• Don't miss out on all the fun! Register on our forums to post and have added features! Membership levels include a FREE membership tier.

850 gone down already??

maurfello

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 4, 2009
192
68
28
Washington
I have not had the same experience a lot of the posters have had on this thread. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, maybe most people on this thread are the "10%" (or whatever the percentage "really" is) that have had terrible luck with the 850. In mine and my brother in-laws experience this is the best machine either of us has ever owned. Never had fouled plugs, never bogged, always starts first or second pull, and just F***ing RIPS!!!! Enough of this keyboard sh** got to get ready to ride tomorrow. HAPPY RIDING!!!!! And stay safe ride smart.
 

Teth-Air

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Premium Member
Nov 27, 2007
4,586
2,814
113
Calgary AB/Nelson BC
www.specified.ca
The brand loyalty of some guys is pretty apparent. Comparing the Doo belt issues to the 850 list of problems is not a fair comparison to say it nicely. I know ONE person who had a belt blower Doo in my area and one other guy who had crappy belt life that was really unacceptable. The belts run hot for sure but it doesn’t seem to effect how the 850 Doo gets around. Just the bog problem and plug fouling are more serious than that. Add in the crank bearing seizures(fatal), blown oil lines(soon to be fatal) and the pistons seizing(fatal) and some people shouldn’t even mention the Doo in the same post lol.

For me, the best handling sled with the most power is the Polaris. Unfortunately it is not perfect yet. I see the issues that stand in the way of making it closer to perfect, easy to overcome for Polaris in 2020 because they are not design issues or all 850's would be failing. For my 2019 I have never fouled a plug but I have very high expectations on how crisp it should run. Polaris may offer up a new map that would completely make me happy but right now it's only a burble to put up with. All failures so far can be traced back to assembly errors as far as I can tell. If I was back on a Doo I would be more pissed that the clutches get so hot and I would have to find my own fix. And then there is the heavy weight and bad handling that I won't even go in to. Again I have very high expectations. I have seen and heard of many 850 Doo motors going down with crank failure too but it seems that it's the same guys with high number of belt failures. I expect cranks are failing due to over-revving when belts explode. This does not mean the Doo motors are crap either but something is happening outside of their design parameters. Build quality can be improved on (Polaris) but if you refuse to change a poor design (G4 chassis and clutching, and pre-2016 Polaris motors) then they can only plateau to a so-so level. Believe me if Doo would build the model of sled that I want, I would be back in a minute.
 

cvcustoms

#getsomegetthere
Lifetime Membership
Sep 10, 2018
195
201
43
www.cvcustoms.com
I will admit that I am brand loyal no doubt. My grandpa started a Polaris dealership 50 years ago and it is still owned by family members. With that said, polaris has had motor issues but I am one of the lucky ones that have never had a engine issue that wasn’t self inflicted. I have had a 09,11,14,15,16 and now a 19 850. None have left me stranded “knock on Wood”. I have consistently been able to ride every day I wanted to, up until last weekend when I smashed a rock with direct hit to my drop bracket and bent that but I still rode it back to the trailer. We have 3 - 850 Polaris Pro RMK jn our group and they all run great. One had the bog issue but threw in some Indy Specialties clutching and it disappeared. I do believe the majority of the failure issues are assembly related. One disgruntled person on one day could affect more then 100 engines... I think all brands make a great sled now days and it really comes down to personal preference and what you want to ride and work on...


www.cvcustoms.com
Home of the 850 PIDD Power Up Cable
 
A
Sep 9, 2009
7
1
3
I’m seeing stars reading this thread in it’s entirety for the first time. Driving home from a sledding trip in Ontario. A guy in our group has a 850 Indy. Oil line popped off the pto side center bearing. Oil made it’s way to the clutches before it seized up. Has anyone identified the issue with the oil lines? I’ve read multiple causes. Case sealant port blockage, bearing walking blocking the pto bearing port, faulty check valves, improperly install clamps, center seal restriction????? Where are we at with the facts here? His sled has 2,000 trail miles on it. Lastly, is it safe to say his cylinder honing will not be an issue pending a healthy compression test? What is a good number 135 psi?
 

Timbre

Well-known member
Premium Member
Nov 1, 2008
2,814
2,510
113
Southwestern Idaho
I’m seeing stars reading this thread in it’s entirety for the first time. Driving home from a sledding trip in Ontario. A guy in our group has a 850 Indy. Oil line popped off the pto side center bearing. Oil made it’s way to the clutches before it seized up. Has anyone identified the issue with the oil lines? I’ve read multiple causes. Case sealant port blockage, bearing walking blocking the pto bearing port, faulty check valves, improperly install clamps, center seal restriction????? Where are we at with the facts here? His sled has 2,000 trail miles on it. Lastly, is it safe to say his cylinder honing will not be an issue pending a healthy compression test? What is a good number 135 psi?

