I've got a 2000 Polaris 500 that is one year old and only has 400 miles on it. The battery won't stay charged. It's a new battery. If I charge it and leave it, it will stay charged but runs down when I ride it. Is there an alternator on the machine? What charges the batter and is there an easy way to check it out?

Also, the fan will not run, even when the batter is charged. Could these two things be related? How do I check this out?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Sneeky

 

Sneekypete,you didn't say if the battery was ever low on water. If it ever got low or dry. the cells might be bad and want hold a charge. But from what you have said. it could be a short in the fan that drains the battery down. There is a alternator on your atv.

Note:When a battery is drain down nothing electric will work,fan,lights,the front hubs will not work (lock),speedometer,..ect.. also the alternator will not keep any electrical componet running with a dead battery

 

HC Thanks for the reply. The battery was new and I checked it for water/acid. It was OK when I put it in and is still full. It will stay charged for two weeks when it is just sitting but only discharges when it is running, but won't charge while running. I thought the alternator was probably not charging it for some reason.

I guess the next step is to take the plastic off and look for loose/corroded connections and stuff. Somehow I can't believe an alternator would go bad after only 400 hundred miles.

It will pull start and run but the lights don't work. I didn't notice if the speedometer worked because my son brought it back overheating and I didn't want to ride it hot.

Thanks again.

 

Had the same thing happen to a friends magnum 500. The voltage regulator(small black box with several wires) is located in front of the radiator, left side. Check and see if all the wires there are OK. Buddy had a broken wire which caused the same symptoms. Be sure to follow the wires as far as you can or at least the exposed part. Sometimes a stick or other such item can break the wires.

 

Ok Take alook here. Take off you front rack front bumper and front cowl look on the right side top that is where the voltage reg is. There will be 4 wires a red, yellow red, brown, and a straight yellow. Are they plugged in? Also on the yellow red there is a connector about 7" up in the conduit casing it may have become unplugged there i have had that one come unplugged on my old 2000 500 sp. Check it out. also to check for the altenator charging Start the engine and put a volt meter on the battery posts. if i remember right At 3000 to 4000 rpm Volt meter set on DC VOLTS it should read between 13.0 to 14.6 volts Whats yours at? Do u idial your machine Lots The charging system does not charge below 1500 rpm You need to be above that for the sytem to keep up eith the electrical needs of the wheeler. Hope this helps [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

The easiest way to test if it is charging requires 2 people. Put a voltmeter on the battery leads, and read the volts. Then have a buddy start it, and read the volts, then have them rev the engine up some (in Neutral, of course! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] and read the volts again. There should be more voltage idling than off (but not much) and when revved about halfway out, there should be over 13.5, minimum, and ideally, more like 14.4, although if the battery is low on charge, it may not get that high.
Again, follow all wires, and check all connections. Any connection not sealed should be wiggled (or better yet taken apart, cleaned, and coated with dilectric grease-get it at Napa, Radio Shack, Auto America, etc) and be sure nothing is loose, even the connections to the battery terminals.
Better yet, with 400 miles, it should still be under warranty, so if there are no obvious loose wires, let the mechanic work on it for you on Polaris' nickel. Then ask what it took to fix it so next time you will know.

 

Dazed and Farmer123

Just want to say thanks. Your diagnosis was right on. I checked the battery with a volt meter and it wasn't charging. I took off the rack and front plastic and sure enough the yellow and yellow/red and the black and red wires were all unplugged! Plugged them and I'm charging! You guys are the greatest. You saved me a good bit of down time as well as a trip to the dealer for reparis and no doubt a service charge. I can't thank you enough.

Sneekypete

 

Your welcome, Now ride The thing LoL.