I purchased a 99 400 Xplorer and a 99 500 Sportsman that were thrown off of a trailer in a wreck. My repair work is nearly complete and I have a question or two.

The Xplorer has a very wmall amount of oil leaking from a front seal down onto the disk brake. aAy advice on repair or parts replacement?

For reasons I won't go into, I am more or less committed to keeping and riding the Sportsman for the next year. Is there a supplier of aftermarket oil filters? Are there any maint. tips long time Polris riders can share?

 

I can help you on the Sportsman.The aftermarket filter # should be 6607 [Fram].If it's not,let me know,I'll find you the correct #.Aftermarket parts can be ordered from the Internet on the opening page of the ATV connection.Brakes can be purchased for both front and rear brake for around 60 dollars.Alot less than buying Polaris brakes.Maintanance tips?Keeping the oil changed is probably the most important of all.====BILL

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For aftermarket oil filters, there is Emgo, which has the cool looking chrome one, Vesrah, Fram, and Pro Series. Emgo, which is what we use, is the cheapest out of all of them in Dennis Kirk. The Emgo chrome is $7.99 and the black is $5.99.

 

I rolled my Magnum down a large hill. It smashed the handle bars and I thought I was very lucky. Later I noticed a small leak as you described. I took the front wheel off and examined everything closely. There was a hairline crack in the cast aluminum strut housing where it is the thinnest(where axle runs through it). I did the work and I shopped around and found the housing for $150 or so. The hardest part was compressing the spring to remove the strut. You may have the same problem from your description.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll pull the wheel tomorrow and check that housing. The Xplorer was hit, or hit the ground hard enough that it popped two of the tires off the beads. The steering post was bent pretty bad, but the handlebars were hardly bent. I wouldn't be surprised to find just what you describe.

Thanks to Bill for those oil filter #s. BTW, why did you have to rebuild the engine in your Sportsman?

 

Husker, The oil leak that you describe is a common problem. If the housing is not cracked, check and see if the bearing race holder( the metal piece that is cast into the aluminum strut) is loose in the casting. One of my older 1990 350 4x4s had both bearing holders loose. Since I am a cheap son of a gun, and I didn't have 300 bucks, I greased the bearings with some multi-purpose grease, oiled the wheel clutch with the atf type f, and ran it. It ran fine for 3 years. To see if the race holder is loose will probably require you to make a tool that will be used to check for movement. I used a piece of 3/4 threaded rod and a couple of flat washers. The washers should be the approximate size of the outter diameter of the races. Put a washer next to each race(in the strut) with the threaded rod going through the center. Tighten the nut tight enough to prevent the washer from moving on the race. If the rod is 18 inches long or so, you should be able to see some movement if there is any. I hope that this makes sense to you. If not, post a topic to me, and I will try again.
Good luck, Dave