Hello All,
I'm new here and just picked up a 2004.5 sportsman 500HO and have a question.

I was out riding around the yard the other day in about 6" of snow and noticed that the rear end would wash out once and a while when I would get on it. I had the AWD on and thought it was strange that it would do that. Now my tires are not the best but I was wondering if there was an easy way to check if the 4x4 is working.

Thanks

 

Easy way to see if the system is working is to jack up all 4 tires and engage the awd. If the front wheels aren't engaging,could be a faulty ground or a cracked plastic roll cage. You can jump the brown/white wire in the speedo harness to the brown wire which bypasses the awd ground circuit going through the speedo and see if the front wheels engage. If you have power to the diff hot wire but still no awd,probably have to check into the diff. Anytime you do I'd replace the cage with an aluminum one that offered now on ebay,etc.Item #8 is the roll cage. Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Thanks for the information. I'll give it a try tonight.

 

Well I did the test and all four wheels turn. I guess it was a combination of weather conditions, low tread and a fat thumb.
Thanks again.

 

As long as the front wheels kick in then sounds like the awd is ok.. Snow,ice can cause for erratic engagement and some owners have noted that excessive throttle on ice has damaged some roll cages. Haven't had that problem down here thank goodness,just rain,hail and tornados..