HELP...polaris sportsman gurus

[zal]

About a month and a half ago, I went out to start the quad up and nothing. The battery is dead. I used the pull start, drove it to the shop, put the charger on it. Next day, go out, turn the key and it fires up. No problem. Went for a small ride. 2 weeks later, same thing. Starts no problem. Yesterday, started with the key, went for a day ride, but noticed the battery is getting lower and lower. Lights are dim, fan is running slower (fan runs a lot i've noticed.) We were riding at a slower pace, since we were hunting. Finally the battery went dead. No lights, no 4x4, no fan. Swaped battery out with my buddy, hoping it was the battery. Put it in, everything works great. Turn around and head back for the trucks. Get to the trucks, (about 2.5 hours away) and I noticed the same thing. The starter really had to groan to get the motor started. So in the 2.5 hours, the battery wasn't keeping its charge either. Its a 2002 polaris 500HO. Any ideas? New stator? Is there any way to check it? Also, how often does your fan kick in when you go for a ride.

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

About a month and a half ago, I went out to start the quad up and nothing. The battery is dead. I used the pull start, drove it to the shop, put the charger on it. Next day, go out, turn the key and it fires up. No problem. Went for a small ride. 2 weeks later, same thing. Starts no problem. Yesterday, started with the key, went for a day ride, but noticed the battery is getting lower and lower. Lights are dim, fan is running slower (fan runs a lot i've noticed.) We were riding at a slower pace, since we were hunting. Finally the battery went dead. No lights, no 4x4, no fan. Swaped battery out with my buddy, hoping it was the battery. Put it in, everything works great. Turn around and head back for the trucks. Get to the trucks, (about 2.5 hours away) and I noticed the same thing. The starter really had to groan to get the motor started. So in the 2.5 hours, the battery wasn't keeping its charge either. Its a 2002 polaris 500HO. Any ideas? New stator? Is there any way to check it? Also, how often does your fan kick in when you go for a ride.

check your voltage regulator first..could be the charge side of the stator but sounds like it lost the voltage regulator...sometimes they will get to where they crank on the starter but wont start, but you can pull start and it will fire right up..that is too much air gap on the ignition trigger coil..but this sounds like a problem on the charge side...

 

[zal]

check your voltage regulator first..could be the charge side of the stator but sounds like it lost the voltage regulator...sometimes they will get to where they crank on the starter but wont start, but you can pull start and it will fire right up..that is too much air gap on the ignition trigger coil..but this sounds like a problem on the charge side...

I think its definately a charge side problem. Is there a way to check to see if its working properly?

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

I think its definately a charge side problem. Is there a way to check to see if its working properly?

You need the factory manual and a multimeter to do test on it...I dont have a manual available to me....you might check for any contamination in any wire harness connectors and look for any signs that something(regulator, harness,)show signs of damage...

 

[WYO312]

I have an 02 Sportsman 500 HO. I ran with a dead battery for two years. Had to pull start it all the time. Once it was running, the fan and lights all worked fine. Has to be some other electrical problem. Good luck with it.

 

[Duddin]

I have seen a few of these that just get really corroded on the terminals going to the regulator. Have also seen bad regulators alot.

 

[zal]

Thanks guys, really appreciate it.

 

[Ex-Member]

yeap, make sure the charger's workin... sounds like the battery's just not getting charged while it's running.

 

[Gimpster]

Locate your stator wire connector. Check the leads coming off the stator to ground. There should be no continuity. Criss cross check between each wire in the connector, there should be continuity. Any of these tests fail, the stator is bad. The unit will run with a bad stator as the ignition gets it's power of one of the A/C windings in the stator. As long as that one is good it will run.
Most likely the voltage regulator is bad or connector is corrded. Check all connections in the charging system for looseness or corrosion.

----- Gimpster -----

 

[R J]

Fan kicks in a lot on the sportsmans due to the small size of the radiator and where it's tucked way back in their. A good cleaning of mud, or whatever may help. Spray from the inside out.

On my 600 it ran I would say once every few minutes for a bit. It didn't seem to matter if I was running fast or slow. My 500 EFI HO seems to run a bit more then my 600 did. Every sportsman I have been around (plenty) seem to do this. I guess if it didn't run often I would be worried.

Stator, voltage regulator, or a serious draw on the system to boot.

As for the draw on the system you could use a volt/ohm meter to find this out. The other way would be hook the battery up and look for a small spark. If it's a EFI, it may just have the slighest spark what so ever. If it's not a EFI, then their should be any spark when hooking it all up as long as the key is off.

 

[J-Roc]

Tim, i'll see if I can round up a manual (Jack has one...) and drop it by the shop tomorrow...