Howdy everyone! New to the forums but happy to jump into the vast land of ATV discussion and troubleshooting

I picked up my brothers Sportsman that he no longer uses and I need something to stomp around on my 14 acres. It's for utility and not play but we know how that goes.

Here is the 'new to me' shot of the Polaris in my Tacoma headed from Virginia to good ole East Tennessee.



We had to replace the starter and solenoid to get it running but it fired up just fine.

The plastics were that ugly red/pink so I pulled them off and tossed an flat-black paint on them and also looked at what is underneath.





It has some vibrational issues I've been trying to locate and work out. Changed out all the bulbs to LED bulbs which adds a lot more light and I also wired the HI to include the LOW for greater visibility!



One of the annoying rattles was the stock muffler might have had a loose baffle so I switched that out BUT found several things.

1. There is some oil? leaking here where the exhaust manifold is. Any advice on what that might be? You can see I'm replacing the donut while I am working on the pipe. Not sure if the oil is coming from the gasket and dripping down to the manifold or just what. Many internet searches threw a variety of options at me.



2. The mount for the pipe after making the 180 degree bend from the exhaust manifold is not attached to the support plate. I tried looking at diagrams and such but can't quite find the bolt/rubber attachment for that section. Anyone have any advice?

Anyway, it's fun to have a project to work with and this thing is a lot of fun...

 

Here is a better shot of the pipe bracket and the installation of the new donut and tension springs.

 

the mount for the mid pipe, I believe, is a rubber isolator/stud. I would show you what my ‘06 700 carbureted sportsman has, but it’s in my cousins garage currently.
As for the muffler, I personally recommend just replacing the factory silencer with an aftermarket. Multiple options out there, and most claim some kind of gain in low end, and even a bit of top end over stock. Depending on what you wind up putting on there you may need to get a tuner for it to adjust the fuel delivery.
some of the rattles I would think would be from not having the mid pipe secured correctly, but most of what rattles on mine are the side covers just below the seat.
As for the oil leak, there’s the rocker cover gasket, and I’m pretty sure the fuel injected models still had the reed valve for the crank breather. The cover for the breather reed valve tends to warp over time, and not seal. They make billet aluminum ones, and the reed valve itself has the rubber seal.

what did you use for paint on the plastics? I actually kindof like that blacked out look you have going on. 👍

 

I went ahead and replaced the exhaust with the same style. Replaced all the tension springs and also purchased the mid-section mount rubber stud. Wasn't 100% sure how to set it but it seems to work. There is still some rattle somewhere but I'll work on it when I have another set of ears to help with that.

As far as the paint, I just grabbed some primer/paint spray-paint combo that works on plastics. It's alright, if I scrap it off I just shot a small amount on it again if the red starts to show through. I'll grab a photo of the paint later.

I have a friend who works on ATVs and UTVs who will do a general service on it and see if there is anything of concern.

 

Dropped the beast off at a friends house who does small engine repair. He found my noise source... a crack in the frame! 5 minutes on the MIG welder and all fixed! Glad it wasn't an internal issue. He's replacing the rear bushings (more than half were missing!) and doing the typical maintenance. A new valve-cover gasket fixed the leak in the previous pictures. New tires were ordered and dropped off with him as well, so when I pick it up in the next several days, I'll provide some updates and pictures!

 

It's been awhile since I've posted. This Quad has been fun to have around on the property. lots of dragging the 1000 yard gravel driveway, hauling my old truck bed liner full of woodchips from chipping, or taking the kayak trailer down to the lake. Had to replace the half-axels all around due to torn boots. Replaced bushings, my son overloaded the weight capacity and destroyed those plastic bushings. Exhaust donut doesn't last long from so I always have spares around. New SunF tires are awesome!

Had issues with the quad running for awhile then not wanting to run. Let it sit and had plenty of juice. Found out it was the fuel filter. Changed that then blew the fuel line. Replaced that.

Now it doesn't really want to start, I have to give it gas and get moving immediately or it just dies. Low revs/speed it backfires/dies. Full throttle it's fine.

Gauge cluster went out long ago.

Not sure if the wiring harness is going bad and need to replace it.

Thoughts?

 

I would put new NGK spark plugs in it first then check charging system for charging or overcharging

 

I thought I put a new spark plug in recently but I'll check and put in what you recommended. It's a cheaper fix then a wiring harness!

 

THanks for the suggestion and I took your advice. Put new plugs in, but still ran like a turd. A former student, BMW mechanic now, was over working in his bike and watched while I started and revved the quad. He quickly pointed out what he believes is the problem.

The boot of the intake was completely detached from its mount. As in cracked through and misaligned. He watched backfire flames shoot out of the Crack.

I ordered a replacement that will be here in 2 days.

 

Thanks for update yes bad for sure