acknowledge and type of issued and just continually stated that it's out of warranty and there for not their issued. They offered my $500 in accessories. I turned them down and offered them my lawyer.

I will be starting a class action lawsuit. If this has happened to you get a hold of me and I can put you in touch with my lawyer when this gets rolling.




I also recommend getting ahold of the Consumer protection safety commission, that way a recall can be started. They are the ones that will for Polaris to recall the unit.

What is it? You only said it was a 2010 Polaris. What model?

Retired just before all this started happening with the pcv problems.. It's been going on for awhile now,not up to date on any changes to this other than the updated system on the 09 which carried over to the 2010 model. Saw some posts on the welch plug dated far back as 2011. Here's one from a poster on another forum(which I suppose you might have seen already) "What the problem is with this issue.... is the PCV breather is set up to run as a one way valve, the issue is, the outlet pipe from the PCV valve is on an uphill slope to the airbox, when the bike cools down it forms condensation on the inside of the outlet pipe which will run back down to the rubber diaphram in the PCV freezing it shut. When you drive the bike with this frozen, the crankcase can not vent normally and will blow out the welch plug on the tranny side of the motor behind the flywheel. The easiest way for this to be rectified is to simply warm your bike up to proper temps before using the throttle, or you can do what I did, and remove the spring and rubber diaphram and put a piece of screen in it's place which will allow the condensation to roll back into the baffel area of the valve cover and the will be vapored off when the engine is at temperature. I am a Polaris Sled Tech at our local dealer and have seen this very problem a couple of times... so I've monitored my 850 and saw the issue for myself, this never caused an issue for me as I always idle the bike until the fan kicks on in cold temps... thus melting the ice in the PCV tube before I work the engine." I know customers shouldn't have to resort to making their own "fixes" to something like this,should have been addressed by Polaris some time ago.As far as a safety recall,has to be proven that it is an imminent danger which might be hard to prove. "Out of warranty" is the term ALL manufacturers can fall back on for issues like this. That's where extended warranties come in. Even if the problem is classified as a non warrantied item you would at least have something to back you up to give you a little more leverage with Polaris.. Good luck with your quest.

Sorry
It's and 850 xp

It would seem like Polaris wouldn't want you to sue them but I guess eventually you do what you have to do to get a problem resolved.

I don't want to sue them. I just want the repairs covered and to take care of others that are having the same issue.

very good useful information so thanks for updating and keeping everyone in the loop.;)

Good luck, hopefully Polaris will make it right.

Polaris' go to answer was "you didn't have an extended warranty".

I just had a contractor over yesterday and we started talking ATV's. He has a 2014 Polaris 850xp. He's had two axles go out in less than a month on a stock machine (same axle), dealer installed. He has an extended warranty and Polaris said that it still wasn't covered. They said it was his riding style. It seems as if Polaris doesn't want to cover anything.