It is obvious that some of ya'll really know your Polaris' inside and out, so maybe someone can answer my question here. I have had my Scrambler for only about 2 months, and it is my first quad, bought used. It has always been hard to steer but it wasn't until we had our first snow that I discovered that it was always in 4 wheel drive. Polaris hubs and their Hilliard clutch are difficult to explain to someone, but once you take it apart and look at it, it's operation is actually simple. It turns out that I was stuck in 4x4 because the metal rings that fit between the electromagnet and the Hilliard clutch which impart drag on the clutch when the electromagnet is energized, had themselves become magnetized. So they stuck to the strut and caused drag whether they were on or not. The magnetic attraction wasn't nearly as much as when the electromagnet was energized, but it was apparently enough.

It was a quick and cheap fix to replace these rings, but I can't help but wonder why they became magnetized. Actually, a better question might be why they ALL don't have this happen! If you want a screwdriver magnetized to pick up little screws or something, you rub a magnet on it. Well, while in 4x4 mode, these rings are ALWAYS rubbing on the magnets as you drive, so why don't they all do it, right away? Also, as a matter of theory, what if I had reversed the polarity on the electromagnets - would they then have repelled these magnetized rings? Or would it have just burned out the whole thing?!

I'm just one of those guys who likes to know not only "what", but "why". Has anyone else had this happen?

 

i have a 01 500 and never have had anything like this happen. an answer to your magnet question. in theory, reversing the wires would cause a reverse of polarity on the magnets...ie n to s and s to n and cause the other plates to push apart. now, i dont know what other circuitry is involved in this. If the electromagnets have diodes on them, causing them to be polarity specific, reversing the current flow will burn up the diodes. but like i said, i dont know what's all involved in this circuit

 

The reason the rings became magnetized is the past owner ran it with the 4 wheel button pushed all the time (just in case). It's not common at all but I have Seen it once before. No reversing the polarity of the field will not work. You must take the rings to a machine shop that has a demagetizer and scramble the molecules again.

 

Waterbuffalo said it right.

 

Yeah, I thought about demagnetizing them, but new rings were less than $5. I suspect you are right Waterbuffalo, the previous guy probably kept it in 4x4 all the time. Polaris has made millions of them with this type hub so it probably isn't a common problem, but I wanted to make sure.