Have "the guy in your group" take it straight to the dealer. VERY IMPORTANT - - DONT try to take anything apart, do compression check, or ANYTHING yourself. They will get it fixed for him and find out what caused the problem. Maybe while he is there, have him talk to the service manager and ask those questions. I can assure you, you WILL NOT find accurate information on here. We have had about 300 snowchecked 850s around here and have had ONE failure and "a few" oil line issues. I was told that ALL were fixed promptly with warranty.
 
A
Sep 9, 2009
7
1
3
Good advice. The dealer was already contacted. I suggested he request the base be split and have the bearing evaluated. Hopefully this is Polaris protocol for an oil line coming off. Warranty or not, there’s the lingering fear of being 500 miles from the truck on a saddlebag trip and having the crank spit a bearing. Or for you guys, get a chopper ride out of the woods. No need for that when the crank could be checked in a heated service bay.
 

Scott

Scott Stiegler
Staff member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 1, 1998
69,618
11,737
113
51
W Mont
Just don't let them cut the oil lines with the oetiker clamps. Polaris has them on backorder.

Make sure they disconnect the little removable clamps on the other side.
OR, disconnect the oil pump motor.
JUST DON'T CUT THE OIL LINES WITH OETIKER CLAMPS UNLESS THEY HAVE THEM ON HAND.
 

CATDIESELPOWER

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Oct 5, 2009
1,271
367
83
IDAHO
Have "the guy in your group" take it straight to the dealer. VERY IMPORTANT - - DONT try to take anything apart, do compression check, or ANYTHING yourself. They will get it fixed for him and find out what caused the problem. Maybe while he is there, have him talk to the service manager and ask those questions. I can assure you, you WILL NOT find accurate information on here. We have had about 300 snowchecked 850s around here and have had ONE failure and "a few" oil line issues. I was told that ALL were fixed promptly with warranty.

Serious Timbre? I keep reading your 1 in 300 failure quote, and maybe that’s accurate IDK, but kinda hard to believe only 1 has died in all of SW Idaho.
The East side of Idaho musta got more “bad assembly” engines.
Go ahead flame �� away.
 
Last edited:

nw-sickboy

Member
Premium Member
Feb 12, 2008
56
24
8
Meridian ID
Serious Timbre? I keep reading your 1 in 300 failure quote, and maybe that’s accurate IDK, but kinda hard to believe only 1 has died in all of SW Idaho.
The East side of Idaho musta got more “bad assembly” engines.
Go ahead flame �� away.

And you can prove that how? I know of a handful out of southwest Idaho and I wouldn’t even consider myself connected.
 

kanedog

Undefeated mountain clutching champ of the world.
Lifetime Membership
Oct 14, 2008
3,116
3,894
113
60
Just don't let them cut the oil lines with the oetiker clamps. Polaris has them on backorder.

Make sure they disconnect the little removable clamps on the other side.
OR, disconnect the oil pump motor.
JUST DON'T CUT THE OIL LINES WITH OETIKER CLAMPS UNLESS THEY HAVE THEM ON HAND.
Why would anyone cut oil lines in the first place? Seems kinda obvi to me.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk
 

CATDIESELPOWER

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Oct 5, 2009
1,271
367
83
IDAHO
And you can prove that how? I know of a handful out of southwest Idaho and I wouldn’t even consider myself connected.

Prove what? I don’t know how many in SW Idaho went down, no idea. Timbre has stated multiple times only 1, you say a handful. I’m just saying only 1 down in the whole damn Boise valley seems low. Not calling you or anyone out on it, just seems a bit low compared to this side of the state.
 

Big10inch

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Premium Member
Mar 11, 2018
926
888
93
My question to those who are negative about the 850 Patriot.

If this motor only ends up at 1% failure rate this season and Polaris then goes on a mission to fix those problems for 2020 would you then be interested in owning one?

Or in other words if all your worries about reliability and dealer support were put aside would you then be owning one?

If you say no then you are just a troll and don't belong here. If you say yes or maybe then you actually see the potential of this motor/chassis combo. Then we want to hear what you have to say because this thing is so much fun to ride it's stupid.


That is a pretty tall order and you would have to take Polaris word for it that the issues were indeed FIXED because you wouldn't have any consumer miles on them and Polaris would still be asking consumers to beta test the fixes. Some may have that kind of faith in Polaris, I do not. I want to see them running at least a full season if not 2 before I would give them my money again.


I have owned/ridden lots of Polaris sleds but after half a day on my buddies new Alpha yesterday.... Would I buy a Polaris 850 over the Alpha next year? Not a chance. This will be the second season for the Ctech 800 and I do not see any threads full of blown up motors like I do here. The Axys chassis is awesome but the Alpha, IMO, is a revolution in sled design that works.


