Hi all, I have a friend who asked me to post this for him.
He has a 2002 500HO and he is having problems getting 4 wheel drive to stay engaged. I have seen this almost cause him some REAL problems!!! Any one eles have this problem?

 

P.S
He this only happens in low range.

 

A search turned up this info....

Is the neutral light on when in low range??? if so there are 2 switchs on the trans near the shift levers the front switch should be the one thats bad it's about $40.00 my buddy just had the same problem with his 500 sportsman


Same thing happened with my xplorer. The wiring harness that plugged into the tranny, the rear plug came loose, and a prong inside got bent when I put it back together. Couldn't figure out why I had no 4wd in low range. I noticed the bent prong, straightened it out,then everything worked. But, in the process my reverse rev limiter was disabled. Don't know how, everything else works perfect so I'm not going to complain about it!heheh.

 

Well, I try to explain, hopefully it works because english isnt my mothertongue.

I got a 2001 SP 500 HO last September and had similar problems.

1st: You do not have real 4x4 when the rear wheels arent spinning. that means, even when you have the 4X4 switch engaged, the power goes still to the rear axle without using the front-axle as long as the rear wheels arent spinning at least a quarter of a whole radius. Got what i mean? Try to go to a place where the rear wheels spin more than a quarter radius and then the front wheels should start to work in 4X4 mode.

2nd: If this doesent work, there is really something wrong with the adjustment (I had that too). Polaris-factory doesent adjust things very proper if you compare to other brands like Bombardier and they let the proper adjusting to the dealerships (the export ATVS). So, there are two kinda discs or parts in the hubs which should have a certain distance to each other, but Polaris has adjusted it to close or to loose for proper working. That problem ocures at most of the machines for export, because they are shipped somehow different (in different boxes or so) than the machines for interior USA. (Thats what somebody told me). Further more, the machines for export come from another production conveyor line than the ones for US-market.

I dont know the english terms for the parts which might be misadjusted in the hubs, but the too close adjustment (or too loose adjustment) causes the trouble with the 4 WD like you described. My Polaris dealer didnt even know about that problem and had no clue how to get my 4WD problem fixed, until I posted in this forum and somebody gave me the solution how to fix it. I told this to my dealer, he fixed it that way - and since then, my 4WD mode engages and disengages very very proper. I am very satisfied.

Check also the proper filling of oil in the hubs. Sometimes the Polaris-guys dont fill that properly and that causes similar problems.

Hopefully you got a clue what I try to explain. Unfortunately I do not remember the name of the guy who gave me the tip in this forum. I miss him since quite a while...

Well, hope that helps.

Polaris-owners: If I am wrong, pls dont complain about me, I am not a mechanic, - I just tried to explain in my words what helped to my SP 500 HO.

Martin

 

A shop manual will contain the details - but here are some notes.

Common is a problem with the adjustment of the two electro magnet coils behind the hub. Pull the brake caliper off and remove the hub.

Make sure the armature plate is not bent – even a little bit, and when reassembling ensure that the armature plate is flat against the coil and flat against the roll cage with the tabs correctly engaged in the roll cage. Flat means that the plate comes in contact with both the outer and inner coil lips – as checked at 120 degree angles around the coil. Not having the armature plate in the correct place is a frequent mess up and we damage both the armature plate and the magnet coil gap when we torque the axle nut which makes the clutches either not release or not engage for 4WD – there go providing the opportunity to do it all over again. Not having the correct coil gap prevents the energized coil from tightly "grabbing" the armature plate slotted to the the roll cage and it not receiving enough resistance to torque around the cam and extend the roll pins – which is the goal to engage the hub to the axle.

Oh – keep in mind that you will have to lift the rear of the bike to facilitate rotating the drive train to assist in properly seating the front axle inner bearings into position.

Proper torque of the axel nut is required – first to 100 inch pounds, then back off and re-torque to 75 + whatever it takes to get to the nearest hole for the cotter pin.

Don’t forget to add fluid. Ford ATF or Polaris Hub Oil.

 

Well, thank you all for your replies!!! I will forward this info to may friend.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]