Went riding this weekend. I pulled it off the trailer and warmed it up. Then we all got loaded up and were heading for the trails then all of a sudden ping ping bluh bluh. The motor died. I took the seat and air box off and right on the top of the motor was a hole the size of a silver dollar. Metal pieces every where. You could see the crank turn. I had just drove 150 miles to ride so i didn't want to sit out. I went and bought a tube of jb weld. I took a bud light bottle cap and put jb weld all over it to cover up the hole. I let it sit for about an hour then cranked her over and she started right up like normal. It didn't lose any power. I rode it all weekend like that and i wasn't easy on it. Everyone was amazed it worked including me. I think that the injector pump went out and didn't mix any gas with the oil. Normally i keep it running rich and it will smoke a little. This time it didn't smoke at all. There are no noises coming from the motor and it seems fine. How do i test the pump? Could it be something that caused it to do this? I thought maybe a crank bearing but the jb weld would have been gone very quickly. Should i just buy a new case? Where would be a good place to buy one? Thanks for the help.

 

If it is your stock piston, you are losing the skirting around the lower edges. I would stop riding it and get the motor rebuilt. You will have to mostlikly split the case to remove all of the little pieces that have fallen into the bottom. That is why there is a hole in your motor, the pieces get punched through the case by the rotating parts. I had the same thing happen to mine, but I did not take care of it right away and one piece stuck between the piston and one of the port holes in the sleeve and that brough the hole assembly to a quick stop. I was lucky that it did not destroy my crank.
Good luck !
Ingoldx1
95' Sportsman
99' Trail Boss
P.S. I spent about $400 on a complete rebuild.

 

Thanks ingoldx. I am running a .20 over wiseco. That could be the problem though. I am gonna try to tear it down tonight and take a look. What should i do about the hole in the motor? Should i just keep some jb weld on there or get another side of the case? There is no scarring on the crank and it doesn't look like it's out of balance. I have submerged the bike many times and sucked water into the motor. Maybe that has something to do with it. I will take a look and see.

 

How many miles? How long have you owned the machine?

 

Weedy, i have about 45 hours on my bike and 500 miles. I bought it new march 29, 2000. I haven't had any problems with the motor until now. After i put the bud light bottle cap and jb weld on there it ran fine. I outmudded a honda rancher and foreman 450es. At the end of the day yesterday it kinda seemed like it was loosing power. Couldn't wheelie anymore. I am gonna have to tear it down and find out what the problem is. I just can believe it ran with the jb weld on there. It was a pretty big hole. I'll have to take some pictures of it. I will be taking a couple tubes of jb weld with me whenever i ride for now on.

 

Picture of the Xplorer

Is this the machine that blew the hole in the crankcase?

 

Thor, yes that is it. That is what it looked like after about 2 months after i got it. I have done many other things to it since then. You can check some of my newer pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/jjtdiceman
They are still kinda old pics but show some of the other things i have added. I haven't decided on what to do yet. Right now the jb weld is holding. I probably won't be riding it until i tear it down. It sucks because this is the first time i have ridden it in about a month and a half. Last time i took it out i broke 2 cv joints, rear hubs, rear axle, and rear rotor. I don't ride it much and i have replaced everything on it at least once. I don't tear it up and i maintain it very well. I guess you got to pay to play.

 

Meanmachine

I may be changing my mind on an Xplorer. I though you really rode the hell out of it? My 1993 has been ridden to hell and back and no problems.

I guess you wopuld not recomend the machine after that much trouble. Honda may get a call?? I just wish they had Polaris suspension and the part time 4x4!

 

Weedy, i don't want to discourage you. The xplorer is a good machine. I never had any problems what so ever before i started modifying it. Everytime i have broken something before the hole in the motor i was always really deep in the mud. I take it in the worst places imaginable but i use my head. I try not to overrev it or blow it up. It is probably places i shouldn't have taken it to begin with. This is the only problem i have ever had with the motor. I have it bored .20 over with a wiseco piston, head ported and polished, delta v-force reed cage, hpd exhaust, k&n filter, 39mm kehihn pwk carb, so that is a lot of factors to take in to consideration. Any time you do modifications like that the reliability goes down. Also i have sunk my bike more times than i can count, so i know that can't be good on the motor. As far as honda goes, i have a honda atc 250r. I've had it about a year and rebuilt it 3 times. I have a friend that i ride with all the time that has a 2001 honda 450es. It doesn't have near the power of my bike. He would rather ride mine than his. His bike has spent 4 out of the last 6 months in the dealership getting repaired. His bike is totally stock. When we do ride together, we just leave the tow strap hooked to the front of his bike because i pull him out all the time. I don't believe that anyone else in here with an xplorer, or any other polaris has had as many problems as me. If you look in the honda forums you will see more posts of more problems than the polaris so that must tell you something.

 

I guess you are right the mods hurt reliability. I had a neighbor who had a 1996 Xplorer that was indestructable but it was stock. My Trail Boss is stock and it has been bullet proof. The 250 is strong and never a hint of trouble. I have spent less than $250 on the bike since I have owned it. I am only upgrading to get 4x4 and I know the Xplorer is a bad dude in the mud! I would have had mine already but I had a little monetary delay.

I am going to get it with the winch and the ONLY mods I plan on is a set of Bearclaw shoes for the machine.