I think Timbre's assertion that the complaints here are just bad behavior by jealous owners of other brands is freaking hilarious. My bet is there is less of this going on that 850s failing from his dealer LOL. I see lots of people with valid negative experiences with Polaris. I know you don't want to hear that but it is easy to validate. Instead you want to use a some german word to try and describe what is happening here? What is happening is that Polaris let down its customer base yet again, sad but true...


I consider every brand when buying. I had to stop making excuses for PI though. I had to be honest with myself and buy a different brand without threads full of dead sleds. Not trolling, just trying to be real honest about it all and avoid the poolaid denial syndrome I see gripping much of this audience.
 

Big10inch

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Premium Member
Mar 11, 2018
926
888
93
I bet it won't take Polaris long to solve their teething issues this time around as I believe the design is good, it's just assembly problems. Looking back at the past Polaris motor problems they just had a bad design and band-aid fixes only could go so far.



That is an interesting analysis. I have seen pictures of design issues, I have no idea how you have managed to reduce that to assembly errors... There is at least one serious design flaw if not two in just the bottom end. Not locating the PTO bearing and not getting oil to the center bearings. Now you might be able to convince yourself these were assembly issues but the evidence points directly to design flaws in both cases.


I just do not know how you look objectively at all of the evidence submitted and come up with your watered down conclusion...
 
Last edited:

Timbre

Well-known member
Premium Member
Nov 1, 2008
2,814
2,510
113
Southwestern Idaho
That is a pretty tall order and you would have to take Polaris word for it that the issues were indeed FIXED because you wouldn't have any consumer miles on them and Polaris would still be asking consumers to beta test the fixes. Some may have that kind of faith in Polaris, I do not. I want to see them running at least a full season if not 2 before I would give them my money again. Cool cool, then you should do exactly that :)


I have owned/ridden lots of Polaris sleds but after half a day on my buddies new Alpha yesterday.... Would I buy a Polaris 850 over the Alpha next year? Not a chance. This will be the second season for the Ctech 800 and I do not see any threads full of blown up motors like I do here. The Axys chassis is awesome but the Alpha, IMO, is a revolution in sled design that works.
Good, then you should continue riding it :)


I think Timbre's assertion that the complaints here are just bad behavior by jealous owners of other brands is freaking hilarious. My bet is there is less of this going on that 850s failing from his dealer LOL. I see lots of people with valid negative experiences with Polaris. I know you don't want to hear that but it is easy to validate. Instead you want to use a some german word to try and describe what is happening here? What is happening is that Polaris let down its customer base yet again, sad but true...
The definition of the "german word" is very acccurate, and you only prove it each time you post. Otherwise you would move along :)


I consider every brand when buying. I had to stop making excuses for PI though. I had to be honest with myself and buy a different brand without threads full of dead sleds. Not trolling, just trying to be real honest about it all and avoid the poolaid denial syndrome I see gripping much of this audience.
Your "honesty" has been spewed on here over, and over, and over. Same song . . .different verse. We get it Bro . . you dont like Polaris.
/QUOTE]
 

Big10inch

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Premium Member
Mar 11, 2018
926
888
93
Nice try Timbre, you may be out of your league on this one though. Fact is, Polaris 850s are dropping like flys. I am sure it is all just made up by those jealous of your 850 Poo snowcheck LMFAO!

If/when Polaris finally manages to step up and deliver a quality product to consumers, I will consider one. Fact is, we are not there yet, and may never be if history is any indication.

What I find even funnier than your Poolaid addiction is the notiton that it is OK to spew a bunch of brand loyal nonsense, impossible to back up with facts and try and downplay some major design issues yet it is not OK to tell the truth about the pile of junk you just wasted $15k on.

I have no more need to "move along" than you do in this thread. We definately disagree and if Polaris had burned you repeatedly like they did me, you would have to be some kind of fool not to share those experiences with your fellow sledders and maybe spare some the grief they put me through.

So how about you keep doing your thing, trying to downplay the epic failure of Polaris to deliver a decent engine and I will keep telling people about my experiences with Polaris...

I get it, you are brand loyal to a fault, you like how your blinders fit and the feel of sand packed in around your head. Carry on...
 

smokindave

Canada Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 26, 2007
4,146
1,950
113
Calgary Alberta
Big10 sounds like someone whose wife left him for someone else a decade ago and still hasn't moved on even though he finally has a new girl that he likes. Either that, or a smug prius driver ...



I totally agree up to the girl friend,this negative Nancy isn’t compatible with most humans.
I just wish he would move on and let the grown ups talk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Dazzler

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Oct 24, 2009
267
145
43
Cochrane Ab
Big10 sounds like someone whose wife left him for someone else a decade ago and still hasn't moved on even though he finally has a new girl that he likes. Either that, or a smug prius driver ...

Lmfao... maybe he lost her to Big12 ? Or he has herpes, he sure keeps surfacing and irritating the sh!t out of the folks here!!!! :)
 
Premium Features