Hello all.
I'm new to the atv connection because I am in desperate need of help/advice. A few weeks ago, I used my sportsman 500 to help pull a tree down in my back yard. Reverse override engaged, 4x4 and winch were used all at the same time, she ran like a dream, which is why I love my polaris. However, last weekend, I took my sportsman to the dunes and as soon as I went to give it full throttle, it's like a switch was flipped and I had NO power. It sputtered and coughed and I couldn't get it about 10 mph. I'm stumped. I threw a bunch of parts at it and still no improvement. New carb, new spark plug, new fuel filter, drained tank, new gas. It stays running on its own, but it sounds sick. This quad only has 700 miles on it. What am I missing? An over night change seems a bit odd? Any input would be much appreciated. I know there's a lot of knowledge here. Please help!!!

 

Spray electrical contact cleaner in the left control switch cracks and crevices and work the over ride button,remove the connectors,clean and use electrical grease and see if it helps. Could be the switch(over ride button) is causing the problem.The limiter is built into the speedo on this model. Some have bypassed the over ride button. May or may not solve the problem but here's what they've done."Trace wires from the override button (gray/white & gray/orange) Cut the gray/orange and tape up both ends. Cut the gray/white and tape up the end which goes to the override button. Connect the other end of the gray/white to the red/white (ignition supplied 12v)" The other area to check is the belt and clutches since you did have a strain on it,but may not be the problem area. If none of these are found to cause the problem,then could be in the speedo itself.

 

Thank you Old polaris tech! I will keep you posted on what I find. I've heard a lot about these years have a soft cam and I totally understand that, but am I crazy to rule that out with how little miles this quad has??? It ran perfect 2 weeks before, and now it has the flu. I don't know.....

 

On this model I wouldn't rule out anything. Cam problems weren't usually an over night type thing, took awhile for the problem to show,but most had tell tell symptoms such as hard starting,back firing but would run ok until finally they'd crank and idle good,but then would just pop back though the carb when throttle was applied. Not a bad idea to look at it if you can't trace down the problem to anything else. Worn exhaust lobes would look like this one. Bad Cam Pic - ATVConnection.com ATV Enthusiast Community

 

I will be sure to try these couple remedies in the morning. Here's my question about the speedo, if the pod is working properly just as it should, would it be the speedo itself that I should be worried about? Could I just try unplugging the whole unit before splicing wires and such to rule that out? Or start with the override button? Thanks again for all the advice!!

 

You could try unplugging it and see how it does. Reverse over ride bypass may not solve it either as it's mainly to eliminate having to push the button while in reverse. If it doesn't help then the problem could still be the limiter that's built into the speedo on 2000 models and up.

 

So as much as I hate to admit it, I found the problem today while going over everything with a fine tooth comb. Under the hood in the front, there was a yellow/red wire that had wiggled loose. I couldn't see the wire until I removed all the plastics though. This wire ran to the fan control module on the side of the radiator/fan. I still went through and thoroughly cleaned all connections on the handlebar controls. And I think the main culprit was that the female crimp had gotten slightly wallowed out. I tighten it back up, hooked everything back up and she ran like a bat outta hell. Thank you Old polaris tech for all your help thus far. I'll keep you posted if anything changes.

 

Isn't electronics fun to work on.. Glad you found the problem.