Nope not normal. You might check that it's firmly engaging in forward or reverse gear. Usual problem on this if it isn't wear in the gear shift box itself . Either wear on the linkage ends,shift box levers,etc. Also check that the shift levers(belcranks) on the gear case are tight. Linkage adjustment might help. Have the gear box in neutral,loosen the lock nut on the linkage ends at the shift box. Remove the 10mm nuts on the shift lever,remove the linkages. See how much slack you have on the lever forward and reverse while in neutral. If there is a lot of slack/play adjustment may or may not help.Loosen the linkage ends,adjust in or out to where they drop straight into the shift box levers with no resistance.See if this locks the gear case firmly in reverse or forward.Movement in gear should only be a couple inches or so before it stops. If it still moves and you're sure it's firmly in gear,could be an internal gear case problem such as stretched silent chains jumping teeth before it firmly grabs.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Wondering if anyone knows what color wires go to the engine hot light, and what wires go to gear switch light. I took appart and did not labael!

 

Red/White and Blue/White wires to the hot light indicator. Reverse indicator light,Purple and Brown(ground), Neutral indicator,Green/White and Brown(ground wire). That's why I stress manuals,can help in so many different ways.

 

Ha ha yeah i know right. Was using a friends manual but he has it. Kinda been working on all years latley having an 09 500, 02 500, and now a 98 500 that was going tone for parts but it runs fine just had an overheating issue from what i was told. Fan may need to be checked for operation.

 

If it's getting hot and the fan doesn't kick on,but does check out with direct voltage,most of the time it's the radiator sensor or possible trapped air that allows it to get hot before the fan has a chance to kick on.

 

Yup you were right i tested the fan and that was fine. The prongs coming off off the radiator sensor were corroded. I wire brushed them and dialec. Greesed. Hooked back ip and let run and sure enough the fan cam on after a bit. Noticed a little sepage coming from thermostat housing so a pulled that off to check for maybe a blockage and someone had taken the thermostat out and left no gasket on housing to head. Surprised it held pressure. Must have een sucking some air into system as well. Are there any cheap replacement therm. Maybe at autoparts stores instead of polaris. I saw one one amazon for about 30bucks.

 

I'm surprised that the thermostat housing didn't leak either without the rubber seal. 30 bucks is cheaper than most online place,but before I spent that I'd take the housing cover and see if you can match up one at a good auto store that would fit the housing. Plus a good picture of it from the amazon add might help the parts guys match one up.You know Polaris doesn't make them,they get them from some supplier.

 

Any ideas on my coolant expansion tank on 09 sportsman 500efi overfilling and blowing coolant out . i checked water pump that was fine, flushed system out, radiator fins are clean, checked thermostat in boiling water opened up fine but not sure what temp the water was at. I did recently put piston,rings and new gaskets in it torqing to polaris process. Burped all the air out of system. I rode around house broke in new rings. Had no leaking. Rode a few more times around w a friend. Then it just started blowing it out the other day. Fan is kicking on and running. Atv overheat light does not come on. Head gasket? Seems like when i rev it right up good it spews out.

 

If the fan is kicking on and off ok,radiator is clean front and back(especially by the fan motor)then most of the time it's still trapped air that causes this problem.Hot light doesn't have to kick on for this to happen. Jack the front end up with the wheels off the ground,leave the cap off and let the fan cycle on and off several times.Top off coolant as the radiator level drops. You may have to do this several times plus squeezing the hoses as the manual instructs may help with this. On some machines I've had to spend 30-40 minutes or so bleeding all the trapped air pockets. Just the way they're designed with all the hose bends.

 

Yeahi drove fromt end up on a bu stump so its elevated. It seems like with cap off just before the fan comes on the water will boil right out filler then fan jumps on and level goes down. So i slowly ad more water etc. Did that for a good 10 minutes and it seemed like air just never stoped coming out. Finally drove it again and when you rev high it spits right out again. R these really that hard to purge! Right now im just useing straight water as to not waste coolant and to see iff this works.should i just keep going and purging it